25585

On 19/03/2018 at 18:23, BillP said:

Wow...get the whole set!  Wish I could afford that as nothing quite like having a good Abbes set for when needed.  Not an every night eyepiece IMO but outstanding specialty tools.  One thing that is a rarity for Abbe world is one longer than 28mm focal length.  Most makers make a 25mm one, long ago University Optics offered a 28mm flat top one, but Tak has a modern 32mm Ortho in their line up!!  Certainly destined to be a rare bird, like the 35 ZAO-I.  But as good as the Taks are, IMO there is considerable way to get to the ZAO level.  Those were masterpieces of the minimum glass eyepiece maker's art.  I maintain a 6mm one as that is my most used planetary focal length.  I once borrowed the 25mm and was simply astounded at how differently it portrayed objects compared to other common 25mm eyepieces.  Amazing the clarity and purity it brought to the objects.

Maybe I should keep my 32mm TAO then @BillP

I have read a comparison by you, comparing the Abbe to LE, the former coming out favourably. 

I am disappointed by the effective eye relief. Advertised as 28mm, but deeply recessed eye lens and poorly designed eye cup take up at least 10mm ER. 

I can understand the Moon and Jupiter viewers wanting the best. But Saturn, rings apart, and Mars + the rest are fine in less specialised wider field eps, many of which have good on axis performance. However it will be interesting to see how a TV 32mm compares, if I keep the TAO (sell for £170 I expect).

I have been outbid on ebay for old Vixen mounts, which I thought my max was sure to win for old tech & metal. But they all went for at least as much as the equivalent SW new price!

1 hour ago, jock1958 said:

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 ?

 

 

What parts did you buy for your Baader diagonal? Presumably 2 inch?

35 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Nice old mount but not exactly cheap! It seems to me that ENS prices have been rising quite a bit in the past few years?

"Proper" GPs  often with electric drives come up for sale on here or the other site..☺

Dave

Not sure I trust any old electronic stuff, whatever it may be. Nice sturdy manual mounts with setting circles & slo mo are fine, but I have tripods aplenty.

SW have set a bad example with their Skytee 2's mechanics, so anything better interests me.

For example?

http://ensoptical.co.uk/celestron-vixen-japan-vintage-mount?search=vixen mount

5 hours ago, Stu said:

Wasn’t thinking of anything to do with micro focussing, the Zeiss Prism has an excellent reputation. There are certain benefits to internal reflection rather than exposed mirror surface. The AP is also excellent of course, but the T2 is very good value, plus nice an compact physically and in terms of optical path length. Great for binoviewing.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p609_Baader---ZEISS-90--diagonal-prism---T2-thread-on-both-sides.html

Is it a quartz prism?

If this is it, then appropriate connectors are additional cost. Around another £60 maybe? Still cheaper than the AP I admit. 

No 2 inch to 1.25 inch adaptor? Screw thread attachment only is very 80s/90s. ? remembering the old M36.4mm Tak & Vixen eps hassle. 

14 hours ago, Stu said:

Lovely scope, fully deserving of a Baader Zeiss T2 Prism I think. It’s only money  

When only the best will do. Micro focusing is not quite so important on a F9 telescope. This diagonal is in my experience so far, literally brilliant.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p613_Baader---Astro-Physics-MaxBright-2--Zenitspiegel---PMDMAX.html

Like the mount.

Or like me, you could have 2 clamps functioning as super-rings. A second clamp is cheaper than a set of 2 95mm rings, usually.

32 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Sell?   But, but, but, but you are The Astro Magpie!

Have to say joking aside, far too often specification and expectation fail to merge with many purchases.

 

As long as my core eps remain, the ones I treasure and/or use most. 

2 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

You need to invest in one of these!

Is that gor visual Mike? Looking forward to your impressions as a Tak fan using a Chinese scope ?

As if on cue, my Vixen LV 10mm 50 deg is delivered. Brand new. Nostalgia ep case space.

So just one to come now, another Vixen.

4 hours ago, Alan White said:

Gina I am looking at scopes as well as eyepieces, it’s the cloud that is making this happen of course.

