Stu

Almost exclusively solar observing Piero, mainly white light but also Ha. It really helps reduce the impact of floaters at high power and is more relaxing I find.

Cracking views for you then Piero! I really do think it is only when you really push things that the real differences show up. Have you tried binoviewing on the sun yet?

Sound so like you are going to have a lot of fun with your scope Piero I agree about sustaining higher powers. I often use x200 ish which is as high as I can get with my binoviewers and the views are amazing. Granulation and the detail in active regions in white light at high power is incredible isn't it?

Ahh haa! Had me completely fooled!

Have fun Derek! So, what's the little Red, Green, Blue, White tiny filter thingy in the last image??

AZ5 looks like quite a decent temporary option

Lovely job Piero. I think you are going to like it

Agreed, that is a lovely setup both aesthetically and from a performance perspective too. Bet you will have fun with that, even whilst surviving on bean on toast

Ahh, now I remember. Mine is the A20-302 which was originally for the FS60C and FC76DC but it also fits the 100. The one you have looks neater and nicely profiled but in some ways I like seeing the original silver trim as with mine. Both do the job though so no problems

Which FT adaptor is that Gavin? Looks very different to mine?

When will you have stock of the AZ-GTi mounts Steve?

Nice one John. I will remember that as I next look at individual granulation cells at x200, thinking about what might have been.... Slightly more seriously, it looks like a nice and interesting piece of kit. Ade, I hope you have some great views with it; I look forward to the reports

I think one of the alignment modes is 'levelled and pointing North' but otherwise I guess it is just find your first alignment star manually from which ever start position?

Shame you can't buy the pillar with the head as that looks a really good idea. At some point, assuming it gets good feedback, I may look into the AZ-GTi. On the Gitzo tripod it would make a great grab and go mount for the Tak but not sure if that one is being sold as just the head.

I get the power supply issue, but being a non imager what is the problem with the offset and DSLRs?

Come on then Alan, what's the almost about? Seems great to me, nice to see Skywatcher coming up with some more innovative products.

Works with SkySafari which is the main thing for me. Would be ideal with the Tak for travel.

Wonder if is available without the tripod? It says it has a 3/8" tripod fitting. Having said that the built in pillar looks neatly done, similar to what I made for my photo tripod.

Looks excellent, could well be tempted in future.

TS are quite good at listing the optical length of different components.

It's mainly a practical thing, just trying to keep everything as light and short as possible for travelling. The Herschel Wedge works no problem without an extension despite the huge barlowing I do with it! I do need to try to see if I can reach focus with the BVs natively for DSO observing. I can connect via a short T2 adaptor to my diagonal so might be able to. EDIT I will try to show the FT next to the Tak focuser (which I took off and never used!)

I can sympathise with this! I remember when taking a scope abroad once, I think it was to Egypt, I was over the 10kg limit anyway, and ended up with a 22mm type 4 Nagler in my coat pocket, along with a number of other small but quite heavy items! Managed to get away with it though!

Given your skies I can understand that John. When holiday represents the best sky you get in a year, you tend to appreciate it more and take whichever scope you can cram in with with everything else!

I can check some of this soon Piero, should be using mine in the next night or so. I'm currently using a T2 BBHS diagonal which will have a longer optical path than 1.25" but still it needs extensions in the FT. It depends upon your requirements though. For me what is most important alongside weight is minimum length for travel. I'm not bothered about needing to use an extension, it just becomes part of the drawtube and causes no issues. Of course more travel is always nice and makes life easier but all these things are compromises and you pick the one that matches your criteria best. The FT just has such a lovely feel and control to it which really improves my enjoyment of the scope.

I went for the DC version as I have never really rated Tak focusers and always intended to fit a FeatherTouch. I have the FT2025-BCR, same as you are considering. There is a lightweight LW version which saves a little weight but on balance I would stick with the full version for the 100. The LW suits the 60 and 76 scopes well. I chose tube rings rather than the clamshell because I found the clamshell a little more bulky and perhaps heavier (need to check that out). I felt that they would also hold the scope more solidly being spread out more but this is perception rather than any hard fact. I can probably weigh the scope tomorrow if that helps. I too need an extension tube to get focus if not using binoviewers but I quite like the flexibility. It's a lovely scope, very portable and I think you might just notice the difference vs the TV60