MalcolmM

Flapping heck, that sounds like a major drop in standards. You can't beat a nice blue lid! Malcolm

That's my worry! I think the Tak Abbe's must be incredibly hard to best! But here's hoping 🙂 Malcolm

Just wondering if anyone is going to get one of these, or even better, already used one? Does anyone know if the outer 50% of the FOV is likely to be similar/better/worse than the Abbes or LEs? Malcolm

Egged on by members here (not intentionally I should add) I usually end up buying more equipment when I can't use what I have. Currently I'm trying very hard to resist looking for a Tak Abbe 32 after an innocuous comment from @JeremyS has been worming away in my head! On a more serious note, it's been weeks since I've observed, but I'm trying to remember and appreciate the 2 or 3 lovely weeks observing Venus in daytime under blue skies and evening sunshine. Malcolm

I have the DC variant and even though it has a very small focus range, I have never had any problems focusing, and I have quite a variety of eyepieces. Admittedly, I only use 1.25" eyepieces in the DC, so maybe I would run into problems with 2" eyepieces. I must give it a try sometime. Now Binoviewers ... that's a totally different ball game 🙂 Malcolm

Great idea, I'll try and contribute. It'll encourage me to log my observations. And if that pic of your FOA does not convert people to the beauty of a 60mm scope, nothing will 🙂Gorgeous! Malcolm

If I ever do get one and my partner complains, I'm going to show her the pic, quote you and direct her wrath firmly in your direction Malcolm

@F15Rules , that Vixen looks fab but the 128 is utterly sublime That's a great picture of Trinity with Steve. I had no idea they were quite that big. You just don't appreciate the size of them in photographs of them on their mounts in isolation. Very envious Malcolm

Eyepieces are a very personal choice as I have found out from the many posts in this forum! I have a few premium eyepieces from different manufacturers but I always prefer my Tak Abbes (I think they are orthos?). For me, they are sharper, brighter and more contrasty than anything else I have, and that is more important to me than a wider field of view. They are also very light. If I want a wider FOV I first try a longer focal length of Abbe before going for a wide FOV eyepiece. No nostalgia on my part, I'm very recently into this game! Malcolm

I really really like the Abbe range. If these were a visible improvement I'd be very tempted, though I suspect my eyes would not be up to seeing a small difference. I do like the ergonomics and weight of these. Malcolm

The big advantage of the Tak cradle from my point of view is the ease with which you can loosen the clamp a bit and slide the scope so easily to achieve balance. Great for swapping between mono and binoviewers. Looks great too in my opinion. I use them in all my Taks (Mewlon excepted) Malcolm

Just paying homage to a gorgeous little scope that I have had a lot of fun with recently, observing Venus . The Extender-Q gives it a bit of extra punch without the slightly extra hassle of fitting the CQ 1.7x Extender. The addition of an MEF3 micro focuser makes it even more of a pleasure to use. Malcolm

Thanks for the heads up @Stu. I'm keeping an eye out for a break in the clouds. Great pics, very sharp. Malcolm

That's brilliant news! Very pleased you got it working smoothly. I put the tiniest drop of loctite on the grub screws after I adjusted them in order to keep them secure. I am embarrassingly biased towards Taks and I feel more attached to a scope after I have done a small tweak like that! But as I've said before, that probably says more about me than it does the scope! Malcolm

Totally agree and what's lovely about this time of year with Venus is you can observe it while sitting in the sun I got Venus yesterday at 18.00, the earliest I have seen it yet. Here's a sketch with the usual caveats of exaggerated markings and questions as to whether I was seeing detail or have an over active imagination FS60CB plus Extender-Q plus TOE 3.3 and 4. The 4 gave the best view. Once I knew where to look, I could actually see Venus with the naked eye at 18.00. Malcolm

If you bought it through FLO it would be worth emailing them. I have always found them very helpful and very keen to fix any problems. The DC focuser assembly can be tweaked easily, though I'm sure it would be more advisable to let FLO do it. The stiffness of the draw tube is very sensitive to the 3 grub screws on the focuser assembly. If they are tweaked, a tiny amount should be all that's needed and each should be adjusted equally. The rack and pinion tension can also be adjusted, but I have never done this. In my experience, the Tak focuser is very smooth. I adjusted the 3 grub screws ever so slightly on my 60CB to get it 'just so'. Whatever you do, I hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction. It should be a pleasure to use; admittedly I have no experience with FTs or many other scopes. Good Luck Malcolm

I put binoviewers on the above setup. Very unbalanced, actually could not move the scope/cradle forward enough to achieve balance. Extender-Q plus Maxbrights plus 2.6 GPC plus 12.5 Abbe eyepieces. I reckon the magnification was near enough the equivalent of a TOE3.3, about x170, maybe more. The scope vibrated for a couple of seconds after being disturbed. I think I would really have struggled to focus easily with the stock focuser. With the MEF it was easy! Malcolm

I really struggle with point 11. Not that I blame you ... really 🙂 Malcolm

Great list, many of which resonate with me, particularly (3) and (5). Regarding binoviewing, often I stick with cyclops viewing due to the ease of setup, but the nice thing is I get a 'wow' moment every time when I do reach for the Binoviewers. And then I say to myself I should use Binoviewers all the time! But I never do! Malcolm

That's another nice looking scope. I'm glad I caught Takitis early on before knowing about all these other premium scopes; I struggle with too much choice sometimes Malcolm

I think I read somewhere that you said you had several of them. That did help sway me Malcolm

I had been considering getting one of these for a year or so now. Mixed reviews, particularly on other forums, plus liking very much the stock focuser, made me hold back. Fast forward to now and I bit the bullet! I think it's brilliant! Very easy to install, 5 or 10 minutes did the job. And it's very smooth, very accurate, a pleasure to use. I might now be buying a couple more of them 🙂 Now in the interest of fairness, I have never seen or used other options (More Blue, FT etc) so I can't make any comparisons. I also like keeping my scope totally Tak if I can. I am also unashamedly Tak biased I have also only used it the once, this evening on Venus. It is installed on an FS60CB and I had the Extender-Q attached with a 4mm Tak Abbe; a magnification of x140. It was on a Gitzo Traveler tripod with the center column fully raised, not the most stable of configurations. The stock focuser can deal with this fine, no problems, but with the MEF3 it was exceptionally easy and quick to get a very sharp Venus. A definite improvement over the already very good stock focuser. From my perspective I can thoroughly recommend the MEF3. I found I was able to spend more time observing and less time trying to achieve the best possible focus! Malcolm

At the risk of dragging on a bit, here's this evenings observation. FS60CB plus Extender-Q plus Tak Abbe 4mm at 19.00 BST Venus was very sharp and very bright. The cloud detail seemed to come and go such that I was in my usual quandary as to whether I was seeing true cloud detail or optical artifacts! If I had to summarise, I would say definite darker areas North and South with a brighter patch in the middle! Malcolm

Your drawing mirrors very much what I have often observed recently. The shading is so subtle that it's easy to think you are imagining it! Malcolm Malcolm

Another thing I've noticed when observing Venus against a bright sky is that it looks a slightly dirty yellow colour. Is this correct? It is a lovely sight too when seen as a tiny little crescent in a wide angle eyepiece! Malcolm