Show us your Frac

[dweller25]

10 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

I know you won't believe a word of it John, but this is going to be my last refractor. 

Mewlon next then ?? 😂😂😂

[heliumstar]

Mods please close this topic. I am sitting here trigger happy looking for 76D objective unit and thinking 100D-something would do nicely as well. I am out of here.

[paulastro]

1 hour ago, John said:

Of course next year the DZ+ will come out ........

 

Or even worse for Mike, the 120 DZ 😊

[John]

Tak fans have been wanting an FC-125 since the FC-100's came out. A modern incarnation of the superb FS-128.

I think that would deserve two little devils if it ever came out

[Stu]

4 minutes ago, John said:

Tak fans have been wanting an FC-125 since the FC-100's came out. A modern incarnation of the superb FS-128.

I think that would deserve two little devils if it ever came out

I would certainly be tempted by an FC125 or even better an FC130 if Tak ever pull their finger out!! Not sure why we need so many versions of these pesky 100mm scopes anyway 🤣🤣, they should crack on with the bigger brother!

Lovely scope Mike, I’m sure you will have some wonderful times with it and I look forward to hearing all about it.

[Alan White]

Oh yes a 130FC now that would tempt me to get myself in debt.........

shhhh.........don’t tell anyone I said that 😉

[mikeDnight]

12 hours ago, John said:

Tak fans have been wanting an FC-125 since the FC-100's came out. A modern incarnation of the superb FS-128.

I think that would deserve two little devils if it ever came out

You just know it will happen eventually! I've still got both kidney's, but possibly not for much longer!! I could of course start dipping into my kid's inheritance.  🇯🇵

[John]

These are not my scopes, very much alas, but I think it is interesting to compare the original 1981 Tak FC-100 with the modern FC-100 DZ that Mike has just acquired. Strikingly similar and Tak seem to have settled happilly back to F/8 again now. The original FC-100 is regarded as highly desirable as I'm sure the DZ will be in years to come:

And the FC-125 from 1981:

And finally in this parade of Tak "porn", the majestic FC-150 from 1991 - F/11.3:

 

[johnturley]

12 hours ago, Alan White said:

Oh yes a 130FC now that would tempt me to get myself in debt.........

shhhh.........don’t tell anyone I said that 😉

Would an FC130 being significantly superior to the existing TOA 130

John 

[Wiu-Wiu]

🤤 

Some great optics in this thread.. I need a better job!  (or 2 extra jobs, who needs sleep anyway?)

 

On another note: I am now up for adoption, preferably by someone living under sqm 21+ skies and TAK glass in the shed. 

[John]

9 minutes ago, johnturley said:

Would an FC130 being significantly superior to the existing TOA 130

John 

With the FC's (real and imaginary) we are talking about doublets using a Fluorite element. The TOA's are triplets. I think the markets for these are slightly different.

 

[Stu]

12 minutes ago, johnturley said:

Would an FC130 being significantly superior to the existing TOA 130

John 

I think as a visual scope, a fluorite doublet is hard to beat. Lower weight, faster cool down, excellent contrast and colour correction.

[Alan White]

26 minutes ago, John said:

With the FC's (real and imaginary) we are talking about doublets using a Fluorite element. The TOA's are triplets. I think the markets for these are slightly different.

Fully agree.

24 minutes ago, Stu said:

I think as a visual scope, a fluorite doublet is hard to beat. Lower weight, faster cool down, excellent contrast and colour correction.

Indeed it is.

I speak as a Visual Astronomer not an imager.

 

[ajohnson]

Same Frac, new mount. trying out a new (to me) CEM120 mount, it was a nice day so popped the Evostar 150 that I usually use for visual onto the mount for a bit of white light solar imaging, the heavy iOptron mount is overkill for this OTA, it will back on it's usual EQ5 shortly.

 

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, ajohnson said:

Same Frac, new mount. trying out a new (to me) CEM120 mount, it was a nice day so popped the Evostar 150 that I usually use for visual onto the mount for a bit of white light solar imaging, the heavy iOptron mount is overkill for this OTA, it will back on it's usual EQ5 shortly.

 

I think its safe to say that this set-up isn't going to blow away in the wind! Great looking mount!

[parallaxerr]

Bringing the thread back down to earth with a bump, sorry, here's my latest frac. I always liked the look of the Omni XLT120 but it was never available as an OTA alone in the UK (at least that I could find). It's out of production now so I was surprised to find a batch of them for sale by Altair Astro recently, apparently they had the last "old new" stock from Celestron UK who finally broke out the mounts and OTAs to sell separately. Not a bad deal really at £199 versus the £269 of the equivalent Skywatcher Evostar and the Celestron has a collimatable cell to boot.

