MalcolmM

Totally agree @josefk. Also very easy to pan around with the handle (take note @JeremyS🙂) and the quick release is nice too. Malcolm

That Skylight F13 is something else! Wonderful! Malcolm

This is really difficult for me as I love them all, but if you twisted my arm till it really hurt I would choose this one (but don't tell the others 🙂). It accompanies me on weekends away. It accompanies me abroad. It fits in a very small rucksack, mount, tripod and all. I can get a 5° FOV with a 28mm Erfle (over 7° if I use a 2" eyepiece). I can get a razer sharp x140 with a 2.5mm TOE (I feel it could go further but I've no shorter FL eyepiece or Barlow). And to boot, it's lovely to look at sitting in the corner of the lounge ready for instant use. Even my partner calls it a cutie 😀 Malcolm

That's really interesting. If you get a chance it would be very interesting to compare say open clusters/DSO's and wide angle views (the ST's forte). I replaced a SW102 Star Travel with a 100DC. Very obvious difference on moon and planets at medium to high power. I also felt there was a big improvement with open clusters but this was not compared side by side so could have been combination of experience and sky conditions as much as anything else. Malcolm

A Tak on an AP! That's a gorgeous looking setup. Welcome!

Excellent and fair comparison @Mr Spock, if only you had done it two years ago you might have saved me a small fortune 😀 That being said, now that I have an extended family of Taks, I wouldn't swap them for anything! For me, they have a soul, a little je ne sais quoi and I enjoy looking at them almost as much as through them! They feel to me like there is a 'Whole Lotta Love' goes into each and every one of them during their manufacture. Mind you, maybe that says more about me than about Takahashi scopes 😀 Malcolm

I spent half an hour gazing at just two features on the moon. I had the Mewlon out with Maxbright binoviewers, 1.25 GPC and Tak Abbe 25mm eyepieces. Petavius and it's Rima stood out. Petavius C was very clear and Petavius A was always visible and very clear in moments of steady seeing. I could also see the rima heading northish from the central mountains.The terracing on the crater rim was complex and there was an almost 3D view in the binoviewers. Also very evident was a dark scar just to the right of Mare Crisium (refractor view). It had a distinct break in it towards it's North end. This was a very striking feature. I thought this was the Cauchy Fault but it took me a while to figure it out. I'd seen this feature before but it had always been very indistinct and I was under the mistaken belief that it was a very hard object to see. Just goes to show how important the angle of the sun is when observing certain features! The Cauchy Rill was also visible, but much more indistinct. I've attached a very rough sketch I used to confirm my observation against an atlas after I'd finished. Definitely not one for the sketching competition 🙂 I then replaced the binoviewers with a 2" diagonal and a Masuyama 32mm eyepiece. I love this eyepiece. I find it easy and relaxing to use and very clear sharp images. I have not been particularly aware of the poor off axis performance that people complain about. I wanted to try the Mewlon on the Leo Triplet. I'd 'sensed' a couple of them before in a 4" and was interested to see what the extra aperture of the Mewlon could do. It was not the darkest of nights but M65 and M66 were instantly visible. No structure as such but there was a hint of a brighter core. Unfortunately there was no sign of NGC 3628. I was looking in the right place, tried averted vision, but nothing! I'll try again when the moon has gone! Malcolm

I have tried to capture Rima Petavius before and never managed it so I was very surprised and pleased with this. Tak FC100DC with a Tak 9mm Abbe and hand held phone with x2 zoom. I've included a pic of the scope as I think it looks great on the Vixen AP 🙂 Malcolm

Great when travelling, four for one, but when at home I much prefer my Tak TOEs. I find I can simply see more detail with the TOEs. I also find the TOEs much more relaxing to look through. Same with the XW 5 and a Vixen SLV 4. So in my experience, the single eyepieces give a better and more relaxing view. That being said, I'll never sell the Nagler Zoom. It's a great eyepiece and perfect for travelling light! Malcolm

I sometimes pair an FS60 with a Mewlon on an Ercole mount. I actually use the FS60 as a finder! I like to find targets manually, I don't use goto! It's also nice to see the object in a widefield context, assuming the FS60 has enough aperture to see it! Malcolm

Fabulous!

