Deadlake

The C11 has been around years, well supported and all the accessories you could imagine.

I went with a C11 as well.

5 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Maybe: “Pointless, overpriced eyepieces announced - nothing of interest here (apart from lack of undercuts)” would have been better?

Actually do any Takahashi EP’s have undercuts?

8 minutes ago, johnturley said:

I don't find undercuts a problem with the Baader Clicklock system.

John

The curse of the undercuts stopping any thread on SGL or CN....

36 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I thought the GPC was better as it was designed to correct for any aberrations caused by the internal prisms in the binoviewer?

It does indeed correct for aberrations, however if you want to increase magnification then using a Telecentric lens allows this while maintaining the exit pupil.

There are also other BV which have no prisms in them such as Dennis's here: https://www.cloudynights.com/gallery/image/63529-apo-ss-binoviewer-premium-quality-apochromatic-sharpest-signature-series-binoviewer-available-for-sale/

No need as far as I know for correction in this case. 

There are quite a lot of threads on CN for this approach.

I usually use the GPC 2.6 option the most used in a dedicated Baader diagonal.

However the other option is use a Barlow to PowerMate ahead of the diagonal.

With the PowerMate gives you options of using higher power EP's, no change in exit pupil.

 

15 hours ago, Franklin said:

Just with the rings, dovetail and handle (for @JeremyS) the 115 comes in at 5.4kg so I reckon the quoted lower limit, around 4.6kg I think, for the naked ota is about right. Mine weighs around 6.5kg with 2" diagonal and beefy eyepieces, though I can get the working weight down to 6kg with 1.25" gear and 6x30 finder.

 

Would this work with a VIxen APZ mount at all, given the payload for the mount is 8 kg?

I thought 4.7 kg was with rings however no, it’s 5.8 kg which is good but needs a better mount.

Is 4.7 kg to much weight for a ScopeTech Zero mount I wonder???

Do you have a response graph of the mirror in question?

All stellar targets are broad spectrum emitters.

While image intensifiers can see visual spectrum they are not nearly as sensitive as they are in near IR.  In fact, the near IR range is the big magic of NV.  An image intensifier takes light that is too far into the red end of the spectrum for us to see and merely amplifies and converts and it to a color that we can see. 

For nebula, you need good system transmission at 654nm, but for stars you need good transmission from where-ever your long pass filter kicks in to 900nm, which is the range where the photocatode is the most sensitive.

I.e. you will boost the spectrum where you cannot see in aided considerably..

As far as dielectric coating many observers using 16” dobs are using NVD’s due to image scale, the contrast boast from the NVD will overcome any loss in infrared light and this is where the multiplication provided by the NVD is greatest.

I'll take a picture of the C11 and it mounted. 

If you lift the C11 with

1) Left hand on the Losmandy bar and right hand on the handle right side.
2) Slot into saddle.
3) Push with right hand on handle and tighten up one saddle knob, also tighten brake.

4) Before balancing C11 attach dew shield.
5) Then use the right hand to push C11 against saddle balance in the saddle.

To be honest would be easier to mount if both ends of the C11 on the left hand side had a handle attached, or maybe Losmandy bar both sides is the answer.

The other approach could be to place the C11 vertically on a BB chair(with lens cover on) and attach to the AZ100. Rotate, lock the brake and then attach the dew shield. 
Then balance the AZ100. To take the C11 repeat as usually harder to take off then put on, sounds weird but number of times out this has been the case.

I'm using a StellarVue case. There's a longer model.

The main advantage is a soft case which gives very good protection.

Very popular with the TSA-120 and AP130GTX crowd on CN.

@john1971 The C11 works very well with the AZ100 and motor drives. In fact due to less moment of force being applied it works better than the refactors I have.

The C11 can be mounted one side with no counterweight on the other.

I would however suggest getting the Y mount saddle as demoed by @swsantos with a C9.25 as the AZ100 really should have this by default. 

I find balancing hard when using a BV or very heavy EP/NVD. It's not changing an EP where the issues is, the scope just gets out of balance when the changing zenith angle and when using the motors the brake knob can only be tightened so far which is what I did before having motor drives.

As far as mounting I usually mount the C11 on the right side, I've moved the handle to the left side and this helps gripping the scope as it goes on.

The next step is to place the dew tube on and then rebalance at that point.

I'd stick to using a lightweight finder scope, e.g. a red dot as this causing minimal issues with balancing.

AZ100/Planet or T-Pod tripod works very well with C11, once it's setup. 

This is the DPAC test from what looks like the same lens cell in an aluminium body:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/873307-dpac-test-of-an-astro-tech-at125edl/

All good!!

That scope is 7.2 kg, guessing the carbon version will be closer to 6 kg.

