heliumstar

I actually bid on it because of the mount A bunch of other stuff came with the scope as well. Two counterweights for the mount (sometimes these are not original when mounts bought second hand), two finders (8x30, 6x24) and a telescope called Topic 60/700 made in Japan. Focuser is 0.965" eyepiece side. Came with a diagonal and eyepiece but in pretty bad shape. Worth testing out though. Focuser again on this telescope is better than many, many new telescopes. You would think we would advance in this department but many achromats today have worse focusers than this old one. The same seller had 26mm Celestron Plossl and 2x Barlow (both Vixen made I think) but I was only able to grab Celestron 7.5mm for 14 GBP. Anyway .. here is a photo of the telescope. Any ideas what this is? It says Topic Astronomical Telescope 60mm / 700 ... probably one of the many that were made for different brands.

So, there was this interesting telescope on auction on Ebay.co.uk last week and I just bid the lowest amount - 35 GBP - yes 35! I was the highest bidder - kind of surprised there but oh well, luck struck and I picked it up the other day. This is Vixen made 6" Newtonian on Vixen Polaris mount. Condition I would say is not ideal but still servicable. Would need some love but the mount is smooth and I just love Vixen's slow-mo controls. These are rusty though. It has a sled focuser and surprisingly it is in mint condition and very smooth. One of the better focusers I used. The mount looks like a great one. Smooth and it can be set up in Alt-Az as well. I am still debating myself if I should tackle a little cleaning and regreasing or just send it somewhere. The same for the mirror. I can see the coatings deteriorated but still usable imo.

Might help someone : https://github.com/andrewferguson/YahooGroups-Archiver Looks like it can archive private groups as well as long as you add Y and T cookies from yahoo domain when logged into your account to variables (cookie_Y,cookie_T) in archive_group.py

For me any telescope is serious. There is not one I was disappointed with. Currently the beautiful Takahashi FS-60Q is my serious telescope. In Q config it's great on Moon and planets (what's left of them in the low sky) and splitting doubles left and right. But then you take the Q off and it becomes a nice little EAA machine. Point to M57 and a beautiful ring appears on the laptop screen in a few minutes.

...and Altair Astro... Looks like Omegon jumped the wagon. That's good!

Sorry for not explaining properly. Out of 5 there were 2 that were really good. The one that came with 102 Mak and this latest one I ordered from AstroShop.eu - so some 40% success rate. Additional two were with minds of their own - sometimes working and sometimes not and one never worked for me. In my opinion it's worth trying a few since you'll eventually end up with the one that is accurate every time. Numbers game

There are serious quality control issues with this mount. While my latest version (fifth I bought - don't ask lol) is fine and goto is accurate there was one that was total rubbish, two that were sometimes ok and sometimes not and another one that was spot on as this latest one I have now. I bought mine from FLO, TringAstro, AstroShop.eu and twice second hand. Two best were from 102 Mak package from FLO and standalone from AstroShop.eu - it looks like a lottery to me then huh... I never bother with OTA North or three star alignment. What works for me with the 'good ones' is level the tripod and mount, 1 star alignment and then goto to two objects and confirm. After that every object is in the FOV. That is also my aim. To be ready in a minute. I only have hour or two windows when I can observe and every minute counts. While there are issues I encountered and read about I still love this mount. There's nothing like it available anywhere else - not in the price range and not in this form. I would gladly buy something out of this world in quality and accuracy terms and in the same form factor even if the price was 10x. I was head on RST-135 but read of similar issues so this nut looks like it's hard to crack.

A quick question if someone can chime in. FS-60Q and Herschel Wedge. I don't have enough knowledge to properly understand but it looks to me that it should work and be ok. The extender lenses are not close enough to concentrate as much heat as to be an issue. Is my thinking sound?

We certainly won't block you from spending money BUT ...by looking at your sig I am not sure if you need it though. In terms of optical performance I am not sure if zoom will be that much better. It is very convenient though and when I am out with 127 Mak or 8" SCT it's the only eyepiece I use.

John, I feel like these two are hidden gems in the sea of eyepieces. While 10mm might present an issue in terms of eye relief, the 18mm is more generous. Still not sure how 18mm would work with glasses (I don't wear them when observing) but I find it very comfortable. Let me add that 10mm BCO was replaced by Vixen SLV 9mm when in action. Vixen SLVs are another option if you hunt them second hand. I got a great deal for 50 a piece here on SGL. Bought 6mm and 9mm. Sold 9mm because I though I don't need it but then comfort of use kicked in and I ordered a new one lol. I will never sell this lot though. Such a nice compact package and works in all scopes just fine, bright and sharp. Actually, if you are honest with yourself it's all you really need ....until shopping and testing spree kicks in he he

Check out Baader 18mm Classic Ortho as well. To my eye one of the best eyepieces I looked through. I had 18mm BST Starguider and BCO is brighter and I could see more detail on the Moon when comparing both side by side.

