MalcolmM

As does the 3.3 and 2.5 They are my favourite eyepieces! Malcolm

I sometimes think I see proms come and go in suspiciously fast times. I am pretty sure most (or all) of them are combinations of variations in seeing and the observed area moving in and out of the Lunt 50 sweet spot. I have seen genuine changes (I think!) over periods of 10 or 15 minutes. Malcolm

Does that make you an Aerosmith fan? Great report and very glad you found your mojo again! I can't even remember when I last saw a star here at home, the weather has been woeful and I have a bunch of new bits and pieces to play with. That "may contain clouds" warning has proven to be very accurate! Malcolm

Have you tried cutting a couple of mm off the grey plastic compression insert? This might help your 'other' diagonal hold the delites? Malcolm

I think the Tak is a fabulous wee diagonal. It's very light and has a short light path. I happen like the compression system for securing the eyepiece though I know not everyone does. Malcolm

I think this is correct. It is quite small but for example will prevent a Nagler Zoom (40mm barrel length) hitting the prism. Shoulder on a quick measurement is about 33mm deep. Prism itself being about 38 mm deep Malcolm

Beautiful looking scope, even though it's not a Takahashi I'm sure you'll get stunning views with it. Malcolm

@osbourne one-nil, I second what @Franklin says, it's fantastic and I have nothing negative to say about it. I've even loaded it up with a Mewlon 180 (6kg, needed extra counterweight) and it seemed fine though the skies have been so cloudy I have not really tried that combination in anger yet. Malcolm

Whatever you choose have a great time! I'm very envious Malcolm

Looks excellent! Maybe a silly question but is the gaininess solar granules? Malcolm

I'm currently in the south of France with the 76DCU and a pair of binoculars in very dark skies. If you can, bring both! I have spent just as much time with the binoculars sweeping the milky way as with the scope. That being said, you'll almost certainly want binoculars for game viewing so maybe they should be the priority? Malcolm

Thanks @ollypenrice, we are loving the region and not just for the dark skies. It's been clear every day/night so far. We got 3 hikes in before the fire risk meant that access to the hiking areas has been closed so we are just enjoying the weather and relaxing now! Very envious of you living out here! Malcolm

Lots of interesting material there thanks @Israel Sevilla and yes, the sketch (and the others) are fantastic. Malcolm

Thanks @Israel Sevilla. I certainly intended to do as much observing as I can here. Unfortunately the increasingly bright moon is having an adverse effect now, as well as 2 hours of kayaking with my partner rendering me unable to move 10 minutes going forwards, 50 minutes going sideways and 1 hour going backwards! We couldn't get the hang of it! I've never heard of the Barnard Objects. I'll take a look see. Thanks for the tip. Malcolm

Great to know thanks! Malcolm

Yet another potential purchase, almost sorry I started this thread they do look very nice and seem to get very good reviews! Malcolm

Without wanting to sound too sycophantic @Stu your posts, comments and enthusiasm have certainly inspired me in starting out in this hobby. Fully agree with @JeremyS, when there is a lot of other stuff happening it's hard finding head space sometimes and the British weather doesn't help! Hope you get your "mojo workin'" again soon! Malcolm

@vlaiv @StevieDvd @Ags for the record I think I have confirmed what you say. Putting downward pressure on the opposite side of the scope just with my hand makes the azimuth motion much smoother. Thanks all! Malcolm

You're making me think I need to get a Series 5 Gitzo! Every time you think you have all you need or want something else appears Malcolm

Just seen this. Snap! Sounds like I should try with a filter. Out of interest, what field of view do you get with your scope/eyepiece combination for the N America nebula? I'm not sure whether it was my inexperience or too small a field of view that meant I didn't see it. Tak76 + 28mm Erfle gives ~2.9° I think Malcolm

I have the Gitzo GT0545T Series 0 Traveler. It's brilliant. Very compact when folded down. Extends to a good height. Very stable for its size and weight. Takes the 76 no problem. I usually use a Manfrotto fluid head with the gitzo and 76 and high powers are no problem though I would try not raising the center column and if possible not extending the legs fully. I'm envious of your Gitzo 5. I have the Innorel equivalent and while I like it, I feel the Gitzo would be much more stable. Malcolm

