Stu

Why not paint it matt green?

Yes, I saw it in a pair of Coronado 10x25 Solar binoculars quite some years ago. It is small but very distinctive, a sharp black silhouette.

What a good idea, hadn't even thought of that! I've got the day off too so will 'be mobile' and do my best to cat h it somewhere.

I did some searching and thought this might be useful, these are the colour indices for the stars being talked about, and some references. T Lyrae 5.5 (Very Red!!) Garnett star 2.24 (Red) Betelgeuse 1.74 (Orange red) 15 Aquilae 1.11 and 1.54 (Orangey Orangey ) 61 cygni 1.07 and 1.31 (same again?) Vega 0.00 (White) Bellatrix -0.14 (Blue white) Sigma orionis -0.24 (Blue)

Skysafari describes one component of 15 Aq as Orange and the other as Orange-Red, pretty close in colour visually so I'm not surprised tou didn't pick up much difference. 14 seem to have a separation of 0.1" so a touch on the tricky side!!!

The most obvious difference will be field of view, with the f7 giving you options with a long focal length eyepiece up to say 3.6 degrees or a little more. The f9 will be limited to around 2.8 degrees. There aren't many objects that big, but it is nice for the Veil and North America Nebula for example. There may be a slight advantage to the f9 for planetary and lunar observing and it will be a little gentler on edge correction for widefield eyepieces but f7 is still not exactly fast so the differences will be slight. It will also depend on glass type of the ED element and also of the second element which is as important, plus the quality of the figure and polish. The SW100 ED does have an excellent reputation I must say, and if widefield is not an issue for you then it may well be a good option.

I've used my Tak for solar with a Herschel Wedge since I've had it ie quite a few years now, with no problems Rob.

I suspect this one was handheld Jeremy, as I would have been using my binoviewers. The Televue Fonemate works well with compatible Televue eyepieces (those which take the Dioptrx). You can also get an adaptor for the 24mm Panoptic to allow that to be used. The Fonemate attaches very securely and is always centred so it is just a matter of centering the camera. The new Orion Steadypix EZ is a variant of this but has a different clamping mechanism and works with non TV eyepieces. Works well. https://uk.telescope.com/mobile/catalog/product.jsp?productId=115934&utm_source=google&utm_medium=comparisonshopping&utm_campaign=UK-googlemerchant&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzNeVlZac5QIVBVXTCh0FQQCmEAUYASABEgL6jfD_BwE Just remembered there are images and write ups of a few different mounts here. http://www.waltonastrogroup.co.uk/equipment-reviews.html

4" Tak for me plus Baader Wedge. Found some smartphone pics from the last one here. Will try in Ha too this time.

No, that's not correct. The dob image is upside down ie rotated 180 degrees, but the Mak image would just be inverted top to bottom. The mirror then corrects the vertical inversion but introduces the left right reversal. You can get erecting prisms (Amici prisms) which show a correct image. Unless you buy a very high end one you can end up with spikes off bright stars and a reduction in quality. I have always preferred either mirrors or standard prisms which offer the least degradation of the image.

For Maks and refractors the view without a diagonal is inverted, and with it is upright but left-right reversed.

Have had plenty over the years, but possibly the most memorable one was the Venus transit. Thought I was going to be clouded out, but then a clear patch came through for about 6 minutes before 3rd contact. Venus was much bigger than I expected, it was an amazing view. Best event overall was probably the SGL10 Star Party. The partial lunar eclipse was wonderful, beautiful clear skies, and 4 clear nights over the weekend, two of them with pretty good transparency. Had my 16" dob and had a ball scooping up galaxies by the dozen. Best views of M101 I've ever had. Various others like the SN in M82, and some of the white light solar views of large ARs in excellent seeing have been breathtaking. Always plenty going on!

Tricky Geoff. I guess you are battling atmospheric extinction as well as the LP. The Veil overhead here from a dark site can be amazing, not often we get better views up in the North!

I have the day booked off too. Hopefully the skies will be kind. Need to decide which mount to use, ideally I want both PST Mod and Tak on either the Sphinx or GPDX so I have tracking. Bit of a trial needed I think.

Interesting review. I have found similar in that for high power solar observing my Baader Mark IVs maintain sharpness and show very fine detail in the granulation even when there is not much else to see. Makes it all the more rewarding. I have the TS version of the OVLs and as you say? Very good value and excellent performers for the price.