Show us your Frac

[JeremyS]

I couldn't find the "don't show us your frac" thread, so I hope it's OK to post this here:

I leave the scope out for about 3 before observing Mars, whilst I am in the obsy doing other things. The last few nights the OTA has been dripping with dew (not on lenses, which are covered),  so this is to keep that off. Otherwise:

 

[dark knight]

Finally got everything ready, just need a clear sky for a test run, new telescope new guide scope new laptop and even migrated to NINA with plate solving, just itching to get going now as not used plate solving before

[Mr_Simnock]

Joined the club today, mount won't be with me for another week though

[Fozzie]

11 minutes ago, Mr_Simnock said:

Joined the club today, mount won't be with me for another week though

That's a nice looking scope, would be interested to get your thoughts on it...  Don't seem to be too many reviews around..

[RobertI]

5 hours ago, Mr_Simnock said:

Joined the club today, mount won't be with me for another week though

Recently got one myself - only managed to use three times to date but am increasingly impressed each time. 

[rkelley8493]

On 03/08/2020 at 09:04, Xsubmariner said:

Just to get back on topic a picture of my latest  Frac 😍 and yes it came with a handle should you be interested. 😏

 

 

Beautiful scope! Is that the CFF 160? 

[rkelley8493]

Here's mine.. Stellarvue SVA130T w/ 3" Feather Touch, Takahashi FC-100DF w/ Feather Touch Micro, and the dual setup which I've only used a couple of times [too much effort & distraction for nightly use]

 

[mikeDnight]

I've shown this refractor before, but not with an Extender-Q attached, turning it from F8 to F12.8.

[JeremyS]

Looks v smart @mikeDnight

Hope the EX-Q give good results

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

I've shown this refractor before, but not with an Extender-Q attached, turning it from F8 to F12.8

Nice eyepiece too!

[Mr_Simnock]

On 28/09/2020 at 20:40, RobertI said:

Recently got one myself - only managed to use three times to date but am increasingly impressed each time. 

Have you bought an extender at all for it to get focus with certain eyepieces? I can't reach focus with any of my eyepieces till my diagonal turns up next Monday but I do feel something to extend things by about 20mm would help a lot, anyone any suggestions?

[RobertI]

6 hours ago, Mr_Simnock said:

Have you bought an extender at all for it to get focus with certain eyepieces? I can't reach focus with any of my eyepieces till my diagonal turns up next Monday but I do feel something to extend things by about 20mm would help a lot, anyone any suggestions?

I’m afraid I can’t help with any extender recommendations as I don’t do straight through observing, but I can confirm it has worked fine with all of my eyepieces from 5mm to 38mm with a 2 “ diagonal. 👍

[nicoscy]

Just added to the stable yesterday, as my new ultraportable EAA Rig. ASKAR FMA 180mm lens / mini refractor :)

[Deadlake]

13 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I've shown this refractor before, but not with an Extender-Q attached, turning it from F8 to F12.8.

Presuming that increase in depth of field increases contrast and resolution at expense of light. Is this just useful for planets (non-point sources)?

 

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, Deadlake said:

Presuming that increase in depth of field increases contrast and resolution at expense of light. Is this just useful for planets (non-point sources)?

 

The extender Q can't increase resolution and I can't say I've noticed any change in the depth of focus, but there's definitely no light loss. In fact the views through the Q are about as transparent  as transparent gets. Stars are pin points and just as textbook perfect as they are without the Q attached. It's a wonderful tool for someone who loves observing the planet's as you can use longer focal length eyepieces to reach high powers making observing more relaxing, and shorter focal lengths without any degradation to the image, when the seeing conditions allow. The best thing about the Extender-Q though comes when its combined with a barlow and binoviewer for lunar observation. I don't think there are any words that can accurately describe the view that meets the eye when observing the Moon in this way.

Edited September 30, 2020 by mikeDnight

[Deadlake]

2 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

The extender Q can't increase resolution and I can't say I've noticed any change in the depth of focus, but there's definitely no light loss. In fact the views through the Q are about as transparent  as transparent gets. Stars are pin points and just as textbook perfect as they are without the Q attached. It's a wonderful tool for someone who loves observing the planet's as you can use longer focal length eyepieces to reach high powers making observing more relaxing, and shorter focal lengths without any degradation to the image, when the seeing conditions allow. The best thing about the Extender-Q though comes when its combined with a barlow and binoviewer for lunar observation. I don't think there are any words that can accurately describe the view that meets the eye when observing the Moon in this way.

Tak states that the extender decreases the focus dot size, hence the mention. Since you are looking at planets are you using a 90 degrees erecting prism, cannot tell from the photo? 
Thanks

[mikeDnight]

29 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

Tak states that the extender decreases the focus dot size, hence the mention. Since you are looking at planets are you using a 90 degrees erecting prism, cannot tell from the photo? 
Thanks

I'm using a Baader Zeiss BBHS prism diagonal, which gives a right way up but mirror reversed image when looking directly down into it from above. The trouble is, I often tilt the diagonal to the side which confuses me and everybody else to high heaven at times. By "focus spot", are you referring to the Airy disk or the colour spread as shown in a ray trace?  I imagine its the latter as the Airy disk size is determined by the aperture. I believe the extender-Q flattens the field and corrects chromatic and spherical aberration to an even higher level than they already are. With the FC100DZ there is no chromatic aberration and no visible spherical aberration at its native F8, so at F12. 8 with the Q I haven't noticed any improvement in an already perfect scope. I just enjoy the image scale the Q offers. I suppose if the Q tightens the already tightly controlled colour spread that's not detectable in the scope, then it can only add to the perfection. ☺