Like it very much! Encoders out of the box and the price for them is reasonable - thumbs up. The capacity is over of what I personally need at the moment but if some nice 5" or 6" refractor comes my way in the future this looks like real contender. I like the design.

TeleVue Nagler 13mm from David Hardie sale just came in. In very good condition. Tested it just now on some buildings and branches. Very, very good.

Yes, when I was observing Albireo the other day the double star was brighter and colours were deeper, more pronounced - and double stars are my main thing for visual. In my mind there is no doubt. This was BBHS mirror with Tak FS-60Q. I changed the diagonals back and forth and used the same eyepieces - Vixen SLV 6mm, Vixen SLV 9mm and Baader Zoom. I did this multiple times just to confirm. Go for it. You will not be disappointed. Inquire at FLO Steve just posted they can get them. Beware...I was patiently waiting exactly one month for all the pieces to arrive from RVO. Hope FLO can get yours sooner

I don't go along with magnified finders as well so I move Rigel from scope to scope. If you are set on a prism I would go either T-2 non Zeiss or Tak for your 127 mak. Both around 100. If you are set on either prism or mirror BBHS check these codes on RVO website ( enter codes into search - FLO doesn't seem to stock them ) : Prism: 2456095 Mirror: 2456103 Nosepiece: 2458105 1.25" Clicklock: 2458100 T-2 non Zeiss prism : 2456005-K - similar price to Tak prism. I had it but didn't go along with eyepiece holder and three screws. ClickLock is much more comfortable in use.

True. It's expensive - not 400. I bought mine from RVO and it was 260 with nosepiece and 1.25" Clicklock. It's T-2 BBHS mirror - not 2". Still if you think about it it's the same price as SW 72ed! 🙄 I had T-2 non Zeiss Baader prism and it was very good as well. I settled on Tak prism due to being so lightweight and Baader BBHS mirror for to my eyes being the best. It only hurts once when you buy it and if you take care of them they will last decades I guess. With BBHS that is actually a promise from Baader. If it helps. With my 127 Mak I always use Tak prism and Baader 8-24 zoom and I am very happy with that combination. In my opinion that is actually one of the finest combinations of portability, price and capability in the market. Put it on AZ GTi Wifi and you have a perfect scope for beginners and experienced observers.

Quick shipping from China. Fits like a glove! Very pleased.

Finder base/holder for Tak came from China in 7 days. Pretty good. Had to pay customs charge (11 GBP) on top of $18.50 product price. Not so good. And TeleVue Panoptic 24mm bought here the other day. In absolute mint condition.

Not AZ3, not AZ4, not AZ5, not AZ8. It's AZ100. If you go, go all the way Looks very nice. Waiting patiently to learn more. Motors? Encoders?

In my opinion it's down to the the diagonal itself. I was comparing Celestron prism with Bresser mirror in Bresser 102XS and SW 127 Mak. We all know about the theory of f ratio (which honestly I don't completely understand) and use of either one but in both telescopes Celestron was clearly 'clearer'.

I used it. Very smooth and I had no issues focusing and observing at 150x with 127 Mak. What put me off is non-responsive Altair Astro when I inquired about encoders they were developing so I didn't go with it and am kind of still on the hunt for similar mount. I mean if you can't answer a simple question what about the support down the line? I don't want to bash anyone but that put me off of any AA products now and I love their scopes - Starwave 80ED-R was one of the best I owned - better star test than equivalent TS. No, just no. Holding people hostage like this is not polite

After trying many diagonals from Altair Astro, SkyWatcher, Baader 2" mirror (white one), Baader T-2 prism, BBHS mirror, Tak prism and all those that came with the scopes like Bresser, SW, Celestron I settled on Baader T-2 BBHS mirror and Takahashi Prism. Baader BBHS mirror is absolute best to my eyes and 1.25" clicklock is so effortless to use. You can clearly see how Baader is brighter than all the rest and colours of Albireo are deeper for example. It's even better than Tak prism. Baader's T-2 prism is on-par with Tak I might add. Now, I only tested this on double stars, planets and Luna so not sure how it would work on deep-sky objects since I can't really see any from where I observe - I use camera for that (EAA).

Such a beautiful telescope. Thanks for posting. I always enjoy seeing a Vixen Enjoy it and clear skies!

This one is going to be hard. Maybe something like this : http://www.desertskyastro.com/DSV-2.html It's 4kg with balancing system but much less without it. It has slow-mo controls. Now the issue becomes the tripod. It gets expensive with Gitzo. I guess SS 1.75" could potentially handle it but not sure about the weight. Might be slightly above than what you are looking for all together.

Baader Zoom is great with 127 Mak. . It's so good to dial in the perfect magnification. Baader Classic Orthos are great as well, especially 18mm and 10mm. 10mm will give you 150x. I rarely use 6mm with 127 Mak.