Commanderfish

The Hercules tube rings are a good colour match. They also have various mounting options. I've added a matching aluminium finder bracket to mine.

For aesthetics the RDF should probably be on the back ring, but for practicality it's better on the front.

Now to dig out a can of Alfa Silver car paint and spray that RDF to match!

They are really nicely made and finished rings and light too. I don't know.the diameter for the TSA I'm afraid.

25 minutes ago, John said:

One of the things that I like about the Takahashi tube clamps (I use one of the special longer ones with my FC100-DL) is that they are cast items and Takahashi started out as a casting company. They developed their expertise in this field over 30 years before moving into making scopes.

I've seen Takahashi's with aftermarket rings, focusers and finders / finder mounts. I suppose the objective is the heart of the scope though so as long as that stays, everything else is interchangeable to suit the owners desires / needs  

 

 

Well if you give FLO £1228 of your cash (and they are currently cheapest) they'll happily supply the OTA but no clamp... But fortunately all the accessories are freely available... At a price

Update: last night I found it was easy to locate open clusters M36 and M38 in Auriga, and I actually detected M37 which is much fainter. I then viewed it in the CC6 in which it was still faint. Auriga was low in the west above some flats with their gardens light up 😠

Also got a quick view of Mars which was a bright orange 7/8ths disc, low between tree branches and hard to get any quality out of. 

More views of M3, M13 and random asterisms popping out all over the place...

13 hours ago, Cleetus said:

That's a great report Sir! Are you having second thoughts about replacing the focuser? How did you think it performed? Your skies are probably similar to mine (Enfield, just inside M25) and we have also recently had the new street lights fitted so was interesting to read what you could see.

Yep. Not going to change the focuser at this point. Likely to put the Feathertouch on my CC8, which has a decent stock dual speed focuser but annoys me as I feel it's too low geared, takes too many turns to focus - which in theory is better for precision but does my head in. Its like someone changing the steering rack on a sports car to a really long one so i can't corner fast!

6 hours ago, scotty38 said:

Come on now, surely that's the same as having a Ferrari in anything other than red.... Sooner or later you're going to regret it 🙂🙂

They are alu tube rings exactly matching the rings on the dewshield and  also the clamps😁

Also I hate Tak green, and whilst Tak blue is much better I still don't like it

Over the weekend I finally got some partially clear skies.  I live in the London suburbs, SW19 with Bortle 9 skies, though possibly not as bad for me in my immediate locality as I live between a common, a park, a golf club and some tennis courts, plus the streetlights are those new down-only LEDs.  There was no moon light on these nights, which really helps.

The FC-76  is my smallest scope ever, having been preceded by an ES ED80 triplet apo and an ST80.  The Tak 76 is much lighter than the ED80, coming in at 3.1kg including a 2" diagonal, Pantoptic 24mm, tube rings, dovetail and RDF.  The ED80 was 6Kg with a 2" diagonal and an Ethos 21mm!

I've used the FC-76 on a Manfrotto 055 tripod and 405 geared head, and also on a Mini Giro Ercole, alongside a Stellalyra 6" Classical Cassegrain.  I also ran it alongside my 115 Photoline triplet Apo.

The 76 DCU is ready to view at low powers instantly and cools very rapidly for high powers (as soon as I tried to use higher powers, the view was already stable).  The views are extremely sharp; I believe they are the sharpest of any scope I've looked through, and I've owned about 15.  The contrast is also higher than any other scope I've viewed the night sky through.  Naturally the light grasp is limited, but the high contrast and sharpness bring out a lot of detail.  The scope snaps to focus with the stock focuser.

Whilst dodging cloud, I noted that the edges of cloud are far better defined and detailed than even in the triplet apo.  

There were no planets or moon up on these nights (but performance on those objects is pretty well documented elsewhere for this scope). 

Star fields look great in this scope, bright, super sharp and the colours are extremely impressive. Random red and orange giants are so full of colour and just a joy to stare at for no particular reason other than how beautiful they are in this scope.  Main sequence stars are bright blue white. 

