nightfisher

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

7 minutes ago, DevonSkies said:

Plenty of food for thought.  I've also been considering the Altair 102mm f/11 achromat as an other option. It's a lot cheaper than the 100ED, but obviously will exhibit a certain amount of CA on bright targets. Whether the CA would be bad enough to justify spending the extra on ED glass is not clear to me. The longer tube of the f11 scope also makes mounting more of a problem. 

The 102 f11 would need a minimum of a "fettled" AZ4 or better an EQ5, food for though but what about the skyliner 150 f8 dob........quick set up and quick cool down, 1200mm focal length good for planets and luna, pretty good on deep sky

If you keep to the targets listed then the 127 Mak is going to be hard to beat, i am biased as i really like maks, i find the only drawback is some times the long focal length can be a pain, but if you let the mak cool for a while it will give APO like views, remember you wont get a full 127 aperture due to the central obstruction

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

15 hours ago, Fozzie said:

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh, they'll be a lynching by folk brandishing TALs instead of pitchforks if you say that out loud! (even if your right! )

I've been told that optically the starwave and TAL are very very evenly matched.. would like to have an evening with one, someday...

Fozzie we shall make this happen one night

My travel set up is the TS 80 f7.5 refractor on the AZ4 mount and a little wooden box with a few plossl`s, very simple but effective, i hope to go to Usha gap at Muker maybe at easter and this will be tagging along, VERY dark slies there, might see if i can do some pics at weekend

I think it's my 4th or 5th but it is what I call a project scope so I may not hang onto it for that long. I tried some of the CA filters on another scope a while back and didn't really like the results. I prefer to use a Chromacor if at all possible.

They do need quite a heavy duty mounting arrangement, I agree. Not as severe a challenge as my Istar 6" F/12 was though ! 

John, i think you should hang onto this latest 150 evostar, you have owned so many you must deep down like them

Jules, the 100ED is not a big and heavy scope. What would you be mounting it on?

Derek, it would be EQ5 or AZ4 these would be fine, but i dont see me doing this as i would have to spend £400 to get a scope that might only be a notch better than the TAL

Hi Roy,

Can you Binoview without a barlow now the tube is shorter? I find the CJZ 10mm orthos (which are superb on moon and planets) do eat up in focus.

You have a real one-off scope there:-).

Jules, sadly the D&G (Andromeda) has gone, she just got to unwieldy for me and I couldn't afford an EQ6 to mount her properly. The good news is that she was bought by an SGL member who for the moment prefers anonymity..but he is delighted with the scope, and has the EQ6 that the scope really needs. I'm sure he will share his thoughts on the scope when he is ready:-).

I now have my Vixen ED103s all Japan built Apo as a replacement. The new scope is all I hoped, with superb optics and build. But using the Vixen has also really brought home to me how good the D&G is..apart from the very slight CA (which is effectively absent on n the ED103), the contrast and quality of the views is right up there..and of course the D&G is a full 5" aperture versus the 4" of the ED103, so does go deeper.

Dave

I fully understand, i did feel the D&G was going to be a little undermounted, i have been tempted with larger fracs in the past but not had the mount to do one justice, so i make do with the humble TAL, though i keep seeing an add for a 100ED on ABS and thinking....

Derek, thats a very nice set up

Hi Roy

The scope looks superb:). I'm assuming its the same Prinz originally that you bought from me a while back? These old Prinz Circle K objectives are so good, they are worth investing in,in the same way Neil English invested in the Moonrakering of the Meade 339 (Topic 80mm F15, Towa lens) which I now have in my care.

Congratulations on a lovely project:-).

Dave

Hi Dave, you seem to be missing a D an G from your sig....?

Very nice Derek, has the f11 sold?

Spot on John. I'm clearly insane

New thread here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/258487-tal-125-apolar/?hl=%2Btal125+%2Bapolar

When i looked at the first "taster" image i though "lots of glass in there" then the clearly TAL focuser and guessed 125 .....good luck with this, i look forward to your first light report

2015 version.

Had to succumb and get a Maplins case due to the new additions of the Delites my wooden case was has been outgrown.

 Will get round to making a nice wooden case for these eventually but this will do for now.

Nice Phil, your case is growing and mine is shrinking, i am in the process of slimming down my astro gear, going back to my smaller EP case

I've been looking at my (rather scratched) gold tube SW ED100 all weekend wondering what she would look like in white

If done well they look soooo much nicer.............rather TAL like

glad your enjoying the Starwave