Tyson M

Wow you sure don't see these scopes ever. Very nice, I like the cat too!

I replaced the ED120 for some more aperture- TS152 f5.9 achro. So far, so good under the stars. The SV80L lomo is my solar and planetary scope for its superior contrast and I found myself using the ED120 for deep sky only, so I figured I would try something bigger since my mount can handle it.

Here are my contributions. SV80L doing solar work My SW120ED Here both of them are together:

That is absolutely beautiful!! I'm so jealous, I have always wanted that Istar. Perfect mount for it too.

That is absolutely beautiful. I love that scope set up.

Why don't you make a dob mount for it? That's what I always thought would be killer on these large mak newts.

That is beautiful. I love the mount too. Never seen either of these before.

Plenty of cloudy nights around here. May as well post some pics of the new scopes on the new Vamo traveller.

Here is m TS72 F5.5 apo, for imaging or future night vision use. So far, it is ultra portable grab and go scope.

I ordered one new, one preowned refractors of what I consider to be close to top tier for the 80mm class. It will be interesting in comparing them, as one is considerably more expensive, and being a bit more portable.

Here it is with the center column raised 3.5 inches and also with the DSVM mount extension. Indoor star test has been the best I have ever seen and extremely contrasty, with no image breakdown at 250x. I will be comparing this scope directly with a TV85 I picked up as well. One will stay, one will go.

The mount head is DSV-M. It is ultra portable with its small dimensions. The mount is a Manfrotto 028 tripod. A bit old but works, bought preowned for a really good price.

I just got it in!!! Vixen 81S. I am still waiting for the carrying handle to arrive. This is a seriously nice unit. I have yet to have first light. Perfect for grab and go if you can get around the length. It is very light weight.

Sometimes I'll take out that lunt diagonal ( like in the winter) and put a 1.25" standard dielectric diagonal in, and a 32mm plossl 1.25". So I don't bother with the 27 pan and 2" diagonal.

This is my grab and go eyepiece case. For the larger Vixen scope I use a photo backpack with the same EP's in bolt cases.

That is simply beautiful.....very elegant!

A video is worth a thousand words. ^ Don't be put off by pressure tuner niggles. Once you get a good one / new scope, it offers great control. I had issues with my 50 but stuck it out. My new 60PT B1200 is a dream to use. Everything I wanted in a grab and go Solar scope.

Knobby's advice is sound. It is losing pressure. And fast by the sounds of it. The view should never go away. Daytime seeing is fickle though and there could be a sweet spot in that area. So make sure you move the sun around the blocking filter and check for a decent amount of time about whether or not it is holding pressure. If you keep repeating it, that is rethreading the pressure tuner on and off again, and it doesn't get fixed by regressing and a simple o ring - you might have a serious problem. Sometimes all that it takes is a new o ring. If it is preowned and/or has a old o ring , simply changing it is all that is required. A cheap easy fix.

Here is my most used solar set up. And this was for my annual solar outreach:

I had to do some reshuffling of my grab and go backpack. The 31mm nagler and 20mm meade swa were simply too heavy. The bag was so full that it felt like I may be compromising the structural integrity of the straps- and it was a brand new expensive backpack. Plus the 31mm nagler was hard on the Equinox 80mm focuser. I will be more selective on what eyepieces I use. I plan to use a 32mm plossl and 22mm panoptic and 13mm nagler with 2x and 3x barlow and 5x powermate

The Equinox is probably one of my most enjoyed scopes ever. Grab and go viewing is definitely my style. 31mm nagler is a part of that joy at a dark site. It has to come. This scope and my Lunt LS60Tha B1200 are my two favorite. I simply dont have much time to use my big SCT much, even though the views are phenomenal. I am hoping to get out more with it now that I am done night school, but we have a small car so space is vital either way.

I am glad I saw this thread. I just bought a Nikon bag and replaced two cases (scope and eyepiece case). Inside: Skywatcher Equinox 80mm w/ tube rings/7" dovetail 1.25" Baader Solar Continuum filter 1.25" 13% moon filter 2" Lumicon UHC filter 1.25" 32mm, 25mm Plossl 1.25 Televue 13mm nagler T6 1.25" TV 2x, 3x barlow and a 5x powermate 1.25" Barska zoom eyepiece. 1.25" 45 degree prism diagonal 1.25" Lunt Hershel Wedge 2" WO dielectric diagonal 2" Meade SWA 20mm 2" TV 31mm Nagler T5 TV Red dot finder with riser In the future, I plan to remove the 20mm Meade SWA, and see if I can fit a soon to be purchased DSV-M mount in there. That will remove the need to carry out my last case, with the porta II mount head. Tools, adjustment cables. I can also probably remove the 1.25" 45 degree diagonal and TV red dot finder if I need to make space. Then it will be truly grab and go. Grab the backpack and put it on, grab the tripod and head out the door.

No dual night scopes yet. The AZEQ6 carries a heavy Meade 10" ACF . I can dual solar scope now though! I am doing outreach with this set up today.

Great looking building PaulC I want to make an ATM ISTAR, for my first project I want to go large with either the new 8.7" f15 or 9" f7.7 lens. The 9" would be a killer solar scope so I am leaning towards that.