jock1958

Yeh those plastic yellow dust caps are electrical plug blanking caps which are snug fit in the eyepiece cups, if it’s just eyepiece dust caps you are after I bought some cheap rubber ones off the Bay for my 20mm WO and other eyepieces, I found you will need to measure the eyepiece end, subtract a mm or so and hope for a snug fit 🤞

As you say Dave those 26mm plossls are a really good BV pair but on the absolute limit as far as focal length goes for my WO BV’s, I think my next big astro purchase will be the legendary MB II’s….I better get saving 🤣🤣

Hi Dave very pleased with the two 26mm plossls I bought off you. One of my seals started to crack so ordered a replacement pack off fleabay. Like others have said I wasn't sure what those seals do, maybe anti vibration or prevent the halloween sleeve rotating?? However as I was having eye placement problems I bought some cheapo rubber cups off the bay but no way to secure them so added some of the spare seals I had, these overlap the existing seal and gap this holds the cups in place very nicely, see pics below.

A very quick session using the Tak FC-100DL, BV's & Pentax 8.5's on Venus. Started off about 8.45pm just before it was naked eye visible, atmosphere was steady and Venus was crisp and sharp, unfortunately was unable to detect any cloud formations with & without filters. Ditched the BV's in favour of cyclops to view Mars in the Beehive cluster, initially used the the 31mm Big Boy then 14mm Delos but most satisfying views were through the 24mm Panoptic. Some strictly amateur at the eyepiece iPhone pics below of Venus through the Pentax 8.5's & BV's using orange & blue filters.

Got to be honest @Franklin never heard of this site before. Just had a quick browse through and there’s some lovely stuff at very reasonable prices. Have you bought from here and if so what’s the postage and import costs into the UK like?

From my back garden using a 4” frac ‘Smudges’ or ‘Fuzzies’ are great descriptions of DSO’s. Two that have frustrated & eluded me the most are face on galaxies M33 in Triangulum & M101 in Ursa Major!

Hi Peter Just downloaded that app to my iPhone SE and it looks very, very promising, also sussed out the go to and align functions after a bit of digging around. I’ve got an old phone holder and will look at mounting it on my 4” Tak over the weekend. As a visual Alt Az observer I’ve been looking for something like this for ages, and for £2.99 it saves a good bit on Celestrons Starsense. Many thanks for the heads up on this 👍

Very nice Mike!! wonder if duck egg green would be an even closer match 🤔

I know its a few months ago but I eventually found a roll of anti rattle felt tape on the Bay of Fleas for £3.82, it's very thin but ideal for my needs. I cut three small sections approx 20mm x 10mm and stuck them equidistantly over the original tape which seems to have done the trick. Screenshot below of the tape.

Nearly bought one of those screw on Extender Q's a few years ago but price, ergonomics and faff of fitting & removing put me off, having said that the slip on extender that @JeremyS mentions is a lot smaller and seems easier to fit & remove. I've had my 2.5 - 1.25" Powermate for a few years and it is brilliant, and views through it are exactly as others have said. I use it on the BV's and cyclops. If you are on a budget they do crop up second hand from time to time, think I paid £100 off ABS.

Nice one @Stu 👍😊 had a hunch an SGL’r would snap it up!

Be interested to see who goes for it, the seller is accepting offers 🤔

Bought my Tak FS-60Q second hand and it came with the same 1.25" visual back as yours and also a Tak 2" as mentioned by @mikeDnight I tend to use the 2" VB with my Baader prism diagonal and 2" nose piece #2408150. Not 100% sure about the click-lock but asked FLO a similar question about my FC-100DL and they suggested click-lock #2956268 which would screw directly onto the focuser tube, no original adapter required. Your focuser tube is smaller than the FC-100DL with an outside thread (55mm OD?) so I think the click-lock #2956255 you mentioned might need another adapter ring to fit, I would contact FLO. Couple of pics below of my Tak FS-60 & Baader prism diagonal with 2" nosepiece.

I’m visual only, adjusting the worm gear housing is straightforward requiring basic tools ie Allen keys and a bit of trial and error, I’m sure there’s a few threads on here which will point you in the right direction.

Had mine for over 6 years now and it does the job really well although a bit agricultural. Replaced the sticky grease and adjusted the worm gears and everything runs nice and smoothly. Wasn’t able to get rid of the backlash completely but good enough for my needs.

Wow 🤩 two TSA 120’s and a Mewlon, suppose it saves money on another pair of MB II’s BV’s 🤣 PS mount & tripod look the biz as well 👍

Looks very nice Dave and I’m sure all it needs is some of your TLC to restore it to its former glory. As far as unscrewing the lens what about trying some rubber garden gloves for the extra grip and getting someone to hold the bottom of the tube while you do it? And if that doesn’t work there’s always the oil filter strap wrench when and if you get desperate 😩🤣

Bought my 31mm T5 Nagler over 3 years ago off a fellow SGL’r in as new condition. It works very well on my Tak FC-100DL + Skytee 2, its a chunky bit of kit but the views through it are impressive, I also bought a TV eyeguard extender which allows for comfortable eye placement. As John mentioned you need to slide the OTA forward in the tube clamp to balance things out. I also tried it on my Tak FS60 for kicks, it does work but the focuser struggles and it’s a faff trying to balance things out.

And once you’ve sorted any issues with the mechanicals think about re-assembling with a grease that works well in low temperatures. My Skytee 2 Alt Az mount was originally lubed with that horrible Synta glue which was useless in the cold, since then I’ve stripped it down and used standard grease for wheel bearings which works nicely, next strip down I’ll be using Aeroshell green grease 33 as used in aircraft undercarriage and flying control systems, at 40,000 ft outside temp is approx -50°.

Lovely looking scope Dave, and like how you managed to smuggle it in without your other half finding out 🤣 I used to have large Astro items delivered to my mate across the road, unfortunately he sold up to go travelling 😩

Thanks for that Mike, sounds like they are a good purchase. Once the diopters have loosened off they should be so much easier to use than the ones on my WO BV’s. Didn’t realise Baader do low profile click locks, tell me more? I’m currently using their ultra short clamp which allows me to reach native focus with all my bino pairs from 8.5mm to 26mm.

Another satisfied customer and sounds like you all enjoyed the Astro Show. Looking forward to see how you get on with yours and if you have same bedding in issues as Mike.

Assume it also came with a nice “Under the Counter” discount Mike?? 😉 Very much looking forward to your first light reports as they are top of my wish list 🤞🤞

Wow 🤩 I thought these MB II’s were unobtainium!!

Agree there's loads of excellent info on Cloudy Nights, for me Denis Levatic & Eddgie certainly know their bino-viewers! And if your budget can't stretch to Badder Maxbright BV's then I've been very happy with my mid range Williams Optics BV's, I bought these second hand in excellent condition (£150ish) IMO its an excellent starter package which includes two good 20mm eyepieces and a 1.6x glass path corrector, if you find you are having problems merging or you can't get on with them then you should be able to resell with minimum loss.