jock1958

3 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I bought the WO diagonal to compare to the Baader. I only used it once, so in fairness I'm not qualified to comment in depth on its performance.

It looks pretty well made to me. The helical focus feature us nice, a little stiff perhaps, but it was new so might well free up with use. The one time I did compare briefly with the Baader I felt the Baader was a but sharper and definitely had more contrast.

The Baader costs around £40 more than the WO..I think that the Baader is worth the extra, for the better build and Optics, but the WO represents decent value at £59 plus shipping.

I sold mine quicker than I planned, to help fund a new Morpheus 17.5mm, so watch out for a comparison of the M17.5 with my LVW22 before long☺.

Dave

Baader arrived this morning but due to the rubbish weather down here haven’t been able to try it out properly apart from daytime views of distant trees / buildings etc.

It’s beautifully made and the images are (so far) crystal clear, the helical focuser works really well and and is very smooth in operation.

As been mentioned previously on this thread you have to “step up” with the quality of the equipment you buy for the Tak to get the most out of what is a truly fantastic scope.

I agree with you Dave I think £40 is worth the extra, just looking forward to some decent weather now ?

12 hours ago, happy-kat said:

There's the WO 1.25 erect image diagonal and under the price above and has a helical focuser built in, there's a recent positive member's review on it.

Link to review

It was a very tough call and I know the Baader 1.25 was more expensive but eventually settled for it as I love the quality of their kit which includes my BCO's.     

33 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

The Baader helical focuser on the Baader 1.25" prism is a great way to get micro-focus capability at a fraction of the cost of a Tak micro-focuser. The only drawback arrises if you later choose to use a binoviewer, as the viewer would rotate with the focuser. The Baader prism is excellent!

Thanks Mike, sounds like it’s going to be the Baader for me 

30 minutes ago, Piero said:

if you intend to only use 1.25" eyepieces, you could also consider the 1.25" Tak prism diagonal. The Baader is better built though.

Yeh all my eyepieces are 1.25” and have no immediate plans to buy any 2” eyepieces, but you never know!

With some good reviews I was leaning more towards the Baader with helical focuser as mentioned on this thread by Paul.

When I last looked RVO has it up for £95, more in my budget

Thanks Stu and Piero might have to forgo the next holiday to afford those diagonals plus all the adaptors etc etc lol!! 

Well the FC100 DL has finally arrived (60th birthday pressie) and and have blown the family budget in the process ? 

No bones about it, this is an engineering masterpiece!! even down to the box within a box packaging.

Decided to bolt it straight onto my Skytee 2 mount using the Tak clamp, thanks again John / Kerry for your advice but went for the cheapo option for just now. 

Only managed 20 mins last night before clouds came over but was blown away by the pin spot views of the Trapezium.

Next thing on the list is a new diagonal, Baader Prism T2, Williams Optics or the Tak?, decisions, decisions and  a more researching to do ?

7 minutes ago, kerrylewis said:

I use a Farpoint dovetail plate as this pic:

Thanks Kerry

I've got a couple of options to look at now

43 minutes ago, John said:

I simply use an Altair dovetail bar bolted to the clamshell.

 

Thanks John, simple and effective. Could adapt the dovetail bar I have on my present set up

On 03/11/2017 at 09:16, John said:

Welcome from me as well !

Like Piero, I don't use a moon filter with my Tak FC-100 DL. For nebulae I use either the Lumicon O-III or the Omega DM NBP filters but most often I go "filter free" for nighttime viewing.

For the Sun I use a Lunt 1.25" Herschel Wedge which works excellently:

 

Hi John

Have ordered up a FC 100DL and looking at attaching it to my SkyTee 2 using the Tak clamshell and an ADM style dual saddle adaptor, similar to your setup. 

Did you attach a Farpoint Dovetail Plate or equivalent to the clamshell instead of a dove tail bar?  

Thanks Jock

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

The scope looks to be in fine condition Jock..

If you have the RS focuser and get the 100r tube, I'm sure it would be possible to get an adapter made to join the two parts..in fact, you could have the tube shortened to allow the use of a binoviewer without needing a Barlow lens to get focus as well!?.

Good luck,

Dave

Thanks Dave lots of food for thought there 

All the best Jock

2 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Hi Jock,

I don't know for sure, but as per my post, I fear that they are not interchangeable.

Our TAL expert on SGL, AndyH, may be able to help out. Might be worth messaging him, you should find him on SGL members search, AndyH☺.

Hope that helps a bit.

Dave

Hi Dave 

Thanks for heads up.

My 100rs was roughed up by clumsy couriers and has never produced the views I hoped hence the thought of using the good bits of my TAL with a 100r, that's if I could find one close to home and cheap enough to make it worth my while.

All the best Jock  

19 hours ago, F15Rules said:

That's the one I was looking at (but I won't be bidding as I have an ED103s Vixen already☺.

It looks great, but ask to see photos of the lens and accessories.

The Tal 100r is very Russian.

Good points:

Great lens, lovely purple coatings, slightly better figured than the later RS models IMO.

Decent, if a bit agricultural equipment mount, built like a tank.

The tripod is definitely Tal, and it's a good one, ideal for this scope.

Accessories are good, the 6x30 finder is a cracker, with helical focusing. The 25m Plossl is superb, optically gives Tele Vue a run for it's money. The 10mm is decent too. The diagonal is excellent.

Not so good points:

The baffling on the 100r tubes can be poor. Look up the tube and if you can see daylight around the edges of the baffles, they may have moved or not been fixed properly. It is fixable but annoying.

The focuser on the 100r is poor and has a tiny amount of travel,  maybe c40mm, enough for the Tal eyepieces but other brands may not come to focus. The Crayford focuser on the 100rs is excellent and MUCH better. I think you would want to swap the focuser and Tal stuff has its own build foibles so may need for example to have a custom adapter machined to fit the tube. I don't think the RS focuser fits the 100r tube (even if you  could find one).

Someone like Mark at Moonraker Telescopes could probably help. That would add to the cost. Mind you, the lens is worth it.. a Moonlite dual speed equipped 100r would be a serious refractor ?.

Good luck if you bid, let us know if you win it!

Dave

Hi Dave

Great bits of info on the TAL 100r. I have a 100rs and was wondering if you could swap the focusers over without major surgery.

TAL 100r with 100rs focuser hmm! that would be nice to try ?

Agree with Jules and it does look like the original TAL tripod and mount.

Looking at the photos the whole package looks in great condition and if I was living closer I would be very tempted to go and have a look.

One of these went for £103 a few weeks ago on fleabay, including mount and tripod!

Ta Jock

On 20/01/2018 at 15:12, davyludo said:

I must admit, for low power scanning... I prefer the AZ4. Purely because it has a handle for moving the scope. The AZ5 does have a nice smooth movement and less stiction than the AZ4. But stiction isn't a massive issue for low power. 

Having said that, the ST102 on the AZ5 isn't so bad. But as the mak is short, you end up having to steer using the ota when not using the slow motion controls. 

Scanning at low power, I use AZ4 (which I sold and the bought again). For high power and manual tracking, I use AZ5. 

Bit off topic but has anybody tried this?  AZ4 handle screwed into counterbalance shaft on the Skytee 2.

Works great for scanning with the added bonus of slo mos when required