russ

2 hours ago, Ships and Stars said:

I didn't realise the 150/152s were that size! Bazooka territory!

What a beast of a scope. I just can't see the AZ4 being happy about carrying that lump.

2 hours ago, Alan White said:

Jon, at one point I had an AZ4 with a 150p that worked well.

However I did feel this was the limit for the mount.

I would agree. AZ4 and 150P is a nice pairing. I prefer that to a dob. Everything at a nicer to use height and easier to shift about. We love our AZ4.

2 minutes ago, parallaxerr said:

If I were to drop to 150mm aperture @russ, I think I'd just hang out for the frac given that I love the refractor presentation. What was the big no no with the 200pds, physical size, weight, vibration? Did you attempt any observing with it on the AZ4?

It was a bit of everything. Physical size (too long), too much weight on that bearing. I tried some low power on Jupiter but it wouldn't settle down. I fully understand you wanting the 150 frac, they just give a purer star image that a newt cannot match. My Startravel 150 was sadly a technicolor dreamcoat of false colour. Tried the Baader Semi-Apo filter to calm things down but it didn't work. The ST80 and ST102 had CA but nothing like the 150. That said it was years ago and before the black diamond models came out. The old sky blue Skywatcher.

I tried our 200PDS on the AZ4.....haha wouldn't recommend it. But a C8 on the other hand.....no worries. Our AZ4 is kitted out with the CG5 2" steel legs but it was too much i think. A Skytee 2 would be a better bet for the 200P. What about the 150PDS on the AZ4?  So much smaller and lighter than the 200P, views are not a great deal inferior. And the AZ4 loves it. AZ4 also loves our C6S tube a lot! Match made in heaven.

I really do not envy you having to carry that beast up and down stairs into an apartment. I used to have the same scope. Had to keep it upstairs in the spare room. Out of sight, out of mind. I hit it on every door frame on the way out and on the way back. And found the base no easier to manage. As much as I loved the 250 it had to go. Replaced it with a C8S (the CG5 mounted one). The tube was lightweight and very easy to manage. The CG5 was much easier to manhandle too.  Plus it was all driven in both axis.

The only two drawbacks of the C8 (or any SCT) was cool down time (gigantic problem from a heated room to cold outdoors) and they are the ultimate dew magnate (more than any other scope type). From a warm room it needed minimum 1 hour outside cooling. On a really cold night, more than that. And the dew would end the viewing in less than 5 minutes without some kind of active dew prevention (heated dew strap. So basically waited an hour or more to view only for it to be out of action 5 mins later. And a dew shield was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

But the C8 is a great way of getting aperture in a lighter and easier to handle package. That's my take on it. 

On the upside, perhaps a good time to pick up planetary scopes and eyepieces cheaply before demand picks up closer the time.

2022 - struth! I'm sure the years will fly by...... 🙄

I was stuck in work but fortunately Hampshire CC allowed us to go out and have a look. Didn't matter as we didn't see a thing except thick cloud. But it was an eerie  experience as it all went dark and the birds started singing, unsure what was going on. Plus it was 30 mins not working. 

They are two nice little scopes, I bought a 130M for my elder son many moons ago. And he loved it.

The problem are the mounts they are supplied with, the EQ1 and EQ2. Neither one is a great astrophotography option. They struggle to take the scopes they come with, let alone adding a Travel Scope 70 as a guide scope. Plus they are single axis drive only and no polar scope. A better bet would be a used 150P on an EQ3-2. Will cost the same as a new 1145P or maybe less. That way you get the polar scope, dual axis drives and a chance at some astrophotography plus a scope that pushes things a long way on from your current scopes.  

The 150P is when things start getting serious. Great views of everything and a good camera platform for widefield photography. Just a thought.

I was out yesterday evening with the 200P and found the best view came from using the 12mm TV plossl working at 83x. The atmosphere was degrading the image badly above 100x.

It could be your C6N needs collimating but much more likely its simply the atmospheric conditions that are holding you back. And the Baader BCO 10mm is simply top notch optically, so you're really not going to get something that much better even if you spent hundreds. You are well into the realms of diminishing returns going beyond the 10mm BCO. It will be more about buying an eyepiece that is easier and nicer to use, rather than optically better.  

That's fantastic.

