Deadlake

The 130GTX is such an all round scope in the bass it covers, visual and AP. The 110GTX looks from the specs taylor made for full frame AP, with an amazing poly Strhel across the spectrum and all across the sensor. I’d still go with the AP130GTX as what it provides for the weight.

The pan handle bracket, does anyone know if the size of the handle is it M8 in size? Measuring with a tape measure it comes out as 14 mm, but I'd like to know for sure. Thanks

For imaging I'd go with a belt driven mount. For visual the AZ100 is very good, but the Pegasus is 6 kg, saving you 4 kg's over the AZ100. The AZ100 does have dual saddles, and a higher load capacity. I'm waiting sometime before I'd jump in with the Pegasus however I know some people have lead ordered from RVO.

Are you 100% visual? If so I would look at this new mount which has the advantage of being AltZ. https://pegasusastro.com/products/nyx-101-harmonic-gear-mount/ The SXP2 is twice the weight, it's a superb mount. However the two star align on the Pegasus will be quicker to set up.

Actually starting from one of these: https://raspad.com https://cutiepi.io Are there INDI integrated webcams or guide scopes, I'd imagine it would be plug and play then?

I was lucky and purchased a pair of MaxBright II 2nd hand. It’s a big step up to the Mark V and the Zeiss BV’s which are more available.

Is it me or is there an uptick in Rowan’s prices in general. Tracking inflation….

This mount is now available for purchase, look at Rowans Facebook page...

This is a good question. Looking at the guidance from Pegasus 900 mm for an APO might be an upper limit. Interesting they decided to show case with a C11 as focal length needs tracking error kept under control. Guess we will need to wait for beta testing.

The Pegasus has an ALtZ mode for visual hence the question.

Two scopes for me would be hitting 20 kg, however same time visual only. I could want to go up to 25 kg double scoped in the future however I wonder what the stretch is using the counter weight?

Since the Pegasus can be used in AltZ mode I'm wondering if this might be a better alternative to an AZ100. Lighter in exchange for giving up dual scopes. I think the light weight mounts will cause a rethink of lighter AltZ mounts for visual usage. For example the Pegasus plus a carbon tripod is around 10 kg, which is the weight of an AZ100 without a tripod. That makes moving a 5" APO scope + Pegasus around the garden quite possible. However traditional mounts have much better guiding accuracy so are quite safe for now.

More discussion here: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/818409-pegasus-astro-nyx-101-harmonic-mount/page-4#entry11901336 However the gist is that the results where due to poor seeing due to African dust flying into Europe.

That’s a good question, I do not know. Rumoured price is around $3000. This is close to RST-300 in load capacity, 20 kg, so why not two scopes?

This has no AltZ mode and no brake at all? I'll wait for the Pegasus to come out, built with a Swiss harmonic gear. https://pegasusastro.com/nyx-101-harmonic-gear-mount/

I was going to swap out the Vixen HR's for TOE's. However I used the HR's for the first time in an age on the Moon (Monday) and I thought to myself no I'll keep them. The only one I would consider moving on is the HR 1.6 mm as I hardly use it, however I do not want to break up the set. One question how do you find the TOE 2.5 mm on the moon @Stu? Note, the difference between the TOE and HR is less when comparing using an LZOS than with a FPL53 based scope.

Look at petrol and gas prices, they really have increased and I cannot believe they will come down regardless of which way the war in Europe resolves itself. LPG is also used for making plastic, so it’s not just transportation costs that will rise and with China going into recession it will get very scary out there. To add ta data point I’m told that a 105 mm APM triplet with Phenolic tube and FT3545 will now retail for £5500. When I looked 2 years ago they where around £4000. I’m also not surprised that Chinese made products have gone up, the free lunch is over, I.e. relative pay will equalise. I guess manufacturers will relocate to more stable geo political areas….

Someone wanted one on UK Astro buy/sell, offering £300. I will keep for now…

APM 10 nn and 24 mm UFF. The APM 10 m really hold their own when used in a BV, amazing.

I have a 130 mm APM however the 105 mm APM is growing on me, just nice to have a small RFT scope out very quickly.

Using a flat field *might* need a completely different set of EP's. An XWA 20 mm from memory seems a little flatter at the edges in a APM 105/f6.25 compared to a APM 130/f6.

I was thinking of modern multi lens EP’s, say 20 mm upwards where the effects of field curvature would be more noticeable, usually termed as astigmatism. Take a 20 mm XWA or maybe a 21 E these EP’s have been designed to work with F4 scopes to produce a flat image, of course the manufacturers do not put a spec on the EP, usually have to wait for observer reports like this one Here Jerry is reporting the lack of astigmatism in the EP. I take your point if you want a flat field then go with a Petzval design of add a field flatter to a scope, however placing the correction the EP to reduce astigmatism maybe a more practical approach.

Is there any particular reason why Takahashi or any other vendor does not come out with a fast doublet 4" (around f6 ish), even for visual a smaller scope has some advantages. Modern EP's even mid priced can cope with the field curvature so not a valid argument. The f 7.9 doublets are capable, however compared to the Vixen fluorite do to its speed creates a noticeably larger exit pupil which for a dark site visit will pay back in spades. APM lens are made of ok-1/ok-4 which is fluorite like but you have the weight penalty of a triplet, returned with that brightness of the lens and contrast. I presume why the Vixen is a one and only fluorite scope of this type is due to the glass available at the time.....

The performance provided by this EP is a bit or a bargain. I have two for BV usage, I prefer the eye relief over the TV alternative.

It's a shame the Starbook 10 was not reviewed, it resolves many of the issues with the original star book. That being said in reality an iPad has replaced the need for the Starbook, however it's not replaced the dedicated control pad it has which is great for glove based usage.