6 inch refractor: A sense of scale

[John]

I just thought I'd post a couple of snaps of my Istar 6" F/12 refractor in case anyone is considering such a beast scope 

Sorry about my somewhat glazed expression in the 1st pic but I'd just scurried across the room and hefted a 34 lb 6 1/2 foot tube onto my lap in the 10 secs that my self timer gives me so I forgot to smile

The 2nd pic shows my 102mm F/6.5 Vixen and 120mm F/7.5 Skywatcher ED refractors for comparison.

These big, long refractors are a somewhat crazy obsession  

[AndyH]

WOW

Mmmm. Okay. That's a huuuuge scope. 

Pics like these are far superior to stock scope on mount pics. Gives a true sense of the size of a 6" F12.

Clear skies !!

Andy.

[Naemeth]

It's longer than the sofa!

Out of curiosity, how high off the ground is the eyepiece at when the scope is pointed at the zenith?

[John]

It's longer than the sofa!

Out of curiosity, how high off the ground is the eyepiece at when the scope is pointed at the zenith?

On the Skytee II with the CG5 tripod and the 16" pillar extension, the eyepiece is just over a metre off the ground when viewing the zenith area. I ought to stress though that this is not the final mounting solution for this scope - I was just using it to do some initial star testing. 

I'm not claiming that scopes like these make any sense at all really - there are much more practical ways to get 6" of aperture. 

But it's a hobby so why not try something different ?

[nicks90]

It's longer than the sofa!

Out of curiosity, how high off the ground is the eyepiece at when the scope is pointed at the zenith?

probably has a 3 foot pit dug around the tripod to stand in

but that is bloomin lovely.

[AndyWB]

Is that a telescope, or for shelling the French coast?

Given it's, ahem, portability, is it for an observatory?

[John]

WOW

Mmmm. Okay. That's a huuuuge scope. 

Pics like these are far superior to stock scope on mount pics. Gives a true sense of the size of a 6" F12.

Clear skies !!

Andy.

Thanks Andy. The engineering on these scopes is something else too - similar to Intes in quality / robustness / finish, if you know what I mean  

[emadmoussa]

Oh my!!! How do you manage it, man!! It's almost an artillery barrel.

[John]

Given it's, ahem, portability, is it for an observatory?

It probably should be in an observatory (and me in an asylum !) but I don't have that facility at the current time so I'm looking to put together a mounting solution that gets around that. I'm not in a hurry with this one (just as well !) so I may get something fabricated for it - a massive Victorian style fork mount maybe ?.

[John]

Oh my!!! How do you manage it, man!! It's almost an artillery barrel.

Thats what my son calls it - a discarded Soviet tank barrel 

[Schorhr]

It does look a bit dangerous :-)

A small backyard observatory may be mistaken as a small tank... Better warn the neighbors!

[John]

It does look a bit dangerous :-)

A small backyard observatory may be mistaken as a small tank... Better warn the neighbors!

Luckily my neighbours are used to large tube-like objects in my back yard Markus  

If I get it out to the open fields though I might have some explaining to do - we have a major Police HQ nearby and they may feel under threat 

I'll have to get a license for it ......

[Schorhr]

Don't blow up the moon!

;-)

Have fun with your telescope.

[emadmoussa]

Thats what my son calls it - a discarded Soviet tank barrel 

Still got a very appealing touch to it. I think you'll probably need a crane for a mount.

[Gib007]

Holy ****, that's insane!! The dovetail bar looks hilariously tiny in comparison. If I had that, I would need a new car, no doubt. Bit of an expensive endeavour for me!

[Naemeth]

Have to admit there is a certain lovely quality you get from refractors.. it's why I've got 2 (and contemplating a third).

[nicks90]

painting it something other than black may make it appear a little less sinister

[LeeB]

How do you find the scope in use as I was considering the very same as my next to add to the collection . It would look lovelly on my all black eq6((dreaming again sorry) with orange bits!!!!

[Luke]

Well that looks bigger than I expected! Maybe you could get an old Soviet tank on the cheap as a goto system?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Beast indeed. Lovely scope to use but not to lug around

[John]

How do you find the scope in use as I was considering the very same as my next to add to the collection . It would look lovelly on my all black eq6((dreaming again sorry) with orange bits!!!!

It's early days and I've only been able to do some star testing, looked at some tight doubles and had a peek at the moon but it's all looking very promising. CA levels are really quite low and the intra and extra focal star images look tidy and consistent.

An EQ6 is one option I'm considering but I'd need to upgrade the tripod to something large and wooden I think - something like a Berlebach Uni 28 or perhaps a Tele Opic GD-1. Or maybe make my own .....

[Naemeth]

It's early days and I've only been able to do some star testing, looked at some tight doubles and had a peek at the moon but it's all looking very promising. CA levels are really quite low and the intra and extra focal star images look tidy and consistent.

An EQ6 is one option I'm considering but I'd need to upgrade the tripod to something large and wooden I think - something like a Berlebach Uni 28 or perhaps a Tele Opic GD-1. Or maybe make my own .....

John, how about the CGE-Pro tripod, or even the Skywatcher EQ8 tripod? They'll certainly be heavy-duty enough .

[John]

John, how about the CGE-Pro tripod, or even the Skywatcher EQ8 tripod? They'll certainly be heavy-duty enough .

I guess they would. I'm hoping not to have to spend that much though and, ideally, I'd prefer an alt-az solution. The APM Maxload alt-az would do the job on a massive wooden tripod but I'd need to budget around £1.5K I guess. The Skytee II actually holds the weight of the scope surprisingly well but the 2" steel tubed CG5 tripod allows too much twisting movement from the long tube. 

I knew mounting this would not be a straightforward exercise and it's certainly not but I wanted a challenge and I think it can be solved without having to spend £thousands.

[Naemeth]

I guess they would. I'm hoping not to have to spend that much though and, ideally, I'd prefer an alt-az solution. The APM Maxload alt-az would do the job on a massive wooden tripod but I'd need to budget around £1.5K I guess. The Skytee II actually holds the weight of the scope surprisingly well but the 2" steel tubed CG5 tripod allows too much twisting movement from the long tube. 

I knew mounting this would not be a straightforward exercise and it's certainly not but I wanted a challenge and I think it can be solved without having to spend £thousands.

You're probably right, wood would be a nice stable option provided you made the tripod legs thick enough .

[Moonshane]

blimey John that is really massive. I suppose the heavy objective helps with the eyepiece position? just for a laugh you should go bird watching with it sometime. imagine that sticking out of the hide