jock1958

When I stripped mine down for re-greasing I noticed some obvious flaws in the casting of Alt Axis Fitting which shouldn't have passed quality control checks but mines still in one piece and I haven't overloaded it!

I’ve owned both @Stu but still got the venerable and extremely flexible Skytee 2. You don’t need to re-balance the OTA when swapping heavy eyepieces or BV’s as the alt axis can be easily locked off, I found the Ercole not as forgiving in this department and had a few scares where I forgot to re-balance the OTA and tighten up the top friction knob. Also wouldn’t be without Slo Mo controls. The only improvement I could recommend is to replace the sticky Synta grease, which in my case gummed up the works especially when cold. I use bog standard wheel bearing grease from Halfords, the next time I strip it down I may try Aeroshell grease 33 as used in Boeing 747 control systems.

Cant comment on the Esprit 80 or 100 as I've never owned or looked through one, also my experience is limited compared to some of our esteemed SGL members but was looking at upgrading my Tal 100rs. When I reached the big 60 I decided that was a good enough reason and bought a Tak FC-100DL mainly from the positive recommendations on this forum. Do I regret shelling out approx £2.5k....absolutely not, IMO It is a masterpiece of engineering, exquisite to look at and has given me the best views of the heavens so far!

Ditto... bought a second hand pair of WO BV’s in near mint condition last October and haven’t looked back, I honestly wish I’d bought them earlier. Was out the last few nights and views of the moon through my Tak FC-100DL, BV’s, TV 2.5x power mate & 15mm TV plossls have been nothing short of brilliant!

That is an excellent job Mike, truly a work of art! If you ever think of mass production I'll buy one off you!

Hi @jadcx basically made them myself have a read of my post from last week.

Excellent report thanks for posting.

Hi @Dean Hale it keeps the mind active during lockdown these little DIY projects 😄 I like your rubber grip and does the slo mo introduce any vibration when you turn it? I made that clip on eyepiece holder from one of the wife’s old chopping boards and garden wire also made a bigger one for my AZ4 tripod that holds 2” eyepieces!

Neat solution @Dean Hale especially the Amazon end connections, had similar issues with my slo mo control cables, I found the Skywatcher offerings too short and stiff which introduced vibration at the eyepiece especially with my lightweight Tak FS-60 setup. My DIY solution after a lot of trial & error is 6mm diameter strimmer drive cable cut down to suit off eBay, made the end connectors from stainless steel tube tapped the grub screw holes to m4 and slo mo control knobs from the unused front drives off my Skytee 2. I also used some black heat shrink and electrical tubing around the drive cable to add a bit more rigidity and improve the looks. Now I can sit comfortably with my ultra flexible slo mo's in my lap, vibration has been virtually eliminated and they are much easier to use, by the way I made a second pair for my Tak FC-100DL setup.

Just for you Jeremy 😉

The TV 3-6 Nag Zoom is one of my most used eyepieces, I find it brilliant for planetary and double stars and It’s just so easy to use.

I’m sure you have many observing years left before your used by date arrives 😁

Nice one @mikeDnight you have the knack of seeing things I can't. I looked at it about a week ago through my Tak FC-100DL at x250 - 300 and couldn't pull out any discernible detail, roll on 2022!

The ones I bought off the bay are good enough but they are not Televue or OEM quality, if you are after like for like replacements it might be worth contacting TV as @Louis D says 🤔

Bought mine off that well known auction site for my 26mm Celestron Plossl’s, there’s lots of different sizes that might suit just a question of going through the listings.

That’s a shame was hoping they might have kept duplicates in their archives or something similar. I’d already messaged Takahashi America & Japan earlier today before I read your reply, If I get a meaningful response from either of the above I’ll put it all on a separate thread. Thanks for that 👍

Cheers Mike. I emailed FLO a while back about this, they weren’t sure and told me to message Tak Europe, did that but have haven’t heard anything back so far 🤷🏻‍♂️ Might do a trawl on CN and see how they went about contacting Takahashi Japan directly.

Bought my Tak FC-100DL new with certificate of course, unfortunately previous owner of my FS-60C mislaid his, it wasn’t a deal breaker but certainly took the gloss off things 😩 wonder if it’s possible for Takahashi to replace lost or missing certificates ?? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Trouble is once you go down the Tak route it’s very difficult to get it out of your system and can be very expensive...but hey ho you only live once 😬

Go on press that button you won't regret it, once you've bought the FS-60CB you can invest in a CQ 1.7x Extender then you have an FS-60Q......only trying to help 😉

+1 for the Tak FC-100DL!! Bought mine a few years ago as a special pressie and have been very, very pleased with it.

Nice clutter free man shed Dave and a tidy paint job on the floor!

Neat DIY handle for one of the best 4” fracs available!

Hi and welcome to SGL. Agree about the weather around here, looked promising earlier but I see can clouds rolling in again 🙁

Yeh agree with the shortcomings of that top clamp but IMO its not completely useless I have my Telrad on there just now 🤣 just waiting for Rowan to come up with the mid range AZ50 🤞