Stu

Now you just need the Lightweight Feathertouch for it Jeremy

Lovely stuff Jeremy. I used to have a split tube 76DC, very sharp optically and also highly portable to take abroad etc.

Should do the job nicely

That’s great Paul. I do hope it performs as well with the Quark as with the Herschel Wedge. I think, for the money, it is well worth a punt. You should, I think, get full disk views with it. I reckon a 32mm Plossl would be worth trying. Quarks are funny old beasts, the overall focal ratio you are operating at makes a difference to the contrast seen as I recall. Somewhere are f6.5 for the scope is optimum, which is why the Pronto is a good option. But the combination of aperture and an f ratio within the recommended range should be good I should think. Just don’t forget the x4.2 barlow included and assume that you will need long focal length, simple construction eg Plossl type eyepieces and you should be good.

That’s a shame Derek. I rarely, if ever use 2” eyepieces for solar, I tend to favour 1.25” simple designs like orthos or Plossls over even the 24mm Panoptic. Will be interesting to see how it performs for astro.

Lovely job! On my list of 'must look through one', if not 'own!' A big beast indeed!

Lovely scope Ade, really nice design and I bet it performs well too. If I didn’t have my scope that must not be mentioned, I would have been very tempted. Look forward to hearing about first light.

I too used a 3.7 SX as in theory it made an ideal highest power eyepiece in a few of the fracs I owned at the time. In practise I didn’t get on with the eye relief and actually found 110 degrees too much. I couldn’t take it all in, and more often than not found myself seeing more of my eyelashes than the stars!

Be careful John, the views could knock your socks off....

Sorry, not quite sure what you are asking Derek, probably just being a bit slow! I just measured the outer diameter of the objective cell on the Tak and picked the Lenscoat which covered that range. In this case it was 114mm or 4.48” and the Large Lenscoat covers 4.25 to 4.75”. They are elasticated and very easy to fit and use. Wish I had discovered them years ago! Let me know if that is not what you meant!

I have just received a Large Lenscoat for a slightly different Tak related requirement. When I disassemble mine for transport, I normally have to bodge some kind of protection for the objective and rear opening when it sits in its Pelicase. Thanks to @johninderby I think for originally pointing this out on another thread. This one works fine for the front, a medium is on order for the back

What a great build John. I would love to build one myself so might take inspiration from your project. I have owned a couple in the past and find them amazing bits of kit, very simple to use but so effective. As you rightly say, you see so much more when the target remains centred and the scope steady.

That is neat Simon, who did you get that done by? I’m sure it would be a very handy mod for others to adopt. The OCS can sit very handily in the bayonet fitting too so it is a good system and very flexible.

I suspect that one of the few things missing from @Peter Drew ‘s CV is taking his hacksaw to a Tak, so be careful!!

Good luck Steve, hope you get sorted. If it helps, this is my setup which works natively, helped by the direct T2 connection between Binoviewer and T2 BBHS mirror diagonal (could be any T2 diagonal or prism)

That looks neat Mike. I have to agree, widefield views may be over-rated in binoviewers, they are much better suited to mid and higher power views where they can counteract floaters very effectively. EDIT What is strange is that Steve is struggling to reach focus even with an OCS. I will have a look at my setup, hopefully tonight to see how it differs

There may be some useful info in this thread if you haven’t seen it already...

Thanks Steve. So with this setup, no GPCs or barlows, you can’t reach focus at infinity? Will it work with a GPC? Which brand are the binoviewers, Denk? Can you get a T2 adaptor to fit them directly to the Prism?

That’s a shame Steve. Can you post images of the setup so we can try to help? As far as I’m aware it should be perfectly possible to reach focus without barlows or GPCs. I can do it but use a Feathertouch although I believe the Tak focuser is capable of the same. It may be that a T2 diagonal will help, and with certain binoviewers you can attach directly to the diagonal, again saving optical path length.

Funny, my grass always looks browny/purple when I’ve been observing the sun through using a continuum filter for a while, soon turns green again though

Hi Alan, The issue here is not 25585’s desire to mount his scope in which ever way he wishes, it is the fact that we should not mislead any new starters or inexperienced users to think it is necessary. Two decent quality standard rings or a clamshell (from ANY reputable manufacturer) are perfectly adequate. Once the insinuations that they are not up to the job stop then there should not be any further need to counter them. cheers, Stu

ADC is short for Atmospheric Distortion Corrector John, which compensates for atmospheric CA. They can give good results, particularly for imaging low down planets. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-125-atmospheric-dispersion-corrector-adc.html

I wish that were the case for me Geoff. Binoviewers work brilliantly for me for white light and Ha Solar, plus lunar, but planetary for some reason I just don’t get as much detail as with cyclops. The floaters are much better controlled and colour is better but detail not

I’m guessing they just didn’t get killed off over the winter? To me they seem bigger than ever!

Not sure this counts as ‘at night’, but best I could do. OMC140 on Vixen GP mount. Was forced in by the hummingbird sized mosquitoes though!