iPeace

Oh, very well...

Stanley the TV-85 out for an early Moon.

51 minutes ago, London_David said:

I was thinking of doing exactly as you have and switching the UNC focuser for a Baader Steeltrack. Did they charge you extra for it in addition? Or just the price difference of the Baader?

Just the price difference; I asked not to include the standard finder scope and they discounted that as well. If you get in touch with them and explain exactly what you (don't) want, they can get it done.

I only use telescopes for visual observing, so this is for what it's worth. I have a 8" F/6 UNC (carbon) from TS and I like it very much. Very well put together, holds collimation well and is easy to tweak when needed. On my request, they swapped the focuser for a Baader Diamond SteelTrack and the scope has turned out to be all I want in a Newt.

If you could only choose one telescope for everything

...it would be the Tele Vue 85.

Just saying.

19 hours ago, Paul73 said:

I am a self confessed Delos fan and would probably spend the extra for the more engineered feel of the Televue...... I’d really like to observe with the Pentaxes one day so that I can make a more informed contribution.

I'm sure you'd appreciate the experience - you may find the XWs at least as well put together as the Delos, if not more so; really very solid kit and the views are faultless.

Not preaching to convert, mind you, as it's mostly green on black at my end, these days...

I'm inclined to consider the possibility that the laser pointer will steal the show. "Forget about stars, show us the lightsabre again!"

34 minutes ago, Northernlight said:

I looked at the cheaper UNC model but read that the primary mirror cell wasn't very good. Do you use the scope for visual or imaging  ??

Don't want to buy cheaper quality and regret it.

For my own purposes, strictly visual, it does very well indeed, holds collimation.

I'm not suggesting you choose the UNC, just wanted to share my positive thoughts on it, along the lines of TS being able to put a good scope together for you.

I had TS assemble one of their UNC models for me, a 8" f/6, customized with my favourite focuser and optimized for visual observing. Excellent build quality and performance.

Just arrived from Sweden, thanks to the excellent care of Martin @martinl in pristine condition.

Many thanks Martin, you're a true gent.

Stanley, my TV-85, has his own set of eyepieces to keep him company during the eons of cloud cover. He didn't have his own dedicated 7mm yet, so I was in the habit of onboarding the 7mm T6 Nagler whenever it happened to be Frac Night.

Lest my eyepiece agony be over (Goddard Forbid) I can now release the OCD demons. The range of focal lengths I use with Stanley is complete, ah yes, but the set is not consistent! DeLites at 3, 4 and 7mm, Naglers at 5 and 13mm! (The 24mm Panoptic goes without saying.) Goodness. What to do.

Should the 5mm be a DeLite, or should the 7mm be a Nagler? When the clouds clear and the wind stops and the cows come home and my mother-in-law's house freezes over, I'll be on the case to find out.

I queried three independant sources for the relevant figures, with varying results:

- Pants

- Forget about it

- Don't bother

I make the best of it, though.

Another eyepiece every scope should own, this one thanks to Steve @Saganite   - the most decent of gentlemen.

Losmandy AZ8 on Berlebach UNI tripod with geared centre column: the eyepiece is instantly at the height you want it to be.

Great for ticking off lists of double stars; the Borg 71FL (DIY flocked dew shield) is in its ultra-finder configuration with giant RDF, Baader correct-image prism and Polaris illuminated crosshair eyepiece and connected to the mount with a precision alignment clamp, whatever you find with it is guaranteed to be in the centre of the other scope's view.

The TV-85 sports a Tak prism and 3mm DeLite, giving wonderful views of the most beautiful doubles at 200x.

Just the thing, in great shape, with grateful thanks to Gordon @Floater , a true gent.

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

a friend of mine uses a Tak prism in his Sky 90 without any noticeable degradation in image quality

I use a Tak prism in my Borg 71FL, which, if I'm not mistaken, has the same focal ratio of 5.6. The views are better to my eyes than with a mirror diagonal - one labelled 'everbrite dielectric' from some obscure firm named 'Tele Vue'.

That said, I'll probably keep at least one good mirror handy to swap in whenever doubts should descend.

11 minutes ago, Alan White said:

I can see why it's such a fine quality mount now.

Bits won't fall off. Which is good. And puts one's mind at rest.

