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Show us your Frac


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The mighty 50mm / 1000mm frac. 😁

A little Saturday morning project assembling the flat packed scope kit. Surprisingly actualy works and not that bad terrestrial images. Objective is glass not plastic. Has a “mirror diagonal” of sorts and the upper part of the tube slides to focus. Has alt adjustment.

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Edited by johninderby
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  • 1 month later...

A month or two ago whilst on holiday on a mediterranean island with reasonably dark skies I impulse bought a Celestron Travelscope 70. The tripod and diagonal were absolutely terrible of course and the EPs bog standard, but once I got back home and coupled it with decent kit, I'm genuinely surprised at how well it performs.
A few nights ago I spent 3 hours with almost perfect, clear skies (albeit bortle 8 with a pesky 2/3 moon) and the overall experience for such a tiny scope was remarkable, even more so given the quick setup.

The irony is that of everything in the pictures, the scope is the cheapest item :D 
 

image.thumb.png.0864a0c7eb45c3b5b50dc30cf761a538.pngimage.thumb.png.59376ace21d2a1025e3340f0355b7d51.png

 

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This beauty arrived in the post on a cloudless day! Who would have thought it. Star test on Vega was almost flawless. Nice even energy across the diffraction pattern both sides of focus and not a trace of false colour that I could see. Always been a dream of mine to own a decent sized refractor like this. Needless to say, I'm delighted!

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Edited by cfinn
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On 06/11/2020 at 10:16, badhex said:

A month or two ago whilst on holiday on a mediterranean island with reasonably dark skies I impulse bought a Celestron Travelscope 70. The tripod and diagonal were absolutely terrible of course and the EPs bog standard, but once I got back home and coupled it with decent kit, I'm genuinely surprised at how well it performs.
A few nights ago I spent 3 hours with almost perfect, clear skies (albeit bortle 8 with a pesky 2/3 moon) and the overall experience for such a tiny scope was remarkable, even more so given the quick setup.

The irony is that of everything in the pictures, the scope is the cheapest item :D 
 

image.thumb.png.0864a0c7eb45c3b5b50dc30cf761a538.pngimage.thumb.png.59376ace21d2a1025e3340f0355b7d51.png

 

Firstscope70 is a great ultra portable scope. I picked mine up used for £10. Tripod, diagonal, finder and eyepieces straight in the bin.  Now has a Celestron prism 1.25" diagonal I had lying around and a 19mm 70 degree Antares eyepiece with a Moon & Skyglow filter in it. I have it mounted on a Manfrotto monopod with tilthead.  When I take the dog for a walk in the park last thing at night I can sit on the bench and leisurely sweep the milkyway while fido has a sniff around. Great views at X21.

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32 minutes ago, nephilim said:

@Lockie put me into his thread so I felt it only right to add my little frac. Evoguide 50ED arrived today as part of my guide system. I think it's a little overmounted just on its own 😂

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It's a beast Steve! 😜 Seriously though, I'll be interested to hear how you get on with a spot of imaging with it....and dare I say observing :)

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37 minutes ago, Lockie said:

It's a beast Steve! 😜 Seriously though, I'll be interested to hear how you get on with a spot of imaging with it....and dare I say observing :)

I think it's worth a shot while I wait for the proper imaging frac, chuck a 3x Barlow in there & & with theb ZWO 120MM it'll be a good little lunar/ planetary imager setup 😁

Edited by nephilim
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On 07/11/2020 at 20:55, Franklin said:

Now has a Celestron prism 1.25" diagonal I had lying around and a 19mm 70 degree Antares eyepiece with a Moon & Skyglow filter in it.

I *may* have recently also purchased a Baader Morpheus 17.5mm (the one seen in the picture) so if I've worked it out right, the FOV will be about the same as your Antares. I have largely spent my entire observing time with this scope and EP combo - seems to be a perfect match! 

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And here it is, my first frac: apm 152 ed 😁

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I know, I know... this is surely too big for a first refractor, but I found such a good deal that I couldn't resist 😆. And the clarity, sharpness and constrast of the views are simply amazing compared to the mass produced mirrors I owned.

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48 minutes ago, PraiseM42 said:

And here it is, my first frac: apm 152 ed 😁

apm152.thumb.jpg.0fbef8ca4883227e1217662a7c411aed.jpg

I know, I know... this is surely too big for a first refractor, but I found such a good deal that I couldn't resist 😆. And the clarity, sharpness and constrast of the views are simply amazing compared to the mass produced mirrors I owned.

Nice, very nice 👍

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

Here's my garden cannon. Bought in 2014 and still not seen first light, shift work and clouds are the reason for this :(

NEQ5 + SyncScan,  Skywatcher Evostar 150 acromat, Baader hyperon Mk3 Zoom. Skywatcher 200P newtonian can be seen on the couch.

evostar 150.jpg

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Hello,

Yes, it is so frustrating not having the time to use it. Now I have some time and I am waiting for clear (Bortle  8 ) skies. Hoping to get a DSLR soon, so i will see just how good - or bad my set up is.

I had thought about getting something portable, but I have no dark skies for many miles and no vehicle to get there, im stuck in East London im afraid :D

Glen

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My 1960s Towa as it is now.

 

Scope updated with Craford and extension, (the scope and how I did the mod featured in Astronomy Now in 2010)

Sitting atop my Berlebach and recently acquired Vixen GP with drives mount (thanks John)

 

This is my grab and go ish set up, e.g. when I havent got time or cant be doing with setting up the HEQ5 and / or Meade 127edt  and goto. Just set up, point at polaris , switch on the drives and away I go 😀 cloud permittingspacer.png

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1 hour ago, philj said:

My 1960s Towa as it is now.

 

Scope updated with Craford and extension, (the scope and how I did the mod featured in Astronomy Now in 2010)

Sitting atop my Berlebach and recently acquired Vixen GP with drives mount (thanks John)

 

This is my grab and go ish set up, e.g. when I havent got time or cant be doing with setting up the HEQ5 and / or Meade 127edt  and goto. Just set up, point at polaris , switch on the drives and away I go 😀 cloud permittingspacer.png

That setup looks just so “right”! Ageless.

Brilliant!

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  • 3 weeks later...

As a lover of Dobsonians I've not had much cause to get involved with this thread. However, I've often enjoyed views through other people's refractors at my local club and after discovering the joys of looking at multiple stars over the summer, all I needed was an extra bit of temptation. It duly arrived yesterday in the form of an ad from @johninderby. 24 hours later and I've even had a cheeky first light with some nice lunar views and a good bit of detail on a receding Mars.

Not sure I'm tempted to lick it though...

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