Show us your Frac

[John]

Womderful setup lardy

I see that you have a LZOS 130 F/9.25 as well ? - another superb scope

 

Edited July 29, 2017 by John

[lardy]

I do John, a truly fantastic scope (But you know this).. Gives the Tak a run for its money, both excel in different areas so both "keepers" in my books :o)

[jabeoo1]

On 7/8/2017 at 17:27, garryblueboy said:

Thanks John I've waited a while to get one of these 

You won't regret it, this scope continues to fill me with joy every time it comes to mind, for me it is everything I need.  

[Dave1]

Well here it is my current set up, taken me awhile to be able to get to this point Skylight 60mm F16.7 and Berlebach Uni 28 tripod. EQ3-2 mount.

[DRT]

That looks fantastic, Dave

Even the donkey looks impressed!

 

[Dave1]

Thanks yes it does, can't wait to try out the tripod, hopefully tonight. I know one thing the tripod is a whole lot heavier than my Skywatcher EQ5 tripod! Using my little 60 is becoming addictive! Stopping me from completing my Towa project.

[DRT]

I use a UNI 28 plus a 16" pillar extension with my big fracs and it is absolutely rock solid. I'm sure you'll love it

 

[Chris]

1 hour ago, Dave1 said:

Well here it is my current set up, taken me awhile to be able to get to this point Skylight 60mm F16.7 and Berlebach Uni 28 tripod. EQ3-2 mount.

 

Stunning, Dave. How are you finding the views so far?  

[Dave1]

Good, been mainly looking at stars, looked at the double double for the first time the other night, Polaris, Albireo, and Vega. Looked at stars I have yet to learn the names of if indeed they have names! Also tried to find the Dumbbell nebula for the first time. But didn't find it. Wasn't at a dark site and maybe a bit ambitious for a 60mm

Dave

 

Edited August 21, 2017 by Dave1

[John]

Very nice setup Dave -

 

[F15Rules]

3 hours ago, Dave1 said:

Thanks yes it does, can't wait to try out the tripod, hopefully tonight. I know one thing the tripod is a whole lot heavier than my Skywatcher EQ5 tripod! Using my little 60 is becoming addictive! Stopping me from completing my Towa project.

That's a beautiful looking setup Dave?.

Don't abandon your Towa project though, optically they are usually very good and the 80mm would show you the dumbbell no problem.

Perhaps a head to head Skylight Vs Towa shootout at some point? With pictures????.

Dave

Edited August 21, 2017 by F15Rules
Typo

[Chris]

9 minutes ago, Dave1 said:

Good, been mainly looking at stars, looked at the double double for the first time the other night, Polaris, and Albireo, Vega. Looked at stars I have yet to learn the names of if indeed they have names! Also tried to find the Dumbbell nebula for the first time. But didn't find it. Wasn't at a dark site and maybe a bit ambitious for a 60mm

Dave

 

Stars are lovely through these scopes, but yeah maybe M27 might be too much for it depending on your skies. Maybe have a crack at splitting the double double near Vega  and You'll love the Moon with it!

[Knighty2112]

16 minutes ago, Dave1 said:

Good, been mainly looking at stars, looked at the double double for the first time the other night, Polaris, Albireo, and Vega. Looked at stars I have yet to learn the names of if indeed they have names! Also tried to find the Dumbbell nebula for the first time. But didn't find it. Wasn't at a dark site and maybe a bit ambitious for a 60mm

Dave

 

New mount looks great Dave, and a nice 'frac sat on top of it too. If you use a 25 or 32mm EP in your scope you should be able to see the Dumbbell OK. I see pretty well on a clear nights OK with my shorter AR90S f5.5 'frac, and also my two longer 'fracs when I use then, even with the LP where I live too. Sweep slowly with one of the above EP's and unless the seeing is very poor you should get it eventually, especially when M27 is close to the meridian at around 10:30pm'ish, so at its highest point in the sky. 

[Dave1]

26 minutes ago, Lockie said:

Stars are lovely through these scopes, but yeah maybe M27 might be too much for it depending on your skies. Maybe have a crack at splitting the double double near Vega  and You'll love the Moon with it!

