MalcolmM

Really enjoyed reading that report @Captain Magenta. Send some of your clear sky up North for me please  I also have made the M44/45 error a number of times and it always leads to a momentary  feeling of panic of being utterly lost, quickly followed by blaming your equipment, then finally realising your stupidity! You'd think with it being one of the most well known and conspicuous objects in the sky ... I bet they never had trouble finding the Pleiades in the old days before hi-tech 

Malcolm

That's brilliant! Great pic! I am very impressed at the stunning images posted on this site but I also really love to see pictures like this that are taken in a low tech way and are actually more realistic as to what you see visually.

Malcolm

The clouds were teasing me last night, tonight you are teasing me @Stu 

I got the 100DC out but couldn't use more than x74 on the moon, though I did see a little earthshine which looked really nice before it disappeared behind some trees. Jupiter could take no more than x100 at a push though really x74 was probably more realistic and despite gazing at it for about 20 minutes I only got the occasional glimpse of the southern equatorial band (if that's the right term). The thicker northern band was evident but absolutely no detail. Put the scope into the greenhouse while I had tea and of course the clouds had rolled in by the time I went back out again

Lovely pic of the moon and your 76 looks great in Q mode!

Malcolm

I really enjoyed reading your report @Stu, you also mention some new targets I will try for next time I get a clear sky.

If I can't observe myself (the sky teased me last night; cleared whilst out walking but had closed in by the time I got back), it's a great second best to read others enthusing about a session with a Tak

Malcolm

10 minutes ago, Stu said:

Nights like these challenge your belief in your scopes I find

Couldn't agree more! It can be very disconcerting. Often I'm also battling chimney smoke on top of bad seeing and I'm questioning my scope!

Fabulous setup!

Hope you manage to catch M42, I got a quick glance at it under dark skies and was wowed at what a 3" Tak can show.

Malcolm

@JeremyS maybe I should make that Taks pleural with the caveat: have 60CB/Q/76DC/Q which one do I use tonight? Really love that scope(s). Very envious of your FOA60 as perfection personified, but simply cannot justify it (yet )

Malcolm

I've taken my FS60CB/Q away to Scotland 3 times in the last 18 months. Twice in the autumn and didn't see a single star or even blue sky. Once in mid summer with short nights and a full moon, though observing Saturn and Jupiter low in the sky in relative warmth at 3 in the morning with bats fluttering round my head was a fab experience. But I craved a dark sky!

Fast forward to now and I have just spent 4 nights in Malin Head, Donegal. Three nights of complete cloud cover but the second night Clear Outside told me I might get two hours of clear sky. So I assembled the 60CB in 76DC mode on a tiny Gitzo traveller with a Manfrotto fluid head. Out I went and was stunned. I could see the Milky Way easily, despite 3 bright farm yard floodlights. At home I can only just see the Milky Way and only then at 3 in the morning when everyone has gone to bed and turned off their lights! Round the side of the cottage I found a dark spot sheltered from the lights; not sheltered from the 20 knot winds unfortunately and medium power on Jupiter was a no go, the telescope shuddering in the breeze. But using a Tak 28mm Erfle and 10LE I started on the fuzzies.

M31 - very impressive, it was huge and I even saw M110 (easy) and M32 (more difficult, more like a fuzzy star) for the first time. 

M36, 37, 38 were all very obvious and easy. In my suburban skies I sometimes have trouble locating them. I particularly like the sort of cross shape M38 appears as. What really surprised me was the dark background, even with the 28mm Erfle. At home I would have been looking at the stars on a light grey background, not so in these dark skies! When popping in the 10mm many stars were resolved against a feint blur of unresolved stars; a lovely view 

M35 was easy and a new one for me. 

I then turned to the double cluster. My notes just say stunning! So stunning I called my partner out and even she, who does not get astronomy, was impressed

I'm racing from object to object trying to see as much as possible before the clouds roll in so I'm looking at all my favourites rather than trying for new objects. So M81, 82 next. Very obvious, I got lost star hopping but got them by just randomly sweeping, they were so bright. M81 looked lumpy. I even imagined I could see the split in the middle, or maybe I just imagined it!

M33 was definitely visible as opposed to just sensing something is there! Ditto the Crab Nebula. I felt I could see texture in the Crab Nebula; structure would be an exaggeration!

The Pleiades were simply gorgeous! Pin prick stars on a black velvet background. I think I may even have seen the nebulosity. Difficult to tell as the main stars were so bright.

Finally Orion was high enough to warrant looking at M42. My notes say fabulous! There was definitely a lot of structure and detail. A UHC filter made a bit of difference again but not as much as I was expecting. I also saw M43 for the first time. I could not resolve Trapezium with the Erfle but it was easy with the 10mm. I'd love to have been able to up the magnification again and see if I could spot the other 2 stars but the strong winds shook the scope too much.

And that was it. The clouds started to roll in but what a night! My first time ever with a telescope under truly dark skies. And fully justifying the expense of a travel scope

I've only seen better skies twice in my life. Great Barrier Island, New Zealand and the Namib Desert. My ambition is to go back to the Namib with a travel scope. Even my totally uninterested children had wow moments just looking with their eyes.

If you're still reading this, thanks for taking the time and hopefully this might inspire someone to get a travel scope and travel. I have been completed wowed by the difference dark skies make.

Malcolm

Hi @Jannerland,

Firstly let me congratulate you on getting what I think (in my very limited experience) is a wonderful little telescope!

Secondly I don't feel able to give you advice as I'm only in this game recently but I can tell you what I have bought and that I have absolutely no regrets, though it will leave a big dent in your wallet!