Now if someone could invent a cloud cutting scope, that would sell well in the UK 

What scope type/size are you considering Alan?

14 hours ago, F15Rules said:

..Gasping for breath sounds.."my - last - two - eps - ever"...

If you say so, if you say so...

Dave

Had a couple of disappointments from purchases based on advertised specs, so time to stop and sell some off perhaps. 

4 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Any clues on the eyepieces 25885?

I can’t believe they are the last. After all, we’ve got the Vixen HR 3.4 mm to look forward to next month 

An Erfle and a Vixen LV. I have a Pentax XW 3.5 already, Vixen HR has too short eye relief for me.

I am waiting for my last 2 eps ever to be delivered. Both buys on ebay from the US. 

I have had a couple lost in the past, qudos to ebay for refunding both. 

Yes, I had a Fullerscope 8.5 inch F8. "A" grade mirrors but "B" everything else. The tube had tube end metal rims & a mirror access door. I upgraded to a Vixen focuser to take a 36.4mm fit Vixen 32mm Erfle. 

Mk 3 mount (best setting circles ever) with an electric RA drive. It was protected by a glass 1 amp fuse which could be bought from Tandy and powered by a lead acid external battery powered by crocodile clips. 

The mirror was excellent & never got out of collimation in its heavy cel. Great for doubles & globulars especially. 

Polar alignment was with the finderscope then the Erfle. Awkward & imprecise. Mount's big failing was it's wobbly swivelling on the pier top. Altitude adjustment by loosening & tightening a big bolt. 

Sold for a Celestron C8 OTA when I moved to a smaller house with high steps & then upsized to a 12 inch F5 Dobsonian eventually. The C8 is still in occasional use. 

OOUK is probably the domestic market's modern day equivalent of Fullerscope for OTAs & sensibly they make & sell Dobsonian mounts too. I wonder what Dudley Fuller would have made Dob mounts from. 

On 05/02/2018 at 00:58, iPeace said:

Nice to see them in their own case; they deserve it.

Did you replace the bottom caps? Mine came with black ones.

Need room for the 3.4mm next month.

Vixen site

2 minutes ago, trynda1701 said:

Now I know what you wanted my 40mm TV Plossl for!

 

Looking forward to seeing that in the future.

Got some stuff from FLO coming tomorrow, just bolts etc. The ones that come with a ST80 dovetail bar are too big. 

18 minutes ago, Lockie said:

Are you going to do a thread on this? Will you need 6x diagonals for adjusting the IPD?

2 diagonals might be enough as ST80 tubes are not too broad.

Today an Antares 1.6x 2 inch Barlow. Pre-owned from ENS Optical.

My very first decent eyepiece was a Vixen 32mm Erfle with 36.4mm threaded barrel fit. So when this Vixen LV 30mm showed up, for a nice price on ebay, had to have it. 

AFOV is 60 deg, eye relief is claimed as 20mm. Weight less than a TV 35mm Panoptic or a Meade SWA 34mm 5000 68 deg. 

No eye cup but the eye lens is (too) recessed. A rubber O ring provides a little protection from bare metal. Unscrewing the metal ring protecting the lens cel gives a small amount more of eye relief. 

I could not see the whole TFOV wearing glasses but could without. 

Comparing my LV 30 with NLVW 30 is interesting. Latter is lighter, has 65 deg AFOV and is advertised as 22.4mm eye relief. I can see the whole FOV wearing glasses. NLVW has no eye cup as such but a comfy slightly squishy cushion to protect from contact bare metal. NLVW's eye lens looks slightly larger and is less recessed than its predecessor. 

Star test next. 

How I got my 40mm Maxview.  Bargain price, saved over £40!

18 minutes ago, Alan White said:

My Second Newt another Skywatcher Explorer 150p f5, what a sky surfing simple set up it is, stupid that I sold the first one and then went full circle.
These are small, light and simple.  
All very luddite and simple, ignore the AVX, it was a departure from simple and is now working for another.
All sits on either a Skytee 2 or an Altair Sabre 2.

This time, it stays. 
I have bought it a nice Geoptik bag, so its a keeper.

 

Good scope to use your Vixen LVW 22mm ep with Alan ?