12 hours ago, DirkSteele said:

Joking aside, I do wish someone would offer a larger aperture shortened tube refractor which needs an extension tube (or two) to reach focus so it is airline portable. Televue did it with the Bizarro though given that was a Tv85 hardly needed.

My APM LZOS 105 f/6.2 does the job but the heavy triplet lens means a larger mount tripod combo is needed which has meant a smaller scope on some trips.

The draw tube slides inside which really shortens the length to less than 20” for travel.

The other answer is a lightweight mount. @GavStar has a HAZ31 and super mount tripod, looking at a total weight for mount and tripod of around 6 kg and it takes an AP130GTX easily.

This would work for the 105 and 130 mm LZOS scopes I have and in the case of the 105 mm the scope and the mount would fit in a carry on photo bag.

The other advantage is no need to balance the scope with the HAZ31, I could then use the 105 or 130 with BV's, something I'm going to have to wait for the Y saddle mount for the AZ100 I have to arrive.
 

Note: Currently awaiting a review about how the HAZ31 performs with he replacement ADM saddle for it, the iOptron saddle is not meant to provide a firm grip to trust a scope with.

1 hour ago, John said:

The spec looks similar to the Technosky 125mm that the late (and much missed) @johninderby had:

Tecnosky 125/975 F7.8 FPL-53 Doublet APO - First Look - Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups - Stargazers Lounge

 

That was my thoughts, Tecnosky have good optics, especially the 115 mm triplet.

Tecnosky give a minimum Strehl measurement on their scopes will Flo as well if from the same factory?

1 hour ago, John said:

It is a very interesting scope at a very interesting price.

Not sure that carbon fibre has any advantages for the visual observer though ?

Unless it has been treated to behave like Kruppax 50 that is !

 

 

The issue with carbon is that the thermal expansion with not compensate in the same way as aluminium does for the change in the lens cell expansion.

Carbon is very well matched for mirrored scopes.

The cost of a phenolic tube for a 105 mm / f 6.25 scope is around £550 including VAT as of spring 2022, hence really only used with premium optics....

23 hours ago, Stephenstargazer said:

PS is anyone else trying the mount with other 3rd party planetarium software?  In principle it should be possible?

As noted above I get the over shoot issue with Luminous Pro as well.

SS works fine with Vixen mounts as does Luminous Pro.

I'll run  Luminous Pro with the log file turned on and ship it to Steve @ wobbleworks.com and see what he makes of it....

3 hours ago, swsantos said:

Apart from simply not wanting to loose functionality, out of principle, that is lost by not being able to access the AZ100 firmware I cannot think of a situation where that might matter. However Deadlake asking “Presume you can disengage the motors from the Nexus” to me says that that ability is expected at least by some and my subsequent post was a reaction to his presumption not necessarily me needing that feature for myself.

 

I used the word presumed as why take away the ability to move the mount by either the slow mo's or the pan handle?

Being able to use either of the above is a major differentiator compared to other mounts,  particular in alignment, with the pan handle the scope can be quickly pointed to where it needs to be. 

The Nexus is taking away functionality and the only item it adds to me is being able to use the mount at dark sites.

1 hour ago, swsantos said:

You are right, it does not appear possible to connect SkySafari to the AZ100 directly while it is connected to the Nexus DSC as not only the web interface disabled it pops up a message that in order to do that the serial connection must first be disconnected.

Which is why a joystick with slow and fast speed would be great to have to align and move around the sky.

Presume you can disengage the motors from the Nexus?

2 hours ago, swsantos said:

that might originate in the DSC or SkySafari

Maybe, however also present with Luminous Pro.

Let us know how you get on once the fires are out, however not holding my breath for golden master of the firmware.

Ok, so a unwanted feature in both versions...

This is interesting regarding overshoot.

I performance a two star align using the Rowan progressive web app (PWA).

Then  using either SkySafari or Luminous Pro for goto the target is moved to however is aligned a small distance top right from the target.

This is not a one off and quite repeatable.

Which firmware are you on @swsantos current and not preview?

Looking in the AZ100 installation manual power requirements are

Power supply required :- 12v to13.8V DC 1.5A

whereas on the website it’s DC 2 Amps.

I’d like to know is it 1.5 or 2 amps?

1.5 amps opens up the batteries packs that can be used.

1 hour ago, Stephenstargazer said:

Yes Steve, that's exactly how it has worked for me. I too had used SS with DSC that way before fitting motors to AZ100. 

What do you get out of SS to nexus instead of directly to the AZ100 controller?

I’m intrigued by the idea I can just use the nexus dsc to control the mount as will work well at a dark site.

Given the reports of the Mewlon not dewing up, and seeing the pictures presume no dew shield required. 

This is always required on the C11 to keep the front plate clear with a dew strap running.

The Mewlon just  needs fans to get to ambient temperature?