guillaume320

Here’s my Tak FC-100DC, my grab ‘n go setup to complement my OOUK VX12. Mount is a ScopeTech Zero, on a Leofoto LM-364C carbon fiber tripod. ADM plate between the mount and the Tak cradle. Diagonal is a Baader prism (not the Zeiss one, but the 32mm). I replaced the Tak finder with a RACI from Skywatcher, although I kept the Tak holder (with ADM quick release plate). The straight through viewing wasn’t to my taste. The scope is rotated 90 degrees clockwise in the cradle. Reason is I’m left eye dominant, and having the finder scope in its original intended place makes it annoying… Downside is that the focuser knob is now ‘vertical’, on the left side of the tube. But I can live with that. But still experimenting and might revert to original position? Thanks for reading and have a great day! Guillaume

The OOUK 12” f4 is about the same length as a Chinese 10” and therefore fits across the backseat of a car. They are not the cheapest (although good deals to be had second hand). - Transportability of a 10 - Practicality of a fixed tube - The full 12 inch 😎 That’s just my 2 cents. Of course, f4 might be a bit more taxing on eyepieces, keep that in mind! Regards, Guillaume

@Stu Have you got an opportunity to try this combo with your FC-100? I have no doubt the AZ75 can handle it, but is the tripod up to the job? I have a very similar tripod from Leofoto (so far used for a Kowa 883 spotting scope) and I’m looking for a mount to to handle an FC-100DC (1.25” eyepieces exclusively). The Scopetech zero was my first contender till know but I heard about some of those having mechanical issues… Ideally I would avoid getting a new tripod to handle everything. Best regards, Guillaume

Thanks for your reply John... Your setup looks very classy! I’ll have a look at that ScopeTech mount 🙂

A lot of ‘Berlebach experts’ right here, so allow me to ask: Would a Report 312 coupled with spreader bar with an AZ5 be enough to handle an FC-100DF with a 2” diagonal and some heavier eyepieces? There are two things keeping me away from the Uni at the moment, first is price, second is weight. I guess the Uni is more stable, but it’s also less ‘grab and go’... Looking forward to your opinions! Guillaume

According to Televue it’s 500g, or 1,1lbs. But I haven’t weighed myself... The nice thing about this kind of base is that I can slide the scope on the rings and have it balanced for whatever I use in the focusser. Therefore I don’t need any counterweights! Regards, Guillaume

So above is my OOUK VX12 f4 on the same brands base. Focuser is a Baader Diamond Steeltrack, and sticking out of it a Televue PC 2 and an Ethos 13mm...

Yes Paracorr 2... I’ll have to read up more about all those different eyepiece brands... it’s a very crowded market ?

Good evening, I'm interested in getting a Lunt 20. I've been hesitating between this one and the Ethos 21 for wide field views. For me the advantage of the Lunt 20 (except the price), is the weight which is much closer to the Ethos 13 I already have. So balancing would potentially be much less of a headache. I would like to know if anyone has used the Lunt 20 in an F4 scope and could comment if this eyepiece is as well corrected at the edges of the field of view as the E21? Thanks and regards, Guillaume