Timebandit

Yes. Best bang for buck is in the eye of the beholder. But if SW can produce a 150ed that is optically as good as the 80ed, 100ed and 120ed , then they must be onto a winner. For around £1700 for a quality 150 ed then this opens up the market for the average Joe. Need a second mortgage for a Tak 150 ?. And then I would be to scared to use it ,in case it got scratched or damaged, would end up a wall hanger. If the weight of the SW 150mm is sensible ( and from initial feedback , it will be )then I would not have no problem setting it up without a permanent Obs. And just think of those views of the moon and planets through a quality 150mm lens ?. The 100mm Taks would still have a use though, as a finder?

You may be right Stu. But when Skywatcher is launching a 150mm Ed scope (a dream scope for many) . Then at around I understand £1700 mark this just seems such good value compared to the 100mm Taks. But it comes down to optics also, so look forward to some reviews to see if the Sw 150 ed is the best bang for buck Frac on the market?

I am happy that I am in the far more select and elitist Skywatcher Ed Club Those Taks are just so common now. They will be giving them out in Cornflakes packets soon ?.

Yes . Let's see a picture of this multi coloured Tak. ? That will get the Tak owners club talking. Its usually any colour you want Sir ,as long as its white and grey ? ?

Nice Truss design? Have you future proofed the scope? I am sure you could get a lot bigger primary mirror in the lower cradle section. Maybe time to start a 18" grind ? That's a better fit than I had thought it maybe. For a big 22" scope then it shows you can get it in a sensible size vehicle . No need for a Chelsea then? ?

I don't know ? I couple of ZAO in the optical chain would certainly assist you get the best out of your quality set up ?

That's really done it now Bill, and put the cat among the pigeons. The newt chaps will be giving their mirrors a wash and polish to get the very best out of them. And as for the Frac boys and girls, their diagonals will be getting extra cleaning. And the sales of Baader Wonder fluid will hit the roof ,with all the lense attention. I can see another thread on the way " To clean or not to clean" ?

I thought you chaps/ladies in the Tak club have already been given a yellow card for elite comments, about us lesser classes with Chinese offerings ? ? Maybe Bill would like to try his ZAO in a Tak FC 100 DC and a SW 120ed if he gets a chance at some point ,And his feelings of which scope showed the most improvement of using such a great Ortho as the Zeiss .

Yes I agree if you have already got the best then a ZAO is certainly a keeper. Obviously you probably get far more use for such a eyepiece being on the other side of the pond with far better weather/atmosphere conditions than we have in the UK. So with that in mind the superior optics of the ZAO on especially the likes of planetary and Luna on great A1 seeing/atmospheric nights must be a sight to be hold ? Naa , don't listen to Mike he has one of those posh Taks so does not need the added benefit of a ZAO to assist him ?. But on the other hand I only have one of those Chinese SW ed scopes , so need all the help I can get, so more than willing to accept a ZAO as a charitable gift ?

The ZAO are optically excellent and the king of the Ortho IMO. But for the price point of the ZAO these days it does make them hard to justify the price. In these modern times there are so many optically great eyepiece's out there. And at shorter focal lengths then the eye relief is just so tight it is uncomfortable for any extended period IMO. If I was in the market for a top quality Ortho like clarity and sharpness, but with a more comfortable viewing experience. Then the TV delite and the Pentax XW would be at the front of the queue. Excellent optics , but around 20mm eye relief and fov of around 60d and 70d. Justifying the price of a ZAO these days when there are great alternatives like delite and Pentax XW is difficult. If you dont mind narrow fov and tighter eye relief . Also the vixen HR series especially at the very short focal lengths is a great alternative for high power sharpness.

Hi. Bits and pieces on CN over the years . Don't have specific links I can tour you on unfortunately. I have no axe to grind on the Taks. If that's what you wish then go for it. But IMO if looking for a set of quality Orthos and your not hung up on the Tak name. Then I would go for a set of Fujiyama Ortho. IMO modern equivalent of the late great BGO

Over the years there seems to be a bit of a love , hate relationship going on with the Tak Ortho. Obviously this review is very positive towards the Tak, seemingly besting all incomers? But if this is the case then each to there own , but with the likes of the BGO and TMB super mono. Then maybe this is a bit wishful thinking?? All I know from what I have read over many many years I would not trade my set of BGO (Or TMB supermono if i was so lucky to own such a set)in for a set of Taks. Why because I have read a lot more indifferent feed back on the Tak Ortho compared to the BGO and Tmb supermono. Each to there own ,but I wonder if a ZAO was in the mix if the Tak would still of supposed bested or equalled that also. But maybe that would be stretching it a bit to far , As the ZAO are the king of the Ortho.