Another vote for light eyepieces. Especially in the DC or 76 which are such light scopes, it feels counter intuitive to me to be putting heavy eyepieces on them. That being said I do put a binoviewer on the DC sometimes! But with light eyepieces in the binoviewer 🙂 I usually take @JeremyS's word as gospel 🙂 but I would consider Naglers as heavy. Gimme a good Tak Abbe! Malcolm

Wonderful read! You've really captured the magic 🙂 Malcolm

I'd be flattered ☺️ Can't speak for Robinson but I suspect he'd be tickled pink to think that he was being quoted 200 years later 😀 Interestingly, he did choose some lemons for the observatory but by all accounts he was a very accomplished visual observer! Malcolm

What an amazing collection! They look fabulous! And that comes begrudgingly from a Tak lover 🙂 Malcolm

I'm one who loves them. Pros are (for me): stunning views (almost 3Dish), very relaxed viewing. The cons are that they can be a bit of a faff to use; they are quite heavy leading to potential balancing issues, sometimes merging the images from each eye can be difficult, getting them to come to focus can be tricky due to their extra lightpath and changing magnification necessitates 2 eyepiece changes (though not the way @Stu does it) I use ortho eyepieces mostly in a bid to minimise the extra weight. I use them for low, medium and high power viewing. I don't use them all the time (I still enjoy mono as it's less fuss and arguably a slightly sharper view), but when I do use them, I go wow! Malcolm

I always use manual. For me, as others have mentioned, part of the fun is the hunt. And there is huge satisfaction in eventually finding the target. And when I say eventually, I mean it; sometimes I can spend half an hour on the chase! Malcolm

Yes, very pleased with it, and helped also with lots of advice and tips from you @Stu Malcolm

A new phone, even though one of the cheapest smartphones, has vastly improved what I can do with the Lunt. Lunt 50, Pentax 5mm and handheld Samsung Galaxy A13. Clear skies at last! Hoping they stay clear for tonight! Malcolm

Exactly right in my experience. I tried playing guitar for years and years and got so frustrated when I played with someone who had 6 months against my 10 years and they played so much better than me (not that that was very difficult 😀 ) It also frustrates me when the successful entrepreneur says it's easy, anyone can do it, or ditto the world class concert pianist. Everyone is different, different strengths, different weaknesses and that's OK. What some find easy, others struggle with. I think everyone has a talent at something ... I'm still searching 😀 Apologies; rant over 😀 Malcolm

Exactly what I was thinking Malcolm

As the great Sherlock Holmes kept reminding Dr Watson Some very interesting debate. I personally feel my own observing skills have a long way to go before I can get the best out of my scope. Malcolm

Mindful of the many posts and threads asking "which scope should I buy" that end up with us all basically advocating the scope that we own ourselves, I found the following quote by Thomas Romney Robinson, Astronomer and Keeper at Armagh Observatory in 1825. He was researching the best 'Mural Circle' to purchase and install in the Observatory while upgrading the Observatory instruments. "[I] had the advantage of consulting men who are justly considered the brightest ornaments of Science, and of inspecting the noblest instruments in existence" And he continues: "Each observer, as he becomes habituated to his instrument, learns to correct, to avoid, or perhaps to overlook its defects, while he perceives the inaccuracies of other constructions in too strong a light". I thought this was put brilliantly Quote from the book 'Church, State and Astronomy in Ireland. 200 Years of Armagh Observatory' by JA Bennett. Malcolm

The second picture (76DCUQ?) looks absolutely gorgeous in that guise @Stu Malcolm

For sure, and I'm hoping to progress to the 100DC soon 🙂 Malcolm