jock1958

Think I saw those on ABS and was mighty tempted myself but resisted. I’m in the early days of binoviewing so I’m not quite sure which eyepieces to get to go with my WO 20mm & Celestron 26mm 🤔 Let us know how you get on with those BCO’s, the 2.25x Barlow is brilliant, I use it all the time with my BV’s & my zoom eyepiece!

Contacted @FLO today and they’re in discussions and if all goes well they will add these products to their website. I’d like to think there would be a substantial saving over the MEF-3 even after shipping & import costs but will have to wait and see? Also the quality looks good and should fit a good proportion of the Takahashi range of scopes. https://astrohutech.store/product/more-blue-precision-focuser-kit-for-takahashi-telescopes/

I’ve had a number of different finders on my scopes but one thing has been a constant and that is my trusty Telrad, I know it looks like something out of a car boot sale but I can’t recommend it highly enough and in astro equipment terms its as cheap as chips!

Been looking at focuser upgrade options for my Mini Tak FS-60 and and a guy on the other forum recommended a More Blue Precision Focuser for Takahashi scopes sold by AstroHutech, it looks very similar to the MEF-3, however it's a lot cheaper at $169! The other thing that's appealing is it works at a 12:1 ratio instead of 7:1 like the MEF-3 which equates to an even finer focus adjustment. I don't think its been out that long as I can't find a lot on line about it? Wonder if there are any vendors in the UK / Europe that might import it @FLO?

Hi all Whilst browsing the net I came across this website selling loads of astro stuff REELAYSIGNS.CO.UK, anybody else heard of it? The saying "if it sounds to good to be true it definitely is" springs to mind. A quick browse reveals ridiculously low prices, poor English, bad spelling, no feedback on the web and very suspicious contact number. Example of an advert - Vixen Super Polaris FL 1025 Refractor Telescope original price £84.58 down to £32.59, I also spotted the European Extremely Large Telescope going for a similar price!!

Great collection of Bino-viewing pairs Mike including the much sought after Vixen HR's, I'm not jealous honest! I'm in the early part of my BV journey and so far only have the 20mm WO Swans that came with the WO BV's and a pair of 26mm Halloween plossl's. What's the shortest FL you would go on the TV plossls? I already have a TV 15mm and was thinking of getting another? Also are you using your 35mm Eudiascopic & 35mm Celestron Ultima as a matched pair?

I think somebody mentioned something about the edit button on the latest SGL update, I didn’t realise that it was transferred to the 3 dots, thanks @Tiny Clanger

Was out about an hour ago with my little Tak FS-60Q and the Moon was crystal clear with some amazing detail, however not the same story with an increasingly small Mars! Out later with Tak FC-100DL if weather stay clear...oh and when I’ve done the dishes🤞

For the foreseeable it looks like I'll be keeping the Skytee 2 until @Dek Rowan Astro comes up with a smaller version of the AZ100 with slo mo's....pretty please 😉

Yeh I've seen the Skywatcher AZ5, wasn't aware that ES are making an identical version, they look similar in design to the relatively new Scopetech Zero but quite a bit cheaper. Like John mentioned I found the Giro Ercole AZ mount with my Tak FC-100DL onboard was noticeably smoother in operation with a counter weight & bar attached.

I have a Vixen Porta for my Tak FS-60 and yes the vibrations are annoying which I put down to the flimsy aluminium legs, apparently it fares better with the older version of the tripod! I owned a Giro Ercole Alt Az mount and there's no escaping the exquisite teutonic engineering, however I find the "nudge-nudge-damn-I've missed it" design frustrating to use so switched back fairly quickly to the altogether more forgiving Skytee 2 with slo mo controls. In your experience Mike would you consider the Televue Gibralta mounts to be good altazimuth forks?

If I had my time again I would probably have gone for the TS AZ5 over the Skytee 2 purely from whats been said in regards to the quality differences.

I’ve had the bug well over 4 years now and like you say it’s terminal!! on the other forum they call it “Takitis” 🤣🤣

Thanks for posting this @Fedele and a great insight into how they produce these wonderful scopes using tried and trusted methods of old. Loved the sand casting, reminds me of metalwork during my school days in the mid 1970's!!

Hi there I'm not familiar with your scope but this link on the Cloudy Nights forum might help. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjtybCoraXuAhXIh1wKHWcQBisQFjAAegQIBxAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cloudynights.com%2Ftopic%2F485905-skywatcher-127mm-mak-focuser-issue%2F&usg=AOvVaw2Vdq5yPBpGwgEdrnkTaS2I

Another ✅ for the Skytee 2. It's a bit industrial in the build quality department but once you iron out the little niggles its an absolute joy to use and more than capable on carrying my Tak FC-100DL. They come up second hand from time to time like UK Astro Buy & Sell, its where I bought mine.

Great thread this and thanks for the tips especially cleaning the electrical contacts which I hadn't thought of in relation to a non astro problem I have with my dodgy central heating timer . As far as lens covers go you can be as creative as you like, I use a variety of protectors ie: plastic bottle tops, electrical blanking caps and rubber caps off eBay, basically anything you can think of that keeps your lenses clear of dust. Couple of pics below, the black soft rubber caps I bought off eBay & yellow plastic cap from my spares box which I've seen in electrical suppliers & eBay.

Exactly what I was going to say! I'm sure @Fedele has a Rocket Blower 🤔

I love the look and the optics of my Tak 6x30 finder but like others find it difficult to use and presently my Skywatcher RA finder is back on my FC-100DL. I'm sure if Mr Takahashi produced a RACI finder it would sell like hot cakes over here, another alternative would be to paint your RACI finder a matching Tak white and call it a TACKY-RACI 😉

I have an FC-100DL as well and my arrangement is similar to John's only difference is I added a TS 35mm extension tube for all my 1.25" eyepieces to achieve focus (Note: I don't have the 15mm T2 extension on my diagonal that John mentions) Picture below with my 1.25" prism diagonal

Cheers John & Dave will keep on battling the elements and my latitude, you never know 2021 might be my lucky year🤞

Great news Dave! I've tried and failed on a number of occasions with my Tak FC-100DL, I shall persevere but I think my 100mm aperture and latitude is against me 😩

You've given the vendor a chance and he's replied with a load of old tosh to put it politely!! as others have said it should have been received in immaculate condition inside & out, stick to your guns and go for the refund.

Another option is fabricate an aluminium spacer plate to fit under your finder shoe which is what I did on my Takahashi FS-60, it has the same finder bracket dimensions as your FC-100DC. See pictures below of a Skysurfer finder fitted to my FS-60. For my Tak FC-100DL I followed @John lead and fitted a Skywatcher 6x30 RA finder into a Tak bracket

Petition signed! Contacted my local council more than 18 months ago about the bright LED light outside my house and got to say they were more than helpful in replacing it with a much dimmer version with an adjustable black plastic deflector. Couple of pics below of what we used to have and what we have now (note deflector fitted around LED light)