nightfisher

8 hours ago, Linda said:

And what is that blue thing? Your lipstick??

The blue thing is a twist up brush to clean an eyepiece from dust/grit if it were to become contaminated 

On 5/21/2016 at 21:00, Stu said:

I do confess that I now prefer using my Vixen GP for planetary observing. I just can't get the hang of adjusting two axes to track an object, never have. A manual EQ would be preferable I think.

If i get the chance of a good planet and luna night i use the EQ5 with dual dc drive, works well but for short sessions i use AZ4, but i would like a slo mo cable on this

Here is what i strongly believe will be my final EP case

top row left to right Revelation 2" 42mm Revelation 32mm plossl, 25 and 20mm silvertop plossl`s, good for A-focal lunar 18mm Vixen Lanthanum

bottom

Revelation 15mm superview, Vixen 12mm NLV, Revelation x2.5 barlow and last but no means least Antares HD 9mm ortho there is a small x1.6 barlow in the clear case and some filters in the other case, this is not a posh ep case it will do for me

I will be very interested when this comes out, looks ideal

My Circle T ortho`s are gone to a new home, i have 3 eyepieces that i really like to replace them, still not sure if i need one more so once decided i will re model my case, but the more i think about it the more i feel i have it right for my scopes and eyes  now, i want this revamp to be about the last one, fed up with trying to cut holes in foam and make a tidy job of it

we are taking this of topic so best go to pm mate

1 hour ago, Fozzie said:

Jules we keep threatening to meet up, and I keep threatening to get you behind my SLV's... We should really make this happen..

Yes fozzie, we will have to arrange some thing, i would be happy to trundle over your way one saturday or even a friday

More time observing is good way make best of the few clear nights

I am thinking on these lines, i have a full set of Circle T VT ortho`s but i dont use a good few of them and with eyes that are not getting younger i feel their future with me could be limited so i might look at changing them for a smaller number of more comfortable ep`s but no idea which ones, i think i could sell the set of 8 and buy maybe four ep`s that each one would spend more time in the Diagonal

12 hours ago, pblackwell said:

Do what I did Jules. I've booked the day off and told my manager why. If the weather forecast is looking bad the day before, I said I'll come into work and cancel that day off. He's fine with that! 

I've never viewed the sun before, and I ordered this filter yesterday https://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

Although a little apprehensive about viewing the sun, I can't wait to try it out!

And, living in London, this will be the first time I'm not hacked off with the light pollution!

A good plan but wont work with my job

I would like to have tried for this event, but as always it falls on a work day, and no way am i using a days leave in the hope of it being clear

good luck people and stay safe

22 hours ago, John said:

Does the TAL 100 show less CA than the 102 ED F/7 ?

I'd be suprised if it did. Even the most basic ED glass (FPL-51 or equivalent) paired with a suitable mating element should show around 75% less CA than a crown / flint achromat of the same specs. Even allowing for the focal ratio difference I'd expect an ED102 F/7 to beat a 100mm F/10 achromat on that aspect.

 

I might be totally wrong but i seem to remember that the starwave 102 is not a true ED, i am more than happy to be corrected

As a fan of the Tal`s i have to admit to looking through good ones (mine) and  a not so good one so yes QC does vary. In the past i have toyed with selling mine but its going to stay put 

38 minutes ago, spaceboy said:

I remember you having the EVO120 Jules but as with anything that comes out of mass production there is always a chance a lemon made it through QC. TAL are not immune from QC issues either but their bomb proof build quality mean your more likely to get a good one than a bad one. You have to think sky-watcher is every where so the chances of a poor example are higher. I think I have been fortunate in that both my EVO 120 (idiot for selling it) and 150 perform far beyond my expectations. I think that having a collimateable cell is a bonus as you can be sure the optics are always perfectly aligned so if the performance is lacking you know you got a poor example. You also have to consider that f/10 over f/8.33 is going to give the TAL a slight edge regards sharpness but the EVO will always have the advantage of 20mm more light grasp adding to greater if subtle depth.

I'm not knocking the TAL in anyway and there has been many a time I have almost purchased one myself hence why I am aware of 100RS vs EVO120 topics. I'm sure the TAL is hard to beat when pitched up against similar apertures and focal lengths.

Funny thing, there have been times when i have toyed withh getting another 120 evo.............but the Tal does every thing i really need from a frac with my budget limits

3 hours ago, spaceboy said:

The Tal100 does seem to have gathered a cult following over it's time. I find it odd though as I have come across several TAL 100RS vs EVO120 threads both here and else where which all suggest that the EVO would be the better buy. I think the prices are roughly similar too aren't they?