Remind me not to take my Dob to a refractor star party ?

Naaa, that little frac or Tak ? is really just the finder for his Dob ?

" If FLO don't stock it then it is no good"? FLO does not stock Televue do they ? FLO does not stock Lukehurst 3.6 Dobs do they? FLO does not stock OOuk, do they? Best sell my scopes ? Could not resist that ,only pulling your leg Alan

If your budget is for the telescope only , and not the mount also. And if you are going for visual. Then IMO there is only one scope to recommend. That is a 200mm reflector. These scopes have loads of light gathering ability. Can be mounted on a tripod and produce great views of planetary, lunar and DSO. A great and "proper" telescope. You would have to buy second hand to get within your budget , but there are some great bargains out there. I got a OOuk at 200mm for around your budget and this has been a great scope. I have been very impressed by it overall ,and all round performance. I use mine on a AZ mount. In my opinion you should go for a 200mm reflector a "proper" scope and great bang for buck. I hope this help's.☺

SW case for a Tak ? That does not seem right really. May as well gone the whole hog and left the 100ed in it and saved a few quid. Maybe you could remove the SW outside logo. And make it a FanTakstic case ?

Well I love my XW and IMO some of the best eyepieces around. I have never tried the XF, so can't really comment on these . The predecessor to the SLV ,the NLV is a great eyepiece IMO . It was Japan made and with some great sharp Optics to the edge of field. It's sharpness is Ortho like. But with the fov around 50d , feeling so comfortable and wide due to the large entrance eye lens and combined with around 20mm of eye relief. For the price point the NLV/SLV is one of the best eyepieces i have used for overall comfort and sharpness. But why are you basically doubling up on the focal lengths? . If you have already got the XW in my opinion the XF or the SLV is not going to best your XW you already own. Take these XW into the field. But just make sure they are in a well padded case ,and after using each one make sure you put the caps on and put it straight back into the safety of the case( this is what I do). If you take care of your eyepieces there is no reason not to take them with you into the dark site. Eyepieces are there to be used and the XW are some of the best out there, use the best and not alternative. ? I hope this helps and has saved you a few ££ , the XW should go with you into the field ?

SpecTakular set up there Shaun ? I am not sure of the situation with a Quark. But if you can use binoviewers with them, then I strongly recommended trying some. I am sure it would be of great benefit to solar ,as the viewing with binoviewers are just so relaxing, you can spend so much longer at the eyepiece and get so much detail. The cost is not that great also for a reasonable binoviewers set up. Plus binoviewers in the Tak would be great on lunar and alike, MikeDnight loves them in his Tak☺

The Clutches are not engaged? No wonder you have a problem with different eyepiece weights. Put those Clutches to work buddy. Will solve your problems If i did not use the Clutches on my AZ, it would be like a see saw? using the Ortho and XW Tighten those Clutches?

Hi. My thoughts are if you "Chop" your Vixen 22 LVW ?,then I will report you to the eyepiece police? . This is a brutal act to a fine eyepiece. I have heard of chopping scopes before, but never eyepieces If you really do not like it that much, then I will have it please?

Binoviewers are funny old things sometimes to focus. A lot depends on the scope you use. But a bit of playing around usually get results, different Barlow did the job in mine to reach focus through the diagonal. Had me a bit worried at first though, I thought £££. But a good old Televue Barlow solved the problem. The messing about to get focus should well be worth it IMO. When in the refractor the first views of the moon were just brilliant, like floating above the lunar surface. ZEISS. very nice too ? I bet those were a pretty penny. Lots of overtime for me if I wanted some of those But very nice enjoy☺

This is my new ( to me) OO VX8 Obviously a newt on the AZ4. With Astrozap Baader solar filter. This is my first step into the WL solar side of the hobby . Never viewed our nearest star the sun before through a telescope . Therefore really looking forward to putting a toe into the water to see if this fascinating side of the hobby is for me.

I can see a new post about to be started Chaps Show us your eyepiece bags ?

The Orion Optics VX8 This is my set up for my Grab and Go for dark site trips for DSO . I wanted something quick to get into the car, less than 5 mins. This set up will certainly obtain Grab and Go status in respect of that. Hopefully still enough aperture to be great for DSO, but without the time and weight of loading my VX14, when I want a quick dark site trip at short notice. The VX 8 is sat on the AZ4 with 2" legs and initial impressions is that the mount will handle the size and weight, but time will tell how this combination works