jock1958

Setting the alarm for 5am and fingers crossed

Thanks for the heads up. I wouldn't be surprised if its raining and cloudy down here as per usual

Hi there. I went through similar issues with my 100DL and eventually arrived at the sweet spot using a TS optics 35mm extension tube and now all my 1.25” eyepieces including my Baader 2.25” Barlow arrives at focus. I trod the same path as @mikeDnight ‘trial & error’ Theres an excellent thread on this forum that might be worth looking at, Tak FC-100 - a few questions my input starts about pages 11 or 12. Attached pic of the stock extension tube (which I don't use now) and the TS optics 35mm if that’s of any help.

I’ve had my 100DL less than a year and I’ve cleaned it once already (pollen & dew spots)

Welcome to SGL Phil, I owned a Tal 1 many years ago and had some wonderful views with it and this led me to acquire a Tal 100RS, unfortunately it was damaged in transit by clumsy couriers. I’ve tried my best to restore it to original condition but it’s not quite there. The later upgraded focuser on my 100 RS was by no means perfect and needed quite a bit of fettling, also I haven’t sorted the collimation to my liking, apart from that it has delivered some very crisp views of the moon, planets and large nebulae (M42 etc) You will find quite a bit about Tal’s on this forum and I’m sure some of the die hard Tal fans will be along shortly to advise you further

Agree with @Johnthe 16” extension does a great job with the Skytee 2, unfortunately for myself (dodgy back!!) it was a bit to heavy so resorted to light weight DIY extensions tubes

Fog & drizzle 🌧 here

Thanks Olly Might dust off my Tal 100rs and give the collimation another go

I've had some cracking views with my Opticstar XL 7.2-21.5mm & Baader Q 2.25x combination and it didn't break the bank!

More or less exactly what I was going to say but having not owned this particular scope I didn't realise the finder was difficult to use or align. Agree that a Telrad is a fantastic bit of kit for the money and is extremely easy to fit and align.

Has anybody tried this mount that's on sale with 365 Astronomy? Comparisons with Skytee 2 and other similar Alt / Az mounts? 365Astronomy-Giant-Alt-Azimuth-Telescope-Mount-Head-ONLY.html

You should certainly be able to see some good views of the Orion nebula through your telescope. If it is focused correctly stars will appear as sharp points of light with your 10mm eyepiece even the brightest of stars. @Qualia on this forum wrote a brilliant piece ‘what can I expect to see’. He used a variety of small to medium telescopes (4" - 8") for his write up with a mixture of sketches and photos including the Orion nebula. I started off this hobby back in the mid 90's with a Russian 4" reflector with very basic instructions and no internet but got there in the end, as previously said it can be very frustrating at times but stick with it and you will be rewarded.

Great idea, smaller more practical scope and those baby buggies are light with off road tyres and suspension which takes care of any bumps on your trek to the dark site! Job done

Might still be closed until next week ?. Give them a bell.