Do I work, or do I open this?

[osbourne one-nil]

I'm not sure I can concentrate. 

[Peter Drew]

Open the box! 

[xtreemchaos]

Open the box"the world could end at anytime" ha ha. and show us whats inside.

[osbourne one-nil]

I couldn't resist, but I think they might have forgotten to put the telescope in there. It's certainly well packed. 

I must remember to remove the receipt before I go home. 

[Starlight 1]

No its full of Clouds.

[Hertford Stargazer]

Savour the process and open a little at a time 

[osbourne one-nil]

Open the box"the world could end at anytime

My office is in Penrith so I often wonder if it already has. 

[osbourne one-nil]

Hello!

[Marki]

Stop teasing us....more pics please

[Dave Lloyd]

No brainer mate.

[xtreemchaos]

I wont one

[osbourne one-nil]

Well, that's what I was hoping too, especially as I've got another box in the room containing a Porta Mount. But despite it being a Friday, I've got to get something in to the planning department at a local authority despite that we all know they'll be off playing golf somewhere and won't look at it until the middle of next week. 

Still - couldn't resist!

It's the first seriously expensive telescope I've ever bought myself new, but I've justified it to myself on many, many levels, the main one being that now I'm approaching my late early mid-40s, I finally know what I like. 

[ollypenrice]

I didn't realize that Takahashi were still working in fluorite. This should be an absolute stunner at F7-point-something. Good choice. Nice size, nice focal length, nice Takahashi! The price is far from insane, too.

Olly

[Spikey]

Lovely scope, I was considering one of these DF's with the FC-35 reducer as an imaging scope; just to be different.

[osbourne one-nil]

Well I would have been happy with the DC model as I have never really worked out how to get the maximum from 2" eyepieces, but as Ian King explained, this version is much more future proof if I ever wanted to get into imaging...and he had it in stock! 

I was surprised at the relatively unextortinate price too (although still sufficient to lie to my wife about), particularly when compared to Televue. 

Home now - work done, let mount assembly begin. 

[Gazabone]

Isn't it so frustrating waiting for home time!

[osbourne one-nil]

Oh yes. Scanning around the horizon with a 9mm Nagler and there's not a trace of any false colour whatsoever. It's also very, very light - about the same weight as my TV85, although considerably bigger (surprisingly so actually). The 9mm Nagler gives me x82 and the vibrations are damping out in less than 2 seconds, but I do think I'll upgrade the Porta's tripod. Do Berlabach do anything that would work with the mount head? Focusing is really easy too - it's only single-speed but it's just the right amount of resistance and it snaps to the sheep on the hill, which are about a mile away (in case the magistrates are monitoring).

[Rainmaker]

Great choice on the Tak FC100 !!! They are a beautiful refractor. Good idea getting the bigger focuser as well. 

I can recommend the Berlebach tripods if you're thinking of something taller and a bit more stable.

[osbourne one-nil]

A Berlabach Planet by any chance?!

[Rainmaker]

A Berlabach Planet by any chance?!

I think the Uni24 would be a better match to the Porta mount and the FC100DF.  The Planet is BIG.

[osbourne one-nil]

Thanks  - I took a look and thought it seemed a bit of overkill! I shall peruse while the kids swim this morning over a delicious vending machine coffee.