Edited September 30, 2020 by mikeDnight

[Neil H]

My little beastie i am starting to like this more than my orion optics VX8L 

Must not forget astro dog 

[JeremyS]

35 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

I'm using a Baader Zeiss BBHS prism diagonal, which gives a right way up but mirror reversed image when looking directly down into it from above. The trouble is, I often tilt the diagonal to the side which confuses me and everybody else to high heaven at times. By "focus spot", are you referring to the Airy disk or the colour spread as shown in a ray trace?  I imagine its the latter as the Airy disk size is determined by the aperture. I believe the extender-Q flattens the field and corrects chromatic and spherical aberration to an even higher level than they already are. With the FC100DZ there is no chromatic aberration and no visible spherical aberration at its native F8, so at F12. 8 with the Q I haven't noticed any improvement in an already perfect scope. I just enjoy the image scale the Q offers. I suppose if the Q tightens the already tightly controlled colour spread that's not detectable in the scope, then it can only add to the perfection. ☺

I just love those words Mike: “ I haven’t noticed any improvement in an already perfect scope”
 

That simply says it all! 👍

[Deadlake]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

I'm using a Baader Zeiss BBHS prism diagonal, which gives a right way up but mirror reversed image when looking directly down into it from above. The trouble is, I often tilt the diagonal to the side which confuses me and everybody else to high heaven at times. By "focus spot", are you referring to the Airy disk or the colour spread as shown in a ray trace?  I imagine its the latter as the Airy disk size is determined by the aperture. I believe the extender-Q flattens the field and corrects chromatic and spherical aberration to an even higher level than they already are. With the FC100DZ there is no chromatic aberration and no visible spherical aberration at its native F8, so at F12. 8 with the Q I haven't noticed any improvement in an already perfect scope. I just enjoy the image scale the Q offers. I suppose if the Q tightens the already tightly controlled colour spread that's not detectable in the scope, then it can only add to the perfection. ☺

This for example, usually Tak publish spot diagram for all of their respective add ons:

Spot Diagram for FC-100DZ with FC-35 0.66X Reducer

Would be interested to know how you get on with it. As far as the prism goes I was toying with the idea of a 90 degrees prism however after some research they tend to have diffraction spikes so will go with a similar one to you.

Edit, given the figures above why am I asking 😀.

 

Edited September 30, 2020 by Deadlake

[johninderby]

New Bresser 127L arrived for my white light setup. 🙂

The AZ100 mount doesn’t even notice the weight. Now just need some sun. 🙏🏼

Edited September 30, 2020 by johninderby

[wookie1965]

My LXD55 127 EMC with a Skywatcher dual speed focuser. On a EQ6 Tripod with adapter plate and EQ5 Mount. 

[rkelley8493]

22 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I've shown this refractor before, but not with an Extender-Q attached, turning it from F8 to F12.8.

 

3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I'm using a Baader Zeiss BBHS prism diagonal, which gives a right way up but mirror reversed image when looking directly down into it from above. The trouble is, I often tilt the diagonal to the side which confuses me and everybody else to high heaven at times. By "focus spot", are you referring to the Airy disk or the colour spread as shown in a ray trace?  I imagine its the latter as the Airy disk size is determined by the aperture. I believe the extender-Q flattens the field and corrects chromatic and spherical aberration to an even higher level than they already are. With the FC100DZ there is no chromatic aberration and no visible spherical aberration at its native F8, so at F12. 8 with the Q I haven't noticed any improvement in an already perfect scope. I just enjoy the image scale the Q offers. I suppose if the Q tightens the already tightly controlled colour spread that's not detectable in the scope, then it can only add to the perfection. ☺

 

Hey Mike 👋 How does the extender attach to the focuser? Does it thread on, or is it a standard 2" barrel? 

 

RK

[John]

My current "fab four" followed by a few from my past. The big achromats were generally used with a Chromacor CA / SA corrector to produce close to ED doublet performance:

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, rkelley8493 said:

Hey Mike 👋 How does the extender attach to the focuser? Does it thread on, or is it a standard 2" barrel? 

 

RK

With the DZ there is a 2" to 1.25" adapter that has the Takahashi 1.25" locking ring screwed to it. If you remove the Tak 1.25" locking ring and put it aside, the extender Q screws directly to the female thread of the 2" male adapter. With my 1.25" Baader prism I use a 2" nose piece, so I can directly attach it to the DZ's 2" back. The inside female filter thread of the Baader prism screws directly onto the Extender-Q as shown below. If a 1.25" diagonal is used, simply attach the Tak locking mechanism, although depending on your focuser travel, you may need to remove one of the extender-Q's extension tubes. The Q itself is just the part that screws into the Tak 2" adapter. On my DZ, all the extensions can remain in place, even when using a binoviewer.

Thise first image shows the extender-Q (top), the Tak 2" to 1.25" adapter and the 1.25" Baader Prism with 2" nose showing its inner female filter thread.

Next are the components broken down, with only the lower row needing to be used.

Below shows the Q screwed into the Tak adapter and the male Q thread screwed into the female filter thread of the diagonal, which attaches directly the the scopes 2" back just like any eyepiece etc.

And finally the Q along with its Tak adapter, capped and ready for use.

Hope this helps! ☺

 

Edited September 30, 2020 by mikeDnight