2 hours ago, Rob said:

Ditto Russ.. and totally agree! Rob

Such a great mount for not much money

14 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

Coulter.   😀

Haha you remember the ad too   Thanks for putting me out of my misery. Coulter Odyssey dobsonians......epic

Another thumbs up for the HEQ5. It hits the sweet spot for load capacity, tracking while still being portable. I am 100% happy with it and not looking for another mount. This thread is far easier to answer than the scope and eyepiece threads  

It looks a beautifully solid mount. Looks the business. I can dream. 

8 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

i think it would be incredibly short sighted to not have usb3 on a mount released now. 

Pretty sure that looks to have 4 x USB 3.0, not USB 2.0 as per Altair Astro.

10 hours ago, John said:

Yes it was Luton Russ. I never actually visited but I pored for ages over their brochures before making a decision. Those brochures also made me aware of the Vixen flourite refractors - and the fact that they were a long way out of my reach at that time financially

 

There was something about the brochures and adverts back then. Look naff now but were amazing back then. Used to love the ads in Astronomy magazine. Especially an ad for a brand of dobsonian (can't remember which) that showed a silhouette profile of the complete range and the largest was huge. Strangely none of the ads have the same effect these days despite being more professional and infinitely better quality. 

Thanks for the heads up. Very handy.

Plus I now know what all the cloudy nights for August will be. Lol

Enjoyable watch. I enjoy watching Alyn on his Youtube channel. He does a well made vlog.

On 27/07/2019 at 20:22, John said:

Thanks - I enjoyed reading though the BC&F history

I was a regular visitor to 63 Farringdon Road from the mid 1980's for around a decade. Whenever I had to be in London for business I managed to find my way there, even if the business meeting was on the other side of town !

I bought a Fullerscopes Mk III mount from Dud himself and had some interesting phone calls with him as I gently chased it's production progress

Great memories

Here is that mount carrying an Astro Systems 6 inch F/6 newtonian - my first "proper" scope and one that I used to observe Halley's Comet in 1986:

 

 

Wow, i used to love the Astro Systems scopes. We visited Astro Systems in 1987 (i think). Was their place in Luton? Sure it was. But i decided to buy a complete Fullerscopes system instead. 

On 28/07/2019 at 08:10, Nigella Bryant said:

Yeah, my first real astronomical telescope was bought from B. C & F back around 1975 it was a 10inch newtononian on a MkIV mount with Dec and ra drive, none goto of course back than, lol. It had a little door towards the end so you could cover the main mirror. It was a wonderful scope and had many brilliant views of Jupiter. I think the whole set up was £600. I was 15 and worked in a summer job and saved all my money and tips on the scope and mount. Very fond memories of perusing the catalogue for a year before I bought that scope, lol. 

Found an image of my telescope tube but the mount I had was the MkIV, I think the pic is a MKIII. 

I bought the exact same setup myself in 1987. The 10" Newt on the MkIII with dual drives. It took all my summer money cleaning at IBM to buy it. It weighed an absolute ton and did not go into my VW Beetle at all well. But the views were epic, especially as I had upgraded from a Tasco 60mm refractor.....  But it didn't last. It truly was an ordeal to get it to the New Forest for darker skies. So i swapped it for beautiful handmade 8.5" f4.5 dob. If only i kept it just 3 months longer. Got my first full time job and it came with an Escort van that I could drive as much as i liked. Would have been perfect for the Fullerscopes.

I visited the shop in London 4 times, spoke with Dudley, drooled over the Meade SCT's. We attended Astrocamp in Ashdown Forest from 1987-1991, and made it part of the week to visit Broadhurst, Clarkson and Fuller. Great memories.   

1 hour ago, MarsG76 said:

Oh no, in an eyepiece apocalypse you are only allowed to have one...

have no choice but make the ultimate sacrifice and forgo the Speers, just have the Baader. 

47 minutes ago, Alan White said:

No Russ, just one.
As other have said zoom and a barlow/s is an option.

It will have to be the Baader 8-24 then with the barlow    Widefield views aside that covers it all quite nicely. 

I would like my Speers-Waler 5-8mm zoom back. By far and away the my fav eyepiece. But can i have the Baader 8-24mm zoom to go with it....please

If i had to live with only one scope it probably wouldn't any of my current scopes (200PDS, C6S and Starmax 90) but a 4" Apo frac again (or maybe a 5"). Miss having an Apo frac.