jock1958

Cheers Stu. I’ve got an old iPhone SE which needs replacing, maybe the new SE with the better camera? I’ll also check out that Procam app!

I think the CA is more of an ageing operator issue Stu 😂 Bought one of those cheap phone holders you suggested, but as you can see I’m not quite there balancing the light on my phone!

Crude iPhone attempt using my optic star zoom about 8.45pm last night! For fun I also tried my 3-6 nagler zoom & 2.5 power mate combination and was was impressed at how far you can push the Tak FC100.

I was after a second hand FS-60C or CB as the ultimate lightweight grab & go, apart from the focuser woes are you generally pleased with it? I took my focuser off earlier to have a quick nose and I’m convinced the slot machined out of the focuser housing is the guide for the pinion rack, if it’s made of aluminium it will wear in time giving you an increased amount of side play, what do you reckon?

You’ve got me thinking about this again and especially as yours seems to have even more play and stiff to use. I tried winding the adjuster in and it does remove some of the play but then becomes unusable if you see what I mean. The only things I can think that might be worth checking is the adjustment of the focuser pinion to rack, also check the rack is securely attached to focuser tube. I’ve measured the gap between the rack & notch cut out in the focuser housing and it’s 0.010” / 0.25mm not sure if this has any bearing on side play and whether it acts as guide for the rack? Let me know how you go and have you the same TAK as me?

In some ways Stu I'm inclined to agree. Theres no doubt the FT MPA-TAK2.5 focuser is a superb piece of engineering and it works incredibly well, however its a bolt on goody utilising a lot of the original Tak parts and inherent foibles!

The small amount of sideplay I described is only noticeable with my 2" diagonal & heaviest eyepiece fitted in this case a 31mm nagler. I re-adjusted the FT (MPA-TAK2.5) focuser referring to their detailed instructions including the adjustment of the grub screws on top of the focuser but sideplay was still there. At this point I contacted Ian King who I bought my Tak off, he did say it was a common trait of rack & pinion focusers but was more than willing to have a look at it and possibly send it on to Takahashi Europe. Quote Ian King recieved from Takahashi Europe: "It is impossible to avoid the sideway movement on rack and pinion focusers and there is no particular way to adust it. It is clearly more noticeable here as your customer is using a heavy eyepiece. If you can ship the focuser back we can try to improve it putting more grease and maybe a shim inside." I removed the focuser assembly and sent it back to him, he checked it out and found the focuser working well with minimal side by side movement and strongly suspected Takahashi wouldn't be able to improve on it, Ian's experience was good enough for me and as far as I went with it. I haven't delved any further into this sideplay or dismantled the focuser as described by @mikeDnight so it may be possible to add a shim to the rack or rack guide if your sideplay is unacceptable? Not sure but have you replaced your Tak focuser with the FT?

I love M13! even with my light polluted skies its like an exploding box of diamonds through a high powered eyepiece! Good luck and hope you have clear skies soon.

Glad you found it and well done! was all clouded out last night and looks the same today.

Give it another go tonight. Your top chart looks good for M13 but the Cats Eye in your bottom chart looks different to mine, mines a degree or so further north? As I was saying start off with your low power 25mm eyepiece then up it to 10mm and barlow that if you don't lose sight of it whilst re-focusing. Sorry I'm not familiar with your go to mount but assume that its accurately aligned, my set up is a purely manual alt az arrangement.

I'm purely visual and I know finding fuzzies when you have a full moon is difficult and as far as M13 goes I would wait until the moon has done its bit and not visible. I have a 4" refractor so you should definitely be able to see the Cats Eye nebula with yours, start off with a low power eyepiece then change to higher powers when you think you've spotted the target. Not sure what references you use but I find books like Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas & Turn Left at Orion invaluable as well as free downloads like Stellarium, SkySafari, Star Chart and GoSkyWatch. All I can say is keep on persevering and you will be rewarded!

Finding it was a bit of a challenge especially with the brightness of the moon. I used the two pointers of Ursa Minor (Kochab & Pherkad) which took me to Dra, then Aldhibah in Draco. Further on down I drew a small imaginary triangle approx 3 degrees west of stars 27 & Omega which took me to the nebula. Using my 31mm nagler I spotted a small fuzzy dot, I swapped over to my 14mm Delos which revealed a small grey / blueish blob. Best view was with my 3 - 6 nagler zoom between x180 & 200 and very similar to @John pic without the central star.

Aha I thought it was a phone holder but couldn’t see it properly. I’ve got a similar set up though not as neat or lightweight as yours!

Hi Jon great write up, your Celestron looks the bees knees atop your AZ4 combination. Like you I wanted a lightweight set up with the ability to move it out of the house quickly when observing opportunities present themselves without taking anything apart. I've added and subtracted bits and bobs over the last few years and settled with the AZ4 steel leg tripod / Skytee 2 combo with a 5" ally extension tube for my Tak FC100 DL. Question whats that little silver bracket on the bottom of your AZ4 mount for?

I’m waiting for delivery of a cheap iPhone holder recommended by @johninderby and @Stu got to be worth a punt at that price!

Thank you very much @johninderby and @Stu lots to ponder there!

Thanks Stu, great info and something for me to look at during lock down. Used a Vixen 5mm SLV with my Skytee 2 Mount so probably not the ideal combination especially the speed that it travels across the eyepiece 🤣

Great effort Mike!! I tried photographing Venus last week hand holding my iPhone and failed miserably, I’ve been looking at special holders but not sure which one to get?

Bought my Tak FC 100DL two years ago after reading some excellent reviews on the net and this forum...thanks guys for lightening my wallet! I was looking for a 4" refractor that would see me well into retirement with brilliant optics, lightweight and beautifully engineered, needless to say I haven't been disappointed! The only thing I added was a feather-touch focuser which was more of an extravagance than a necessity, but must admit I enjoy the ability to eke out that extra little bit of performance.

I’m liking the map holder what a great idea 👍

Looking at your photo I would be tempted to leave it, I bet it will have a negligible effect on your views. Lots of good info on this forum reference lens cleaning and adjusting collimation if the OCD gets the better of you! Good luck!

@hawksquawksIf you decide on a DIY job I would err on the extreme side of caution and get as much info before removing and splitting the lens cells! I did just that with my Tal 100rs when a foil shim came adrift between the lens cells, I spent months fiddling and faffing with the collimation and it’s still not 💯!

I contacted Steve Collingwood 3 years ago about the collimation of my Tal 100rs. He offered to check it out for me including a bench test for £40, I didn’t ask him about lens cleaning though. If I had been living closer I would have taken him up on the offer, but decided against that due to the cost and risk of posting it from South Wales.

Cheers @festoon signed and shared. Like others have said it’s too late to stop this project but never too late to log your concerns and objections!

I counted 20 before I gave up. As Stu says the more that are launched the more painful they will become especially for astro photography!