IB20

I don’t necessarily think that’s the case, there’s probably not a huge amount between the views afforded by any 4” F7 FPL53 APO or 4” Vixen and the Tak, any differences would probably be fairly marginal. Yes Taks seems to take high mags well but you can’t always make use of that in UK seeing. What the Taks manage to do really well in the FC series is keep weight down and make them portable which reduces mounting requirements/ helps with travel. Increasing OTA weight with my current equipment would require me to shell out loads on a tripod, mount, cradle/tube rings, plates etc. Also ime light scopes get used far more than a heavier scope or set-up.

No idea, it was the 4mm TOE in the 76Q so whatever FOV that gives. The magnification works out at around 238x. A FOV calculator has it at 0.22°.

I love planetary observing through my 3”APO. It’s so portable and easy to set up that I observe 95% of the time that conditions allow. They are extremely handy in winter too as is ready to use almost immediately out of the house and are great for gaps in clouds. I wholeheartedly reject that you cannot do serious planetary observing with a small refractor; I have seen so much with mine but it depends on the observer, patience and a critical eye. I’d definitely recommend a 3” or 4” APO. I have an 8” dob and I find that in regular seeing the ordinary magnification that planets accept leads to too bright an image, so you need filters. For me personally it’s all about contrast, contrast, contrast. I have compared my 3” to a 3” long achromat too and the APO wins hands down due to the amount of colour fringing seen on planetary limbs in the achro which hides a lot of detail, particularly for events like moon and shadow transits or occultations. As a bonus they work brilliantly on the moon, white light solar and double stars too; what’s not to like?

The sketch is how I saw it through the scope, so needs inverting. I’ve also just realised that East is to my left not my right as my garden view is due South, so East would be to the right in an inverted image. 🤦🏼‍♂️ Corrected for prism sketch attached.

Tonight I’ve exclusively observed Sirius with the FC-76Q around about 9:50pm at 20° altitude. Eyepieces used were the Tak TOEs 4mm and 2.5mm which gave mags of 240x-380x. Consistently I kept detecting some artefact around 2 o’clock that very, very occasionally appeared like a very small dim companion in between the 2nd and 3rd diffraction rings, sketch attached. Could this be the pup or is it just scintillation artefact? I have to say tonight is the best I’ve seen Sirius through the 76Q, the diffraction rings were beautifully controlled but it is still a very difficult target especially skirting the rooftops and drifting through heat plumes.

I have the Tak FC-76Q, it gives me incredible lunar, solar, planetary and double star views. If the Tak FC-100DC/DZs give brighter, larger and higher resolution images than the 3”, then the 4” will be astounding. I know they are really expensive but if you can afford it then I’d say go for it, we only live once. The Starfields also look brilliant and would be my choice had I not looked through a Tak already! 🤣

I have the 76DCU; for Mars I originally used the 4mm TOE which gives ~143x with 0.53mm exit pupil. Mars can take more magnification than that and found that the 2.5mm TOE also held up; a mag of 228x and 0.33mm exit pupil. I don’t find the floaters that much more off putting from 0.5 to 0.3mm. The TOEs are wonderful eyepieces in the little Tak, so maybe the 3.3mm should be in the equation for you? They are sensational on the moon and the 4mm is the best EP I have ever owned. I have since added the 1.7Q extender module to the 76DCU and I must say Mars was definitely a marginal improvement through it. Partly due to the increase in magnification that my EPs gave me. The 5mm and 4mm XW and TOEs are my go to EPs for Mars viewing at 190x and 228x respectively. I did like my Delite and found it fantastic to look through. I didn’t like the locking mechanism and it didn’t reach focus with the 76DCU and Tak prism though so it got sold.

Brightest I’ve seen it tonight in the 15 x 70 bins, and although I might be imagining it I’m sure it had a green tinge to it. A nice bright nucleus showing but still a diffuse spherical shell rather than a tail. I’d say the mag was somewhere between 5-5.5 currently.

Took this tonight with my phone if it helps!

It looked great at 136x through the 76DCQ! I’m going back out soon to up the mag and spend some more time on the moon.

Tak 76DCQ, Tak TOE 4mm & iPhone Pro 14 snapped and edited with ProCamera.

Seeing a bit rough but have just had some great views of Mars. Syrtis Major fully on display but the disc is starting to recede so a lot smaller than it has been but the albedo features really standing out in the twilight. Venus looking like a perfect, pearlescent white 91% illuminated disc through the 76DCQ too, some occasional AD through the buffering atmosphere but extremely pleasing to get the scope on.

Twilight Venus, Jupiter, Moon and Mars nicely on view, naked eye. Something really pleasing about being able to see the planets shining brightly when there’s still some light about. Capped off with a super bright lunar grazing ISS pass. The 2 year old loved it!

A bargain £4.99 from Amazon.

First time I’ve seen it for a week or so, definitely brighter and probably around mag 5.5ish. Still spherically diffuse but the core more prominent than last observation.

Great looking moon right now, the clouds have parted and conditions looking ok for the night. Mare Crisium and surrounding areas looking fantastic.

Now the sun is starting to peep over my southern views, I’ve been able to enjoy some very pleasant WL solar observing. It is now a joy and so easy to change prisms with the new set up and I no longer have to wrestle with the Tak collet. I love it!

A quick 2 mins with the new continuum filter, probably not what you want to hear @Stu but I’m pretty certain the faculae are popping more with the reduced band pass, certainly through a camera sensor. 😁

Oooh, missed that. Yeah always something else to spend the moolah on, especially when searching for marginal gains!

A slight upgrade on the 10nm continuum filter. Best filter I own by a country mile.

The 15mm BST is a brilliant EP and works incredibly well with an 8” Dob. The 5mm is also extremely good but would probably be limited to lunar viewing and Mars. I got a 10mm Baader Classic Ortho and that beat the 12mm and 8mm BSTs hands down. It also barlow really well too.

+ Jupiter.

Amazing sight right now.

Venus looking very yellow! I saw it yesterday and thought as much.

Whilst in the area RX Leporis is a really nice coloured orange star, as is HD 33162.