I would like a TAL but mainly to see what all the hype is about for myself. I do think they look the part though and having owned a 200K I know the optics must be good in them but good enough to beat the extra 20mm light grabbing of an EVO ?? Just a shame the EVO has such a crappy R&P focuser.

I have owned the 102 and 120 evostar Just my opinion but a good Tal 100rs beats these scopes, what is loses in aperture it gains in sharpness

On 3/6/2016 at 18:26, ampleamp said:

I think you might have to exercise some restraint for a day or two yet ?. I am seriously tempted, by the Pentax but may get my sensible head on tomorrow. Or maybe not. Probably not actually. ?

So will you be bidding on this lovely Pentax ? its way out of my price range and i feel my 150 pro Mak will about match it on solar system, but i have to admit to being rather tempted to do my savings some serious harm 

I am raising a tiny bit of concern, why put a superb scope like the pentax on ebay when an add on ABS would be a better starting point, just a thought

4 minutes ago, ampleamp said:

Oh how I wish I hadn't looked at this thread today, that Pentax is about 6 miles from me. Resist!

Buy it, buy it, buy it, then i will have shown great restraint

If no one bids on the pentax i might have a flutter but it will go for way over the pocket money i have 

Yes, you really need a Tal 100rs, I still firmly feel this is the best 100mm f10 achro money can buy if you get a good one

17 minutes ago, Stu said:

Hmmm, couldn't see them there, but APM have them listed.......perhaps when my numbers come up! Nice to have encoders and push to though.

Cant help thinking the T rex type of Gibralter AZ mount would be so easy to make if i still worked in the engineering shop

8 hours ago, nightfisher said:

Near the start of this thread i said i would put some pics of my travel/grab an go scope so after a few weeks delay i have got round to it, this was brought about by finally getting the AZ 4 out to clean and sort out the altitude movement as it was really notchy, i have cleaned and carefully lubed with black Moly grease and now super sweet, any way i digress.

 

So we use the lovely Skywatcher AZ 4 mount, this is now my second one (regretted selling the last one so did a reverse move)

 

Then we have the TS 80mm 600mm focal length Achro refractor, this is mounted on a dovetail scavenged from an Astromaster 70 az, works lovely, i have to keep stealing the 1.25 diagonal from my Tal when i use this scope (not a bad thing) and the 9x50 finder is a little "overkill"

I keep thinking i should graft the finder from my Tal onto this lovely scope

My EP`s to use with this are 17mm Tal plossl plus 25mm, 20mm and 10mm silvertop plossl`s

 

future plans, make a white light filter for odd bit of Solar, and i rather fancy fitting a light weight crayford focuser, but no rush for that

Just quoting my own post to say i have added the Tal 6x30 finder, more in keeping with the size of main scope

Near the start of this thread i said i would put some pics of my travel/grab an go scope so after a few weeks delay i have got round to it, this was brought about by finally getting the AZ 4 out to clean and sort out the altitude movement as it was really notchy, i have cleaned and carefully lubed with black Moly grease and now super sweet, any way i digress.

So we use the lovely Skywatcher AZ 4 mount, this is now my second one (regretted selling the last one so did a reverse move)

Then we have the TS 80mm 600mm focal length Achro refractor, this is mounted on a dovetail scavenged from an Astromaster 70 az, works lovely, i have to keep stealing the 1.25 diagonal from my Tal when i use this scope (not a bad thing) and the 9x50 finder is a little "overkill"

I keep thinking i should graft the finder from my Tal onto this lovely scope

My EP`s to use with this are 17mm Tal plossl plus 25mm, 20mm and 10mm silvertop plossl`s

future plans, make a white light filter for odd bit of Solar, and i rather fancy fitting a light weight crayford focuser, but no rush for that

On 2/9/2016 at 21:56, L8-Nite said:

Along with torch, Pocket Sky Atlas, guide, planisphere and log, our ultra light go anywhere travel kit consists of a 45 year old Mak and a 60+ year old Tripod.

We have a tiny caravan which doesn't get as much use as it deserves, but there will always be room for a larger kit; and my favourite mug of course.  

I did not expect to see a Questar in the brown case, very nice

You have got a nice custom scope now that looks better and should be a lot better to look through, well done

The simple reason why you would choose a Tal 100 over an ED100 is price, £250 for the Tal new, and over £600 for a new ED, while I am a big fan of the Tal, i would never suggest it to be better than a nice ED100, but if buying new the price would dictate some what, an extra £350 just to get rid of a tiny bit of blue tinge on bright stars, and lets face it, a star on its own is sort of boring whether it has a blue tinge or not