JAC51

On 19/11/2022 at 15:02, Sunshine said:

my eyes struggle with reading the decals but this just screams Tak, I have no idea what model this is but I agree it looks really nice!

It’s a dilworth relay  which gives an upright non inverted image when used straight through.

https://britastro.org/forums/topic/dilworth-not-cassegrain

There is some mention of these on cloudy nights apparently few where made?

APM do two versions of the 70mm right angle a  triplet apo version and a cheaper what they call semi apo version which you can find on their web site

APM  have 70mm right angle binoculars which are the smallest I have seen

Sirui AM254 Carbon Fibre tripod and SL200 Pillar 

I bought this tripod to fit in a carry-on luggage for flying. At 44cm in length when fully retracted the tripod fits length ways into the standard wheelie type cases permitted in overhead lockers on flights from the UK. The carry bag that it comes with is much longer than the tripod and the empty end is simply folded over. I assume the carry bag is a common model also supplied with Siruis’s  larger tripods. There is also a bag containing screw in spikes to replace the rubber pads on the bottom of each leg as well as a hook to hang weights from the bottom of the tripod. The official payload is 12kg and the mount has both 1/4” and 3/8” connections which you change by simply unscrewing, flipping over and screwing back in again.

The tripod itself I weighed as 1040g. The SL200 pillar is 1” in diameter and 20cm in length and extends telescopically to almost double this (I have not done this in use) 

The tripods legs are in four sections  (3 extensions) which open cleanly  and lock easily with a half turn of a collar at the neck of each extension.

I tried the tripod out with both a Tak FS60 refractor and a Borg 76mm achromat. Both telescopes where used to look at the Sun with Baader Herschel prism and Morpheus eyepieces.  The mount used was a small Borg 3101 geared azimuth mount.

With the mount and the Borg 76mm the total mass on top of the pillar was about 3.5kg and very tail heavy.

Damping times with very hard tap on the end of the focuser of the Borg.

2 leg sections used (1 section pulled out) about 1 second (but looks unstable)

3 leg sections used ( 2 sections pulled out) about 3 seconds

4 leg sections used (3 sections pulled out) about 6 seconds

Damping times for Tak FS60CB     3 leg sections   2 seconds  4leg sections  3 seconds

Though for both in actually use better than above as I could happily use the gears on the mount to move the telescope which the settled quickly to allow me to see the target drifting across the field of view . Overall I’m pleased with it for small, shortish 60mm to 80mm refractors so much so that it has in effect replaced the Borg SLIK aluminium tripod which I originally used.

14 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

My Lunt has a permanently installed ND3 on the bottom of the eyepiece holder so the extra filters were just for comfort only. It seems perfectly safe without any eyepiece side filters installed with a 90mm aperture, but i found that a less bright image was better for detail. For comparison the Moon through my 200mm newtonian is much, much brighter than the Sun was with just the Lunt wedge with an ND3 in it with the 90mm frac.

 

The filters I am using are like you ND3 then solar continuum and that is it for my little Tak FS60 which is my most commonly used scope on the sun. For my 130mm frac I’m finding the combination still a little too bright and have been playing around with adding a single polarising filter as well.  Eyepieces used are mainly Brandon’s and Baader Morpheus.

Well come to the world of day time astronomy, really enjoyed reading your account. Your use of filters is interesting, logic of try what you have makes sense and it will be interesting to hear you compare what you have already with the Baader continuum when it arrives. I assume that in addition you are using a ND3? which came with the Lunt? 

Magnification for day time use due to thermals is generally much lower than Night time and in my case in the U.K. while I might have a typical max of x200 at night (130mm refractor) I usual max out at x100 during the day and your x70 would be typical for me. I should add that I’m not an experienced observer and others on this site no doubt can offer more definitive  advice. I have found as you have that seeing is better in the morning, I assume due to fewer thermals before the air heats up.  What I had not realized is during the day how much you can see of your surroundings while using an eyepiece with peripheral vision a towel over the head is my best solution so far. 

