jock1958

Would be interested to see how you get on with the Omegon AZ Baby mount? I was after a second hand one for my Tak FS-60 but they don’t seem to come up that often so I ended up with a more costly Scopetech Zero.

I have exactly the same problem especially with 15mm TV plossls in my BV’s. I’m sure I read somewhere on this forum that either removing or folding down the eyepiece cups helps by dissipating the warm air currents, I haven’t tried that yet as I find the cups are crucial for my eye placement so I tend to give it a break for few seconds while the fogging clears. I think multiple dew bands on a pair of eyepieces is a non starter for me, I would hate all those cables and the faff and the thought of swapping eyepieces 😩 I might try @mikeDnight method of wafting my hand over the eyepieces method next 🤔

Hi Chris it looks like you’ve done a pretty good job to me. It’s very difficult to get it 100% especially when you shine a light on it but I’m sure it’s given you the confidence to do it next time without all the worry.

I like a bit of Lego, this years Christmas pressie maybe 🤔

My FS-60C / Q doesn’t take that long to acclimatise whether it’s in C or Q modes but I find it does perform better the longer you leave it and that goes for my FC-100DL as well. As Mike has alluded to atmospheric conditions do play a part in a reliable star test including viewing the concentric rings, I tend to use Polaris due to its high altitude and relative lack of movement, that’s if you are using an Alt Az mount, also a good high powered eyepiece, I use a 3-6 Nagler zoom or my 5mm Vixen SLV for this.

Good idea Dave and glad to hear your on the mend just a shame you couldn’t get out to enjoy those four clear nights. No such luck in South Wales, it seems to rain for five months of the year starting in November 😩

Hi @Chris Willocks I've been through the same agony as yourself, after taking advice off fellow SGL'rs and the Internet I carefully did it myself using Baader Wonder Fluid and their cleaning cloths and job was a good one.

Problem with mine was the adjusters were stiff and awkward to turn especially the forward one, cured this with repeated operation and a tiny amount of PTFE spray. On the plus side for me it’s small, lightweight, cheapish, easy to adjust once you’ve freed off the adjusters, red dot not over bright and a wide choice of attachment brackets.

Congratulations Chris and thanks for all your wisdom and excellent videos!

I’m with @mikeDnight &@Carbon Brush on this. My Tal 100RS is stored vertically in the back corner of a wardrobe cupboard, it’s out of the way, dry and safe. I did the same a long time ago with a Tal 4” reflector including the mount, basically out of sight out of mind and a happy wife!

Bought my FS-60C / Q second hand as a handy lightweight grab & go and am very pleased with it. @Oldfort beat me to it, I was going suggest that a 3-6mm NZ would be ideal and and worth every penny IMO....however until Santa arrives next year what about a second hand 5mm Vixen SLV it’s got good optics, generous 20mm eye relief, comfortable to use with a nice adjustable eye cup!

Hi @Dave1 must admit I have a big soft spot for all things Tal and wish you all the best with your Tal 125 adventures. Bought a Tal 1 in the mid 90’s and from what I remember it was a solid lump well put together that gave remarkably good views for a 4” reflector. Twenty years later bought a second hand 100RS unfortunately it was damaged in transit due to clumsy couriers. Spent far to much time fiddling and faffing around with it but I’ve still got it and last time I used it the views were pretty good. One thing I did notice the engineering quality of the 100RS wasn’t as good as the Tal-1 but that familiar Tal smell that Dave @F15Rules alluded to is in mine as well!

Just googled that now and your right Mike it’s expensive but very intriguing especially with that flip mirror. For that sort of money I image it’s top quality and made to last 🤔

Been looking for a lightweight red dot and optical finder combination for my Tak FS-60. Until I come up with something better I’ve got a Baader Skysurfer III integrated with a Tak finder and ADM style quick release bracket. The Skysurfer comes with a number of different (plastic) brackets which will fit a standard shoe. I was also looking at a Lacerta RDF but the SS III was cheaper.

Warm welcome to the Lounge Malcolm and enjoy! Got into astro for the same reasons as you, I’m about an hours drive from you so your probably accustomed to the wet weather 😩

There’s no doubt about it’s a brilliant bit of kit and IMO better in F10 mode for visual, weak link in my setup is the manfrotto 190 tripod which suffers a bit of vibration especially at high magnifications. I’m negotiating with the other half for a beafier tripod upgrade for Xmas 🤣🤞

Couldn’t help myself after reading this thread and googled about some of the technical aspects and indeed there are lots of moving parts that need to work. I remember the news headlines after they launched the Hubble “Trouble with the Hubble” 😩

It’s entirely possible the felt will compress over time, bought my 2004 FS-60C second hand over 18 months ago and it’s something I hadn’t noticed. I think all the bases have been covered and it seems the correct clamp for your scope. If it’s still of concern you could measure the gap and the length of the bolt and contact the Tak Guru Ian King at FLO to compare with another new example?

I know my tube clamp is the one with the foot but gap seems smaller than yours, the green felt under yours seems a bit thicker than mine, could that be the reason?

I’m no rocket scientist but I’m hoping they’ve taken things like that into account especially the huge cost of it all, but like I say there’s always the great unknown so fingers crossed 🤞

Bet your bottom dollar that all the systems including mission critical have back-ups and everything has been thoroughly tested, so I’ve every confidence that it will be a stunning success....however there’s always the great unknown or unseen element that can catch you out!!

Ha ha Mike you mentioned one of my expensive options the 2” visual back (£99 from FLO).I use this plus a Baader T2 prism diagonal with a 2” nosepiece which buys you precious in focus. I know others have gone further and splashed out on Feathtouch focusers .

If the DC focuser tube is the same or similar to my FS-60 IE 2” diameter with just under 1.25” of travel then there will be frustrations at some point owing to this limitation. If you don’t feel comfortable removing the blue tube then a smaller barlow like the Baader 2.25x barlow which is fairly cheap and pretty good, there are more expensive options but won’t go into that just now 😬💵💵

Assuming you can reach focus with your 32mm plossl then I think the extended lightpath of the barlow is the possible issue? I had problems reaching focus with my Tak FC-100DL & FS-60C and it was a case of experimenting with either removal or addition of extension tubes and visual backs etc etc. Is it possible to remove the blue tube in front of your focuser and give that a go?

Looks very much like a More Blue FT focuser, I’ve got one fitted to my mini Tak FS-60/C/Q and love it!