The views actually appear quite a lot brighter than in my ED80 triplet.  Logic tells us that they are not actually brighter than a scope with higher aperture, but the higher contrast means the sky background is darker and so the objects appear significantly brighter.  I preferred to use my ED80 triplet at x23 or higher; this magnification gives a nice dark background, combatting light pollution.   In the FC76 I found that using x19 or even x15 was really not bad at all due to the higher contrast. 

The contrast the FC-76 gives where other scopes are robbed of definition by light scatter on objective lenses, corrector plates or obstruction from secondary mirrors make this Flourite scope a real weapon in light polluted skies.

I tried several EPs for widefield and I currently prefer the Panoptic 24 over everything else, followed by the ES30mm 82 degree and the Ethos 17mm which gives the same field of view at higher magnification and therefore slightly dimmer (x24 in the panoptic, x33 in the Ethos). Rare that I prefer a 1.25" over a 2", but the Pan24 does hit the magic x24 magnification in this scope, where sky backgrounds are inky black even in light pollution.

DSOs were much easier to find than I thought.  I was really impressed that in Bortle 9 skies I was able to pick out galaxies M81 and M82 at just x24 magnification.  Using x57 in an Ethos 10mm I was surprised to see some some detail in the cigar shaped galaxy.  I couldn't locate the Leo Triplet galaxies but this is not at all surprising in my skies; I couldn't see them in the CC6 either; from my location I've previously only found them in the CC8, which then enabled me to see them in the co-axially mounted 127mm triplet apo.

I found M13 and also M3 easily in the FC76 at x24, these are really bright compared to the galaxies.  I found that using between x70 and x95 gave the best detail, with a few stars resolving.  Impressive for 76mm in light pollution. The CC6 showed more detail of course, whereas it hadn't been anywhere near as good at star fields as the FC-76.

Overall this scope is a joy to view through.  It will undoubtedly be taken to darker skies and on holidays. But ignoring the portability (one handed carry on the Manfrotto head and tripod), the sheer quality of the views make me suspect it is a lifetime scope.

50 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Are you going to stick with the Tak clamshell then, Fish?

No I really like the tube rings, I'll sell the clamshell on here when I have time!

Update on weights, diagonals and mounting rings:

Changing the Tak visual back and adapters to a Baader clicklock and 2" Explore Scientific diagonal added 400 grams, so the total weight including Panoptic 24mm EP and lightweight RDF was 3.2kg.

I've just changed the Tak Clamshell to some Hercules aluminium tube rings.  Although the tube rings feel much lighter, my kitchen scales say there's only 60 grams in it - 480g for the Tak clamshell and dovetail and 420g for the tube rings and dovetail.  So the whole set up (without mount) is around 3.1kg.

For those quick opportunistic views you want a light scope which you can carry out preferably already mounted.

Definitely go for an Alt Az.mount, not an EQ. A Giro like those from Teleoptiks works great. Keep an.eye.out for.a.uaed wooden.trupod like a Berlebach. Light, sturdy, absorbs vibration - but a cheaper aluminium one will do if the scope is light and short enough.

You want a scope that will cool fast, so a doublet. At your budget (especially buying used) you can probably get one with high end glass like FPL51 or even FPL-53, so.youre basically looking at an Apo doublet. I would go for 90-102 mm aperture  and 600-700mm FL.

Longer scopes are harder to mount stably and have narrower fields.

As to targets, there are lots of things which a frac like this will actually do a lot better than either your dob or binos. These scopes are sharper than newts and show lovely wide starfields with high contrast. Yes a newt will  beat them on galaxies, but youre not going to get a three or four degree starfield out of a newt and you cannot get anything but the very lowest magnification out of binos.

The whole of the Orion's belt region in one view, the whole of the sword, the whole of the Pleiades, there are many things these do really well on.

14 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Pretty much the range, but mainly Moon and brighter DSO, especially open star clusters. Grab and go. Not tried on planets, but I suspect it’s a bit too small to do much there (although I’ve seen reports of great Jupiter obs with the FOA 60 Q - I’d love to try one of those, the most highly corrected of the Tak range)

How does the 60 compare to the 76 for wide fields?

5 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

 

The other one is sometimes used with a Quark for Halpha solar. But normally used in FS 60 Q mode (as it is in the pic on the edge of the table) for wonderful visual obs. It’s a very versatile instrument.

