Show us your Frac

[A McEwan]

6 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

That looks lovely. Out of interest. How does  the SW F10 90mm frac. Compare ?

More resolution. Lower quality figure objective ?

 My 70mm F12.8 SW. Doesnt show identical patterns either side of focus. Some under or over correction going on. But it doesnt seem to affect performance.

Well I haven't used the SW90mm for night time viewing - I have that just as a platform for my Quark or Herschel Wedge for solar. So... can't answer you really, but... give me a few nights and I'll try and give it a go! I'm heading out this evening with the Tak because .... well.... it's a Tak!  

Edited January 3, 2021 by A McEwan

[neil phillips]

2 hours ago, A McEwan said:

Well I haven't used the SW90mm for night time viewing - I have that just as a platform for my Quark or Herschel Wedge for solar. So... can't answer you really, but... give me a few nights and I'll try and give it a go! I'm heading out this evening with the Tak because .... well.... it's a Tak!  

Just interested in the quality comparison. So cheers for any info gained. Wouldnt mind getting a 90mm F10 SW

Edited January 3, 2021 by neil phillips

[A McEwan]

18 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

Just interested in the quality comparison. So cheers for any info gained. Wouldnt mind getting a 90mm F10 SW

FWIW I've had several, which I tidied up and sold on to beginners, and they all performed really well - better than I expected.   

[Joe G]

Hi All

just had to show off my new to me DZ. Probably the best 4” doublet lens I’ve ever looked through & a happy new year to everyone on SGL 

[Sunshine]

8 minutes ago, Joe G said:

Hi All

just had to show off my new to me DZ. Probably the best 4” doublet lens I’ve ever looked through & a happy new year to everyone on SGL 

Nice setup! my curiosity is peaked, is that a dual equatorial/alt az mount?

[Joe G]

7Hi Sunshine 

Its just a standard CG4 mount which can be configured to be used as an alt/az but with a niggles. I generally use the attached “ agricultural modified” Voyager mount, which is more than adequate on quiet nights

[Nakedgun]

16 hours ago, Joe G said:

7Hi Sunshine 

Its just a standard CG4 mount which can be configured to be used as an alt/az but with a niggles. I generally use the attached “ agricultural modified” Voyager mount, which is more than adequate on quiet nights

 

"niggles"? Could you translate that from english into english, please? Thank you.

 

[Tiny Clanger]

2 minutes ago, Nakedgun said:

 

"niggles"? Could you translate that from english into english, please? Thank you.

 

That's English.

You need the translation to american.

[RT65CB-SWL]

My definition of "niggles" is... slightly annoying behaviour.

Isn't the 'English' language wonderful! - It has been said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn for non-English speakers.

Edited January 4, 2021 by Philip R

[F15Rules]

18 hours ago, Joe G said:

Its just a standard CG4 mount which can be configured to be used as an alt/az

I never knew that, Joe!

I do like mounts that are dual purposed, ie can be used in both Altaz and Equatorial modes..I think in this day and age all proper EQ mounts should be convertible to Altaz..it's not engineering 🚀 science!😂👍

Enjoy your new Tak, and Happy New Year to you!

Dave

[paulastro]

Totally agree Dave.

My elderly Vixen SP is the business in this respect.

  

[Tyson M]

My favorite scope to date- 9" Istar f7.7!

It is massive but the views are worth it.

[John]

11 minutes ago, Tyson M said:

My favorite scope to date- 9" Istar f7.7!

It is massive but the views are worth it.

Amazing looking scope !

Is that the 228mm achromat objective ?

The DM6 mount by the look of it - they are strong !

 

 

[Tyson M]

Yes and yes.  The DM6 is at its limit but surprisingly still performs well .  I am getting an AZ maxload from APM coming to me soon though.

[dan_adi]

7 hours ago, Tyson M said:

Yes and yes.  The DM6 is at its limit but surprisingly still performs well .  I am getting an AZ maxload from APM coming to me soon though.

Very impressive refractor! How are the views? I received my 8 inch frac a few weeks ago, but in my area winters are mostly cloudy, and I can't test it :(, the suspense is killing me :)) hope spring  comes early

Edited January 8, 2021 by dan_adi

[dweller25]

On 03/01/2021 at 21:49, Joe G said:

Hi All

just had to show off my new to me DZ. Probably the best 4” doublet lens I’ve ever looked through & a happy new year to everyone on SGL 

Nice scope Joe

Edited January 8, 2021 by dweller25

[Deadlake]

8 hours ago, Tyson M said:

Yes and yes.  The DM6 is at its limit but surprisingly still performs well .  I am getting an AZ maxload from APM coming to me soon though.