Hey I thought I already mentioned that I split the double double near Vega. I take it this is what we are talking about?

[Dave1]

40 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

That's a beautiful looking setup Dave?.

Don't abandon your Toes project though, optically they are usually very good and the 80mm would show you the dumbbell no problem.

Perhaps a head to head Skylight Vs Towards shootout at some point? With pictures????.

Dave

Not going to abandon the project , I will try and find the time to do a head to head shoot out   

[Dave1]

47 minutes ago, Lockie said:

Stars are lovely through these scopes, but yeah maybe M27 might be too much for it depending on your skies. Maybe have a crack at splitting the double double near Vega  and You'll love the Moon with it!

 Waiting in anticipation for the moon to make an appearance, so that I can test it out on the moon!  

[Dave1]

36 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

New mount looks great Dave, and a nice 'frac sat on top of it too. If you use a 25 or 32mm EP in your scope you should be able to see the Dumbbell OK. I see pretty well on a clear nights OK with my shorter AR90S f5.5 'frac, and also my two longer 'fracs when I use then, even with the LP where I live too. Sweep slowly with one of the above EP's and unless the seeing is very poor you should get it eventually, especially when M27 is close to the meridian at around 10:30pm'ish, so at its highest point in the sky. 

Mount isn't new, it came with my Helios 120mm. I have a Circle T 25mm Kellner on the way, which should be perfect for this. I may get a 32mm Vixen NPL Plossl eyepiece, see how I get on with the 25mm. Thanks for the tips, will try them out, next time I'm observing.

[Knighty2112]

6 minutes ago, Dave1 said:

Mount isn't new, it came with my Helios 120mm. I have a Circle T 25mm Kellner on the way, which should be perfect for this. I may get a 32mm Vixen NPL Plossl eyepiece, see how I get on with the 25mm. Thanks for the tips, will try them out, next time I'm observing.

Sorry Dave. Must have got you confused with another SGL member who recently bought the same mount off Astroboot, not new but in very good condition. 

[Stub Mandrel]

13 hours ago, Dave1 said:

Well here it is my current set up, taken me awhile to be able to get to this point Skylight 60mm F16.7 and Berlebach Uni 28 tripod. EQ3-2 mount.

Somehow that wouldn't work if the mount was white...

[iPeace]

It's been a while since I had this one out.

[Tyson M]

On 8/21/2017 at 11:57, Dave1 said:

Well here it is my current set up, taken me awhile to be able to get to this point Skylight 60mm F16.7 and Berlebach Uni 28 tripod. EQ3-2 mount.

That is simply beautiful.....very elegant! 

[fireballxl5]

On ‎21‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 21:33, Dave1 said:

Hey I thought I already mentioned that I split the double double near Vega. I take it this is what we are talking about?

Close but no cigar!

The double-double is actually Epsilon, so you are close in a way:) 

I've checked my astro log and the smallest aperture that I've recorded an observation with is 250mm (f4.8 Newt), so I'm not sure what the practical minimum is but give it a try! Theoretically 60mm should be enough with good seeing. Good luck!

HTH, Andy

[Stu]

2 hours ago, fireballxl5 said:

Close but no cigar!

The double-double is actually Epsilon, so you are close in a way:) 

I've checked my astro log and the smallest aperture that I've recorded an observation with is 250mm (f4.8 Newt), so I'm not sure what the practical minimum is but give it a try! Theoretically 60mm should be enough with good seeing. Good luck!

HTH, Andy

Lovely scopes on show here  

Double Double is definitely doable on 60mm, have done it with a Tak FS60C, should be nice in a long Focal length achro 

[kerrylewis]

For the first time I put my two beautiful refractors together. Only had an hour or two before it clouded over by but some interesting comparisons.  The Tak 100mmm was noticeably sharper on the moon with fine detail crisper. The extra aperture of the Vixen 150 scored on picking out Neptune which was very close to the moon. 

There were other variables, of course - diagonals and eyepieces were different. Next time I may try using the same combination in each. 

Edited November 1, 2017 by kerrylewis

[Chris]

I'd forgotten how huge the Vixen is! A beast of a setup you have there Kerry