Like the picture. I was out at almost exactly the same time in Suffolk trying to sketch Ptolemaeus down to Thebit and it’s good to see again what I was trying draw badly. Especially taken by the sunlight catching on the central peaks and northwards the shadows of the Alpine Mountains.

Good looking picture. I can understand your wind issues, I live in Suffolk as well and in my case decided not to risk pushing the roof off my observatory.

Brilliant , just brilliant.

Thank you for an enjoyable observing report.  I was out last night as well with a 5” refractor.

Tegmine AB I could make out as binary but with out a clean split at X225.
57Cnc slit cleanly at the same X225 and a lovely sight.

I think I was somewhat luckier here in Suffolk as the sky was not as milky as others have reported.

John

Great images

Well enjoy especially with the NP101 a telescope I’ve always been curious about but never seen in the flesh.

Quite a field of view in a 4” scope with only a 1.25” eyepiece.

Congratulations I  own one as well. They are great eyepieces. 
 

What telescope telescopes are you planning to use it with?

Until I saw your second photo I was still trying to figure out what was going on.

First welcome.  (PS  I'm quite new here as well)

I think the advice given above is very sound can I also suggest a book 

'Turn left at Orion'

Which I have found immensely useful and still use.

Here you will find a number of targets in the sky and how to find them.

In addition it gives drawings of what you can actually expect to see through a 4" refractor and an 8"  Newtonian.

Though I should mention the views are I think based  on 50 degree plossels (still very good eyepieces)

You will also find a brief discussion of different types of telescopes in here as well.

Here are my efforts at drawing the main group.  Tak FS60CB, Baader Herschel Prism with Continuum filter, 12mm & 8 mm Brandon and 9mm Morpheus. 

Thank you for the heads up I will look for this tomorrow morning when clear sky’s are forecast in Suffolk.

With 130mm I tend to use about x100 to about x180.

Here is a copy of what I posted on CN, two years ago. Please forgive the poor drawing, in particular  all the surrounding features are slightly spaced out compared two the size of the Rille in my drawing. Also the rille as I saw it was a very fine light grey ribbon, thread like, extending above and below the small crater. The southern end of the ribbon became a brighter curve which I thought at the time was the slope of a hill.

I think you have seen the Hadley Rille it’s quite possible for a small telescope to resolve the length of the rille if not its width rather like the the Cassini division in Saturns  rings. I have see the Rille in a 5” refractor and posted my poor drawings on CN a few years ago. I will try and find my sketch’s tomorrow and post them so you can compare them to yours. I wondering what actually is the smallest aperture the rille can be seen with?

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/498028-meade-lx70-150mm-f12-maksutov/

Has a thread on this telescope which would seem to confirm that, although a good telescope, it is limited to using 1.25” eyepieces only.

I stand corrected thank you gentleman.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/498028-meade-lx70-150mm-f12-maksutov/

Has a thread on this telescope which would seem to confirm that, although a good telescope, it is limited to using 1.25” eyepieces only.

Beautiful!

I also find my FS60CB an excellent quick look scope. So easy to have a telescope on mount which you can carry outside with one hand, though of course I actually carefully use two. I also have a 24mm Pan Where I discovered in white light the Sun going egg shaped like the moon towards the edge. Next I aim to try the two Morpheus in my Tak prism now that I’ve convinced my self they will not spin out due to their greater weight.

I have just been outside comparing the FS60 to a Celestron 76mm FirstScope which someone has kindly donated to our school using LE7.5mm and 24mm Pan in both.

Conclusion , the Tak is better.

Been quite cloudy here of late so my 3 most unused eyepieces at the moment are with my 130mm / f9 refractor

Brandon 48mm  (finder)

Morpheus  17.5mm   (open star clusters)

Brandon 8mm, with barlow,  (Jupiter)

Just based on what I've been looking at recently.

John