Why the APM max load over say the AZ-100? Do you need a hoist to mount the scope?

[Joe G]

31 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Nice scope Joe

 

On 04/01/2021 at 16:31, F15Rules said:

 

Enjoy your new Tak, and Happy New Year to you!

Dave

Thanks Dave & David for that & yes I’m enjoying it a lot during the last few days & nights of clear skies

Joe

[F15Rules]

19 minutes ago, Joe G said:

 

Thanks Dave & David for that & yes I’m enjoying it a lot during the last few days & nights of clear skies

Joe

That's good to hear Joe😊.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on how the views in your new Tak compare with the Vixen ED103s you used to own? I've never done a direct comparison with a Tak 4" and a Vixen 4".

Dave

[Joe G]

Hi Dave

I  hope you’re not trying to put me on the spot now😁I haven’t had the scope long enough yet to truly test it out. However, there are two targets which I use to check optics with, that are available at the moment. If you look at the original photo, there is a building reflecting in the sun in the middle distance approximately 10 miles away. This building is the Almac Pharmaceutical main factory & is approximately facing east of me. The northeastern facade in the shadow has the company signage letters “ ALMAC “ approximately 2metres high. I’ve only been able to resolve the sign clearly with 2 scopes, both  4” fluorite refractors

The other favourite target is the Trapezium in Orion. I’ve been viewing it every clear night these last few weeks & could clearly resolve Star E & almost certain I saw F a few times. The Vixen was a great scope but I hope this rather more expensive Tak will prove it’s worth later this year on targets such as Jupiter & Saturn etc

Joe

 

[John]

When I've compared my Vixen ED102SS (which was the predecessor to the ED103S I think and F/6.5 rather than F/7.7) to my Tak FC100-DL the main differences that I've noted are:

- The star test of the Vixen shows a slightly brighter and thicker 1st diffraction ring around mag 3 and brighter stars than the Tak does. One practical upshot of this is that the Tak handles very close, uneven brightness double stars a little more easily. 

- The Vixen takes quite a bit longer to cool down fully than the Tak does.

- The Tak images remain sharp at higher magnifications than with the Vixen. The Vixen generally seems to be maxed out at around 225x whereas the Tak stays sharp up to 280x and even 300x on a good night.

I would be interested to see how the F/7.7 ED103S compares with the F/8 Tak FC100-DZ

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by John

[F15Rules]

Interesting Joe, thanks for your thoughts.

A good test for your new Tak if you get steady seeing would be Sirius B. John's recent thread "Time to get serious about Sirius" in the Observing section is a good read👍 .

I am sure that your Tak will hold it's resale value better than the ED103s - which to me just makes a used ED103s superb used value at around half of an equivalent Tak 100mm.

Look forward to your further thoughts Joe as you use your lovely new scope more.

Dave

[Joe G]

47 minutes ago, John said:

16 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

 

A good test for your new Tak if you get steady seeing would be Sirius B. John's recent thread "Time to get serious about Sirius" in the Observing section is a good read👍 .

 

16 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

 

I would be interested to see how the F/7.7 ED103S compares with the F/8 Tak FC100-DZ

 

Hi Dave & John

I had read that very interesting report as splitting stars are favourite targets for me. However, I suffer from floaters & a 5mm eyepiece is usually the lowest I go most nights with 4” scopes . With this new set up, I’m hoping to try binoviewing this year but not sure if splitting stars is one of the benefits or not 

Joe

 

[Tyson M]

23 hours ago, dan_adi said:

Very impressive refractor! How are the views? I received my 8 inch frac a few weeks ago, but in my area winters are mostly cloudy, and I can't test it :(, the suspense is killing me :)) hope spring  comes early

The views are insane.  Open clusters are magical, double stars are amazing as well.  My 9" reminds me of when I had a 12" dob. 

More of a hassle to set up but def has that refractor magic.

[Tyson M]

22 hours ago, Deadlake said:

Why the APM max load over say the AZ-100? Do you need a hoist to mount the scope?

Maxload has a higher payload.  Have you seen what some people are loaded it up with? 180 triplet, 460mm DK or CC.

And no, I don't absolutely need a engine hoist, I have loaded it in that previous pic without the hoist with legs retracted and both 12" x 2 extension columns.

But I bought one that lives at my dark site to help and I love it. Just got it assembled tonight and used it.  Take down was a breeze.