My philosophy was the 60CB is such a fabulous scope it deserves fantastic eyepieces! For wide field I use a Tak 28mm Erfle; it's very wide field! For high magnification I use a Tak TOE 2.5 when seeing permits (when it doesn't I have the TOE 3.3 and 4). I find these high power eyepieces brilliant and much preferable to the Vixen SLV and Nagler zoom (more on it later!). I can not compare them to anything else, not having owned anything else!

The Nagler zoom is very good in itself, particularly if travelling with the scope and space is at a premium being four eyepieces in one. It also allows you to easily adjust your magnification to the seeing conditions. But I do prefer using the TOEs.

For mid range I use a Tak LE10.

And if you want to improve even further the high power performance of the scope you can buy the 1.7x CQ extender which turns it into an f10 scope allowing higher magnification and more forgiving focusing.

As you can probably tell, I am a bit obsessed with all things Tak and therefore my opinions are somewhat biassed but so far, no regrets

Malcolm

Hi @inFINNity Deck,

I actually have not had one clear sky since! Well maybe one but I was cooking at the time and when I was done the clouds had rolled in!

I'm working on the assumption that it was the washing line; I had managed some images before that did not show the spikes. See attached. I'm really a visual observer but like to occasionally try and capture some images; generally no more than 20 subs of 10 seconds or so is my limit. But I'm getting an eq mount (hopefully arriving in the next couple of weeks) so I might get more adventurous

Thanks for your interest and I hope you have been having better luck with the weather than me!

Malcolm

Personally I think the 76 will be too similar to the 100. You could consider the FS60CB. Very different from the 100 but you can turn it into a 76 or a Q version with the various accessories.

Malcolm

Very impressive! Beautiful image.

Malcolm

Mmmmm I always complain about the lack of clear skies in the UK but wind chill of -36? Maybe it's not so bad here

A very warm welcome (!) and I'm very jealous having never seen the aurora in over 56 years!

Malcolm

I've said earlier that my dream scope would be a Takahashi TOA-150

Interestingly, my first decent scope was an FC100DC. It blew me away. I got Takitis and bought an FS60CB.

The baby Tak actually gets much more use as it is so easy to grab and go!

BUT when I do get it's big sister out I get blown away all over again

Malcolm

3 hours ago, Stu said:

Sounds excellent! I imagine an FC100DC may well be ok on it; Vixen are often conservative with their specs anyway.

I really hope you are correct here @Stu. I've ordered one primarily for FS60CB/Q/76 objective unit combo but was dubious whether it would deal with the 100DC at high magnification. It's a lovely looking mount! I've been coveting one for a year now!

Malcolm

10 hours ago, Highburymark said:

All I dream about are darker skies. Sounds trite, but they are more valuable than any telescope. 

I have a bad dose of Takitis and my dream scope would be a Takahashi TOA-150. However I would swap it for consistent dark skies with stable seeing. Indeed I would swap it for 1 good clear sky a week, local street lights malfunctioning and a constellation of telegraph wires disappearing in a bunch of sparks

Malcolm

Super setup. And another Tak convert?

One of those strange coincidences; I have just spent weeks agonising over whether to buy a Vixen AP or not - I think they look gorgeous (call me vain!). Eventually decided to and then spent another week agonising over which tripod to get. I had it down to the HAL, Report 272 or Uni 8. Finally decided on the Uni 8 as Berlebach seem to have as strong a following as Takahashi! Now a couple of days later I see your setup and am thinking hmmmmmm it looks great! Touch wood (when it arrives!) I'll not regret not having an all Vixen mount.

I'm hoping to use it with an FS60CB mostly, but do have the FC76 objective unit so will have a very similar setup to yourself.

Anyway, I hope the clouds clear for you and you get lots of Sharp as a Tac nights of enjoyment!

Malcolm

Hi @Surfer Chris I'm at work at the moment so can't get you a better picture but here is one from another post of my 60CB which might give you another comparison on how tight the clam shell should be. If it helps, I shall try and get a photo of the thickness of felt on the inside when I get home. 

Malcolm

Don't start me! I have a constellation of them over my back garden. And it's such an effort to wind up the phone! If only they would invent something like those mobile phone thingys that the original Star Trek crew used

I find I have to tighten 'very' tight the clamps on both Ioptron saddle and ADM saddle when using the Takahashi dove tail bar. But it does lock ok.

5 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

This reminds me of my engagement, my wife is Italian and as is tradition (at least Italians in North America) for the bride to present to her fiancé a nice gift upon my giving her an engagement ring. At the time (1999) I worked in a scope shop and was a dedicated amateur so she called the scope shop without me knowing and spoke to the owner who then suggested a scope I would really like which she bought. When I came home one night there she was in my apartment with a Celestron 8" schmidt XLT on an equatorial mount with a bow around it. 

Fabulous!

I'm moving to Cheshire. I could do with another three Taks:)

1 minute ago, JeremyS said:

She sounds alright, Malcolm 👍🏻

The best

My partner does not 'get' astronomy but she does appreciate the fine lines of a Takahashi , so much so she doesn't mind one on display in the lounge 'ready' to grab and go. She's not averse to the odd peek through my Erfle either and makes all the right appreciative noises when I get all excited about finding another feint grey fuzzy

Malcolm

I think the 60CB would really compliment your 100DC. It's very different (portability and wide field) whereas the 76 will be less so. And the beauty is, as has been mentioned, you can buy the 76 objective unit later and you then have 3 Taks And then you can get the (cheap for a Tak) 1.7Q module and then you will have 5 Taks And as I'm discovering, you simply cannot have too many Taks:)

Malcolm

I have have just gone outside to check for obstructions as a few of you have suggested and it's possible that a washing line may have been in the way! I'm hoping to try that target again sometime if the rain and clouds ever go! I'll wait till it's higher in the sky and be careful of washing lines and telegraph lines!

Many thanks for all your help and advice,

Malcolm