25585

1 hour ago, John said:

The eyepiece was a 7.2mm - 21.5mm zoom used at 7.2mm with a Baader Q-Turret 2.25x barlow. The wooden tripod is of the Oberwerk hardwood type (I also have a Berlebach Uni 28 but that is generally overkill for all but the 130mm refractor). The spreader is a plastic one like the Skywatcher aluminum tripods use, but it works.

Tripod / mount pictured below but used with the legs extended for nighttime use with the ED120.

 

Thank you. It's interesting to know there are other wooden tripods (apart from surveyor) suitable for 120s. Yours looks like a TR3. 

Did the Oberwerk have an EQ5 mounting plate?

14 hours ago, John said:

I was using my ED120 tonight on the Skytee II and was getting the 1 second or less vibration dampening that has been mentioned. No counterweight on the other side either. I think the wooden tripod helps

I got the scope up to 281x on Delta Cygni, moved the star to one side of the FoV and let it drift for periods of well over 20 seconds before needing to touch the slow motion knob. Worked nicely. The eyepiece I was using had an AFoV of 55 degrees so not a really wide one by any means.

 

 

Which eyepiece was that John?

Skytees that are fine are good value for money. I think their heavy weight absorbs a good deal of vibration. In a budget sense they are the almost-perfect match for 120 refractors, 8 inch Cassegrains etc. 

Which leg spreader/tensioner do you use on your tripod?

23 hours ago, Alien 13 said:

Go for it, you know you want too. I got mine lit up in England colours ready for the footie later.

Alan

Yeah but they are Windows 10 

On 15 June 2018 at 22:23, LukeSkywatcher said:

Have a Continuum filter. Ill let you all know how it performs day and night (the scope......not the continuum). 

Hope it's a success! Don't let others' opinions burst your bubble. Misery loves company. 

8 hours ago, jetstream said:

What high power eyepieces do you have?

10mm, 9mm, 8mm, 7mm, 5mm, 3.5mm

8 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Maybe reducing the weight of the accessories on your OTA might help a bit 25885?

It is the slow motion gears which have a bit of play. That's on the ST where they are not completely broken. No OTA or mounting fitted. 

51 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

It really depends on the target. I think X200 is a safe bet on most nights on pretty much anything, but your Tak will easily exceed X400 on a good night. The Moon, Mars, Mercury and Venus all take power well on a steady night. Jupiter and Saturn are better viewed at around X200. Obviously you'll have to match the power with the local seeing.

I bought a 1.6 extender Q a few years ago and it was superb, but more than a bit fiddley at times. It was without a doubt the best image amplifier I've ever used, being completely transparent! However, the Tak is so good that it doesn't need the Q to reach high powers. Star images and colour correction are perfect with or without the Q in the light path, so it may save you an awful lot of money if you can try one out before buying. 

It's mechanical things that can affect losing high power targets. Slight wobble from a mount, focuser, eyepiece or any combination. 

I would like to go higher but find myself getting tenser trying to keep a target centered. So settle for compromise until I have had more experience maybe. 

An extender is expensive, especially a Tak one, so will keep to Barlows for the time being. 

On 9 June 2018 at 03:21, jetstream said:

What is your max mag you observe with now regularly?

About 100x on any scope Skytee mounted. Being purely hand guided that amount loses its target with even a twitch or sneeze. Dobs are steadier and I can go up to 150x on a good night. At the moment hay fever is my worst enemy.

So with an extender I can use 13mm, 14mm to get around 100x, a better selection of what I own already. Without its just a 9mm or for the 120 Equinox a 7mm, or zooms lower end FL. 

I like the 35mm Panoptic but the shorter FL ones have too little eye relief. Which is why I treasure my Vixen 22mm LVWs so much, my best 1.25 ep. 

I would like to look through a Pentax XW 20mm one day to do my own assessment. 

On 15/06/2018 at 17:00, Piero said:

I also prefer the 24 Pan to the ES_82 or Vixen LVW I bought, in terms of FOV performance and at the edge. 

A slightly longer FL but very close TFOV is the 1.25" Takahashi 28mm Erfle. It has AFOV of 60 degrees is light as a Plossl and better eye relief. Also good for bino viewing.

The Tak Erfle is "Custom" below.  

9 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Neewer carbon fibre tripod and a TS-Optics Altazimuth Travel Mount to make op my Takahashi FC76 DCU travel kit seen here

Nice looking mount. 

My Equinox 80 with its companion eyepieces. Getting an Amici 1.25 prism for bv & spotting scope use. 

On 11 June 2018 at 18:44, Pig said:

Here’s mine.... very compact indeed ?

 

What size is that? Groovy colour!

White refractor. 

Travel case. Equinox 80 with 35mm Baader Eudiascopic, Vixen 5mm LV, 10mm LV & 8-24 LV zoom. Sky Watcher 1.25" prism. 

My Tele Vue Genesis kit with 25mm Baader Symmetrical Plossl, Baader 30mm Eudiascopic & TV 55mm Plossl in case. A Barlow is used with the 30 usually. 

On 14/06/2018 at 10:24, marcus_z said:

No, I don't think I need one. For planets I just use the tube as orientation. For deep sky I might just use the lowest magnification eyepiece as a finder. A Panoptic 41 gives a 4.6 degree TFOV and 14x Magnification. That is almost like a finder, but with much better aberration control and eye relief. But I'm not 100% sure about the low mag eyepieces which I should use for travel...

 

I'm thinking about a Masuyama 45mm, which gives a 6mm pupil and should work good with filters. Maybe a 16mm Nagler for open clusters, but then I don't know which eyepiece to take between the two...

If you want a smaller lighter 40 for travel I recommend the Vixen LVW 42mm, some of whuch FLO have in stock.

11 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Hi Richard @25585... the 13mm 'smoothie' Nagler I brought from you is awesome... Tnx. 

I managed to get a vinyl end cap for the eye end too.

Hi Phillip glad you still have it! Great to know you are enjoying it. Older TV eps like the 13 and my 32mm Plossl did not get eye caps. I kept them in camera lens pouches or cases, still do. 

That 13 was my first 100x ep & was my first TV ep, fantastic for DSOs there is an 11mm smoothie Nagler on ebay, I think that was a classic too. 

1 hour ago, Red Dwarfer said:

My first foray into Televue lenses :

20mm Plossl and 4.8mm Nagler 

Fantastic old school TV. Smoothie Nagler is a classic in box ?

1m extentender for my Stihl Kombi.

TV 2 inch Everbrite diagonal bought from a SGL member.

On 20 February 2018 at 09:26, JeremyS said:

Tak Extender-Q (EXQ-1.6 X) on its nice blue box

Saving up for one. 

The red colour is too toned-up in these photos (and in the Primaluce product photos). Colour to the eye is darker, closer to Shiraz wine (or dark red apple peel) than red pepper. 

Both my mounts have treble lock clamps on both their axis. 

I notice this clamp is not shown in @FLO site. FLO, should you wish to add it, the SKU is below. 

Just another dovetail bar to go.

18 hours ago, DRT said:

A Pentax XW 5mm arrived today from 365Astronomy  

Seems to be the trend at present. I sold one!

14mm Baader Morpheus. Bought at FLO's reduced price.

3 hours ago, Dave1 said:

I've been a member of the Brandon club for quite some while. It's my second Brandon, my first Brandon was the 8mm flat top. Which put up the best views of the moon I have ever seen. The 8mm has done just as good on the planets.

I have high expectations for the 12mm Brandon on the Planets. 

 

 

I have a 48mm as does @Saganite . The Brandon is unlike any other ep I own.