Thanks @vlaiv @StevieDvd @Ags Sounds like the lack of counterweight is my problem. When I get back I'll look into fixing something up. I had originally wanted the Starwave mini az (which comes with the counterweight bar) but couldn't find it in stock. Having said that, the bar and counterweight would have probably blown the weight limit. I was right on the limit! Malcolm

I'm spending a couple of weeks in the south of France (Cevennes and Verdon). I've brought my Tak76. Spent half an hour observing the moon in the early evening against a blue sky. Seeing was very unsteady, possibly due to heat rising from the buildings, but being able to observe in shorts and t-shirt was lovely! Really couldn't push the magnification beyond x57 (10LE). We are surrounded by forest so maybe that affects seeing too? I woke at 2 in the morning (not planned), took a look outside and was completely blown away at the dark skies. The Milky Way was full of structure and very bright. This is the darkest sky I have ever seen with a scope in tow. There were so many stars I was lost! I spent quite a bit of time trying to see the N America nebula. I couldn't really see it through the scope (28mm Erfle in now) though there did seem to be millions of stars and nebulosity all intermingled! I then tried for the Veil but saw nothing (other than millions of stars and nebulosity!). I'm still in shorts and t-shirt; what a great way to observe Both these targets were very near the zenith and it was extremely difficult star hopping at that altitude. I'd no room for a finder in my luggage so tough also trying to align the scope to a suitable star to start the hop. My neck did not appreciate it! Mind you, a straight through finder would not have been much easier at that altitude! After two no shows I went for easy! M13 looked absolutely stunning with the 10LE. So bright. I convinced myself I was resolving some individual stars. It really was a pile of diamonds on black velvet. It must look incredible through a big dob from a dark site. M92 (a first for me) was less spectacular but still a great sight. A quick glance at M57 and then the Owl cluster. For the first time I could really see how it got it's name. Unfortunately I'm surrounded by tall trees and high buildings so I have to move about to see different bits of the sky. Next I lay down on a sun bed with a pair of binoculars and discovered why I was not able to see the North American Nebula. It's large! Spent ages just scanning it and it's surroundings. It really is a spectacular part of the sky. My home skies are going to seem useless from now on. Dark? There's no such thing where I live! Onto the Veil again with binoculars and with the help of the free version of sky safari I saw the Eastern Veil. I knew where the Western Veil was but I couldn't see it. The Eastern appeared as a grey crescent among a myriad of stars. By now Jupiter, Mars and Saturn were quite high so I relocated to a different spot and ... was very disappointed! They were all mushy blobs. I couldn't even see the equatorial belts on Jupiter. Seeing was awful! I can only assume the fierce heat during the day heats up the buildings and gets dissipated during the night. So in summary, an incredible night. Not many targets, but really you need to plan a session first which I hadn't. Very difficult navigating a truly dark sky simply because of the number of stars. Very difficult star hopping near the zenith. Using binoculars was actually more rewarding last night and doubly so while lying on a sun bed in shorts and t-shirt Malcolm

I got this mount as I wanted to fit scope (Tak 76), mount, tripod (Gitzo traveller) and accessories all into carry on luggage. My Manfrotto video fluid head is just slightly too big and an awkward shape. The TS-Optics is very small, less than £100 and made fitting everything in easy with room for T-shirts and other essentials It's very portable and takes the 76DC easily. Not too much vibration. It moves in altitude very easily and smoothly and the alt tension knob works very well. The problem for me is the azimuth motion. It's not smooth but a bit jerky and hard to control when viewing under higher powers. There just seems to be too much friction, even with the azi tension knob slackened right off. It does what I need it to and is small enough to allow all my kit to fit into a flight carry on bag but the rough azimuth movement lets down what would otherwise be a perfect mount. Malcolm

Focuser is fine. Does the job. I'm visual only in case that makes a difference. Don't let it put you off. I've had some lovely times observing in the warmth of the sun. It's a great wee scope and seeing all the H alpha solar features is fascinating. The focuser takes a little bit of getting used to but you actually have very fine control with it. Malcolm