You can try a few SkyTees for the cost. Which makes one think. And think some more.

We've previously discussed how, surely, the market could accomodate something in between...

7 minutes ago, Alan White said:

So who sell these in UK or Europe? 

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7967_Losmandy-AZ8-Alt-azimuth-Mount---fine-adjustment---mount-head.html

There may be others.

11 minutes ago, Alan White said:

One more question, does it settle quickly and how does it cope with high magnifications?

That's two.

There's always that subjective bit - one man's quick-to-settle is another's...well, something else. But that being said, I like it, it works very well for me. (I have never been inclined to determine just how quick it actually is - I myself take this as a good sign.) After gently scrolling the lunar surface in slo-mo, there's no real sensation of having to wait for the view to settle.

The main reason I have the newt is for high-mag lunar (and for when the odd planet slips out from behind a chimney). And on the AZ8, it does great.

The whole setup is, of course, only as good as the weakest link. I suspect the PLANET tripod is giving me an edge here. I wasn't as satisfied with the focusing wobbles when using a SW 120ED with the AZ8 on its own tripod - something I put down to me not getting on with bigger fracs. I feel it would have been better with the PLANET (the 120ED moved on before the PLANET arrived) but whether it would have seen me keeping the 120ED, I don't know.

So if the above means I'm not all that easy to please - and am still very happy with the performance of the AZ8 / Berlebach combination at high mags - at least, with a decent-sized newt - does this help?

5 hours ago, Alan White said:

After some years ownership, I know you still have this mount, how is it doing?

Hi Alan.

Love it. It takes my 8" f/6 newt without issues, thus letting me slo-mo the Moon on those rare good nights.

I don't see them often mentioned; the retail price might nudge otherwise interested parties towards the SkyTee.

The only used one I ever saw listed was quickly snapped up by some guy who already owned one but wanted a spare.

Me.

1 hour ago, Stu said:

I suspect the Delite may be the better choice from a comfort perspective, but I do like to have the best performance

For what it's worth (as always):

Whenever I use an HR, it invariably gives me a 'wow, that's nice' - no matter how much I thought I was expecting it. Yes, the FOV is what it is, and if you're nudging manually you have to work for it, but it's just worth it. The eye relief doesn't bother me; I suppose it feels like using a Nagler Zoom.

Then there's the DeLites. They are absolutely luxurious to use. So nice, you'd feel guilty if they didn't cost so much. Or maybe not, but you understand. And the view is so good, you don't mind not using the HR...until you use the HR again, of course...

Not being helpful here, I guess...

I'm somehow inclined to think that the HR is for those who like 'orthos'. Thing is, I've never used an ortho myself, so who am I to say?

Given that you like your orthos and your Nagler Zoom, I can't help but think you'd really, really like an HR. Not that you'd regret a DeLite...

I'll stop now.

25 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

That would indeed be an interesting comparison!

For what it's worth, this is as far as I got on a previous occasion:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/315216-short-shootout-vixen-hr-34-delite-4-nagler-35/

I'm sure there will be other nights on which to try this again.

1 hour ago, alanjgreen said:

low profile adapter

Side note: interestingly (perhaps), I find that I need some extra travel to reach focus with these. Will read your reports with interest.

Well done. The 'short' DeLites are just SO nice (this is no judgement of the 'longer' ones)... if what they do for me in a Borg 71FL is anything to go by, you won't be missing that 3.7mm Ethos.

The fun (and torment) really starts when you get the chance to compare them with a 3.4mm Vixen HR... I'm glad I don't have to make an outright choice.

I could do with a half-decent night out, though, it's been so long.

Hope you get yours soon with the new EPs.

From Paul (@Tiki), by way of Steve (@Saganite) and Alan (@Alan White), this little gem has made its way to me. All true gents, whom I hope to meet in person some day, and who have taken great care to help make this happen. My thanks, appreciation and best wishes to them.

Now, hopefully, for a clear night to see what I've got...

On 14/01/2010 at 23:39, Leegsi said:

I have a metal case and chunk of foam and now have some e/p's worth putting in a case.

Not sure how to go about it.

Wether to cut a hole so they stand on their end, cut a long hole so they are on their side half in or fully in.

What have you done?

Reading the OP's...OP, the thread seems to have come full circle.