What objects do you view with the FS60Q?

What do you use the FS60 for, Jeremy? You have so much choice!

Thanks Mike, bang on!

That's a kilo and a half of Ethos and 2" diagonal hanging off the focuser in the vertical with no slippage or image shift👍

FS60 got benched!

First light report to follow; first, does anyone know how to adjust the tension on the stock focuser (other than the big silver lock knob on top)?

Cheers!

12 hours ago, discardedastro said:

Alright, so the postman didn't bring this, I had to go get it myself - but still worth a post I think!

OOUK VX16 from @Commanderfish now being checked over, tweaked, and roughly collimated after a 2h drive up. Bit of play in the focuser to sort and the mirror cell wants a fan fitting, but otherwise good to go and a superb "little" scope I'm looking forward to trying out!

That hand truck is way cooler than mine!! Looks.like it's extendable too?

Focuser and EP update:

Baader Clicklock M56i (0.75") has arrived and been installed on the stock focuser. With an Explore Scientific Carbon Fibre 99pc reflectivity mirror diagonal, all of my eyepieces come to focus with just the 30mm travel on the stock focuser! 

Clearly the 1.25" EPs need a 2" to 1.25" adapter (I'm using a self centering one which effectively functions as a twist lock).

EPs which come to focus:

- All Ethos (caveat - the 6mm and 8mm need to be in the 2" to 1.25" adapter rather than just dropped straight into the 2" diagonal like the rest).

- Kitakaru 45mm

- Panoptic 41mm

- Panaview 38mm

- Explore Scientific 30mm

- Panoptic 24 mm 

- Explore Scientific 14mm

- Nagler Zoom 3-6mm

Switching between big 2" EPs and 1.25" can of course cause balance issues on most mounts including the Ercole Mini. However, this is less of a problem with the Manfrotto Geared Head, which is effectively always locked in position unless and until you temporarily unlock an axis (once you release it, the lock springs back). This means it's easier to.use 2" and 1.25" EPs together. If you have adjusted for Ethos 21mm then you do get some vertical image shift when changing to a light 1.25".

I will experiment further.

Yep. The cloud is still thick. Sorry!

4 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Pan 24, N13, NZ 3-6, vixen HR 3.4

52 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

I’ve setup a lightweight set... Panoptic 24 and 15, BGO 12.5, Burgess/TMB 8 and Nagler Zoom 3-6. This lot live in a small eyepiece box, easily carried out with either the FS60 or FC76 for grab and go. I do usually leave the zoom in the FC76 though, ready just for lunar.

I’ve got a Fujiyama 9 on it’s way, which may slot in the box too 🤞

What do you use the most  for say open clusters and objects like M42? Just wondering whether around x65 is good for DSOs like these given the limited aperture.

Those of you using 1.25" eyepieces on the FC76 and FC100, what are your most used eyepieces?

I have the Pan 24 and I've ordered a Nagler Zoom. I have the ES82 14mm which looks really sharp on this scope but isn't parfocal to the other two.

Looks like the Nagler 9mm would be good at x63 and 1.3 degrees.

14 minutes ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

 I’m using it with a Giro Ercole mini 

I also have a Giro Mini and usually use it on a Berlebach Report.  I'll try it on the photo tripod with the Tak at some point...

1 hour ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Very nice... How is the double Skywatcher extension tube on the berlebach working out?

Works great, just check the screws holding the extension heads from time to time so the heads don't rotate. Not a big deal.

1 hour ago, Captain Magenta said:

@Commanderfish a difficult question. Berlebach or Manfrotto, which do you prefer?

Magnus

The Berlebach has far more stability and is top notch. I usually have an 800mm FL triplet and a 1846mm Cassegrain on it, weighing about 16.5kg altogether including the Mini Giro Ercole, diagonals and 2" EPs and it's all nice and stable.

The Manfrotto, head and Tak only weigh 7.5kg so truly grab and go.

On 05/04/2021 at 13:56, Nicola Fletcher said:

 

 

Hi Nicola, just wondering what mount this is and whether you find it stable at Nagler Zoom mags on your photo tripod?