Oh, blimey....I've been Astrobooted

[SnakeyJ]

Excellent value at £15 all in :-)

[Moonshane]

well my 120 f5 is a surprise indeed. it is in mint condition and all works well. what has really pleased me are the white light views with the Lunt wedge.

I suppose I should not be surprised as aperture usually rules but it betters my 80mm f11 Vixen for details if the finer pores and granulation is 'in your face' where with the 80mm it is there but you have to look.

I will be making further comparison, particularly on moon, clusters and doubles but at the minute the 80mm us on the chopping block to fund a better focuser and 2" diagonal for the 120.

[Uplooker]

well my 120 f5 is a surprise indeed. it is in mint condition and all works well. what has really pleased me are the white light views with the Lunt wedge.

I suppose I should not be surprised as aperture usually rules but it betters my 80mm f11 Vixen for details if the finer pores and granulation is 'in your face' where with the 80mm it is there but you have to look.

I will be making further comparison, particularly on moon, clusters and doubles but at the minute the 80mm us on the chopping block to fund a better focuser and 2" diagonal for the 120.

I think the assimilation to refractor fan is nearly complete

Ian

[spaceboy]

well my 120 f5 is a surprise indeed. it is in mint condition and all works well. what has really pleased me are the white light views with the Lunt wedge.

I suppose I should not be surprised as aperture usually rules but it betters my 80mm f11 Vixen for details if the finer pores and granulation is 'in your face' where with the 80mm it is there but you have to look.

I will be making further comparison, particularly on moon, clusters and doubles but at the minute the 80mm us on the chopping block to fund a better focuser and 2" diagonal for the 120.

Was the wedge OK Shane ?? Did you observe for long ?? I have notice just going from my 80 to the 102 the image seems to remain steady better despite poor seeing so it offers up a better views for longer than the 80 did. I did also notice for the first time despite only a short session that the heat sink got warm. Not terribly warm but was surprised that only 20mm increase in aperture had an effect at all. I am so tempted to try the wedge in my AR127L.

[Moonshane]

hi Nick

It was perfectly fine. the rear disk did get warm to the touch but not hot. a bit like a cup of tea after 10 minutes. I was observing for about half an hour or so which is about average and use a manual mount so it did go off axis for a while. The disk cools rapidly when not exposed. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised about the views. the granulation particularly was really 'peppered' all over the surface.

[spaceboy]

Thanks Shane. I had been toying with the idea of using my AR127 for a while so now I know everything should be ok I will have to give it a go. Glad to hear first light went well

[Moonshane]

I am sure it will be fine mate, just keep an eye on the red disk. if you are worried then just turn it off axis every now and again, it cools very quickly. If you would be happier then there's no reason not to use a UV/IR cut filter but I'd be concerned about tube currents given the heat is reflected back up the tube (I think?).

[trynda1701]

I too have sucummed to Astroboot. Just had a EQ2 tripod delivered today to try and mod for use with my Heritage 130P Flexitube.

Between that and the three Televue Plossl eyepieces I've picked up (thanks again, Derek! ), its been an expensive month!

Can I write to the mods to complain?

[Points of View voice]"Dear SGL, I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms....."[end Points of View voice]

Mark

[spaceboy]

Had several opportunities to try out my new solar set up, ST102 courtesy of astroboot and I have to say I am very pleased. Being f/5 the edges are not as sharp as I had been experiencing in my 80mm f/6 but I guess that was to be expected. I was also able to get it out under the stars the other night and was pleasantly surprised to see it takes magnification well on the moon. The moon was 95% lit so CA was obvious but this reduced significantly when using an ND filter. I have been a fan of astroboot for some years now but they really seem to be offering a much better variety in recent months although I doubt many realize as the good stuff sure does disappear quick

[nightfisher]

Nick, that is a nice little frac, often thought about getting one myself, just realized, i am down to just the one frac (hmm), i have only had one little look at the Luna surface with my astroboot 114 newt but it looks VERY promising 

[happy-kat]

Have you tried making an apperature mask for the 102 just to see if it increases your sharpness without losing the detail?