I immediately adorned it with a Skywatcher Crayford focuser (which is a far better, more snug fit than the standard R&P), Altair finder shoe which went straight on with the supplied screws and red dot finder. It comes in just over twice the weight of my 80mm Vixen @ 6kg, so time will tell if the AZ4 will cope. There are so many mixed opinions on this, I decided I just had to try myself.

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by parallaxerr

[mikeDnight]

2 hours ago, parallaxerr said:

Bringing the thread back down to earth with a bump, sorry, here's my latest frac. I always liked the look of the Omni XLT120 but it was never available as an OTA alone in the UK (at least that I could find). It's out of production now so I was surprised to find a batch of them for sale by Altair Astro recently, apparently they had the last "old new" stock from Celestron UK who finally broke out the mounts and OTAs to sell separately. Not a bad deal really at £199 versus the £269 of the equivalent Skywatcher Evostar and the Celestron has a collimatable cell to boot.

I immediately adorned it with a Skywatcher Crayford focuser (which is a far better, more snug fit than the standard R&P), Altair finder shoe which went straight on with the supplied screws and red dot finder. It comes in just over twice the weight of my 80mm Vixen @ 6kg, so time will tell if the AZ4 will cope. There are so many mixed opinions on this, I decided I just had to try myself.

Sorry it's the wrong kind of blue, but at least I removed the made in China sticker from the OTA as not to offend anyone's eyes!

 

I'll still talk to you Jon.

That's actually a fantastic deal. I bought a 120mm F8.3 achromat back in 1999 and loved it. Mine came under the Helios brand name. The very first night was clear with a crescent Moon in the sky. As I set the scope up, a fellow astronomer who'd heard the news that I'd bought a 120mm Chinese achromat turned up on the scene along with his treasured 6" SCT. He plonked his scope right next to mine, which irritated me no end. He then aimed his scope at the Moon and said "There you go, take a look at that"! I first soaked up the view through my new 120mm  before stepping aside to look through his 6" SCT. He took his position at my eyepiece and remained silent. I looked into the SCT and remained silent too. The 120mm achromat was so much sharper, and where was that appalling chromatic halo I was expecting? The Archo was a beautiful scope. My friend got all flustered by the dismally soft image produced by his SCT and rapidly bundled it back into his car, and off he drove. I loved that achromat. It had a good lens with a good figure, and although it did have .CA, it wasn't destructive. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I did mine. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by mikeDnight

[John]

For £199 that is a very nice refractor !

I can remember when the 120mm F/8.3's first came out. A "big" refractor at a a relatively affordable price and it caused a lot of excitement. Even more so when the first of the 150mm F/8's made it here from China a year or so later. A 6 inch refractor that an ordinary person could buy off the shelf was practically unheard of back then.

The Russian company Aries even designed the CA and SA correctors, the Chromacors, especially for these instruments. I had some fun with those a few years back !

 

 

[mark81]

Great deal @parallaxerr , I have thought about getting one of these for ages... A friend of mine also mounts his 120 f8.3 on an AZ4. It's not a match made in heaven but it does an OK job - although you may find you have to shuffle the tube up and down the rings when you start pointing a little higher in the sky...

Enjoy

Mark

[F15Rules]

2 hours ago, parallaxerr said:

Sorry it's the wrong kind of blue, but at least I removed the made in China sticker from the OTA as not to offend anyone's eyes!

 

That's a lovely looking scope Parallaxerr, in my opinion far more attractive than the Skywatcher version.

I had the 102mm version F9.8 some years ago which I bought from FLO complete with CG4 (EQ3) mount. It really was a very nice achromat, and at almost F10, put up some lovely views. 

Thanks for sharing.

[F15Rules]

9 hours ago, John said:

And the FC-125 from 1981:

That is just a perfect looking refractor on a superb looking mount and pier!

I shudder to think what that cost in 1991, never mind what it would cost now😱🤑!

It would indeed be great if Takashashi would introduce a new FS125 scope - here's hoping..

Thanks for posting John

[Chris]

7 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

That is just a perfect looking refractor on a superb looking mount and pier!

I was thinking the same thing. A dream setup!

[Space Hopper]

My newest grab-go, APM 105/650 riding on my new DM-4 / photo tripod.

   

Edited April 29, 2020 by Space Hopper

[parallaxerr]

2 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I'll still talk to you Jon.

See, I knew the "Tak pack" were friendly really 😆

[Alan White]

11 hours ago, parallaxerr said:

See, I knew the "Tak pack" were friendly really 😆

Great to see British humour still abounds chaps 😃