Show us your Frac

[Chris]

45 minutes ago, Roy Challen said:

The Tal is a lovely frac!

Definitely, Roy  I just needed some way of setting up the pun hehe.

[John]

21 minutes ago, Chris Lock said:

Definitely, Roy  I just needed some way of setting up the pun hehe.

Thats why everyone is "russian" to get one !

I'll get me coat .....

[Timebandit]

Hello. I thought I would show you my refractor set up. A skywatcher equinox 120 Ed apo on a AZ4 stainless steel leg mount. And not forgetting the William Optics dielectric. I have found this set up a great performer. The equinox 120 Ed apo has given me the sharpest, crispiest views I have had from any scope to date(refractor style). The AZ4 gives me real confidence, so solid and secure. And so easy to use and set up. I really do like this combination,  top performer IMO

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you like my refractor set up as much as I do . Thanks

[John]

Thats a great setup

I used to use my ED120 Pro on my AZ-4 from time to time but I felt that it was not quite stable enough at high power for my liking. You obviously find yours good though.

 

[Dave In Vermont]

Meade AR-5 achromatic 127mm F/9.3 1182mm F.L.

 

 

 

 

 

I just had a struggle in attaching - by means of a 2-pound rubber-mallet - a new visual back and 10:1 Crayford dual-focuser. Based on my report, the manufacturer (Antares) is having to re-design this item. I got it on, but a non-mechanic would easily have smashed their telescope in the process! It was a bear!

Dave

[xtreemchaos]

very nice 127 Dave, ive been thinking of upgrading my focuser on my AR127l, to a 1in10, yours looks very good, well done for doing the job right mate.thanks  charl.

[gp100man]

My Five inch  F/10  D & G Refractor telescope I used to have for several years.  I sold it, now I'm going to get a new D & G 8 inch F/15 next year.  Also, some of my brass telescopes.  The Bausch and Lomb HARBORMASTER brass  76mm  in this picture is not mine, however I have one just like it , but it is packed away in a box up in the attic.  I have got to get it out and start using it again soon.  The two main Astronomy books that I have used all my life.

[Chris]

"now I'm going to get a new D & G 8 inch F/15 next year"

Wow! now that's a frac! May i ask how are you going to mount it? it's going to be huge!

[DRT]

I love this picture...

The brass finder on top looks to be about the same size as a SW100ED

 

[DRT]

8 hours ago, Chris Lock said:

It's difficult to compete with all these lovely fracs, I might as well throw in the Tal  

At the risk of stirring up the wrath of a thousand Talites, I must confess that I find these scopes rather ugly   (sorry, Chris)

I have never looked through one and I am sure that is where they win you over, but they do seem to look like something you would see piled high and selling cheap by the checkout at Aldi.

I'm out of here...

 

[nightfisher]

4 hours ago, DRT said:

At the risk of stirring up the wrath of a thousand Talites, I must confess that I find these scopes rather ugly   (sorry, Chris)

I have never looked through one and I am sure that is where they win you over, but they do seem to look like something you would see piled high and selling cheap by the checkout at Aldi.

I'm out of here...

 

GRRR......

[iPeace]

4 hours ago, DRT said:

(...) they do seem to look like something you would see piled high and selling cheap by the checkout at Aldi

If only they were...

[iPeace]

Don't own one, may never even see one in person, but they do appeal to me. I suppose it's cold war nostalgia combined with appreciation for Russian (Soviet) function-over-form, if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it mentality. To each his own, of course... They look like proper kit to me.

[spaceboy]

Every time I see one I want one but have no idea why ? I think they just strike me as being how a telescope should look and rely on quality optics and not a fancy paint job to sell it. 

 

[Stu]

6 hours ago, DRT said:

At the risk of stirring up the wrath of a thousand Talites, I must confess that I find these scopes rather ugly   (sorry, Chris)

I have never looked through one and I am sure that is where they win you over, but they do seem to look like something you would see piled high and selling cheap by the checkout at Aldi.

I'm out of here...

 

Having briefly had a couple, they do have a kind of rugged beauty to them Derek, all very solid. The thing that confuses me is the plastic dew shield which seems to fall off very easily and doesn't seem to match the rest of the build. Nice and lightweight though I guess.

[Chris]

8 hours ago, DRT said:

At the risk of stirring up the wrath of a thousand Talites, I must confess that I find these scopes rather ugly   (sorry, Chris)

I have never looked through one and I am sure that is where they win you over, but they do seem to look like something you would see piled high and selling cheap by the checkout at Aldi.

I'm out of here...

 

Well don't hold back Derek, tell us what you really think lol

They look proper to me, deep white gleaming finish and built like a tank. Honestly, if you could feel the build quality of this thing, this and the cockroaches will be the only thing left standing in an apocalypse    

[DRT]

9 minutes ago, Chris Lock said:

this and the cockroaches will be the only thing left standing in an apocalypse    

Indeed they will, but I suspect that plastic dew shield and peel-off sticker will melt in the first flash

 

[xtreemchaos]

11 hours ago, DRT said:

At the risk of stirring up the wrath of a thousand Talites, I must confess that I find these scopes rather ugly  

 hi Derek, my grandmother used to say "putty and paint make many man faint"  clear skys mate charl.

[Timebandit]

17 hours ago, John said:

Thats a great setup

I used to use my ED120 Pro on my AZ-4 from time to time but I felt that it was not quite stable enough at high power for my liking. You obviously find yours good though.

 

 

Hi . I managed to get the pentax 7xw into the 120apo the other night for a bit of late night viewing (the clouds where kind enough to give me 30min views   ). I managed to get Saturn in view between the neighbouring trees and the views were great. Even though I had what I call the atmosphere shudder in force at times, between those moments when the still moments arrive the planet just opened itself up to me. The view of Saturn through the 120apo and the 7xw was the best I have ever seen the planet , just sharp and crisp. It inspired me so much you may have noticed i now have put a little picture of Saturn in my profile. It really does make this hobby worth while when you get a combination set up that gives you crisp views like you see in books(not to the same size scale though).  It is amazing sometime what the back yard hobbyists can achieve nowerdays with there set ups in their gardens , without relying on NASA? 

[Fozzie]

12 hours ago, DRT said:

At the risk of stirring up the wrath of a thousand Talites, I must confess that I find these scopes rather ugly   (sorry, Chris)

I have never looked through one and I am sure that is where they win you over, but they do seem to look like something you would see piled high and selling cheap by the checkout at Aldi.

I'm out of here...

 

Great fires of London! That's a perilous thing to throw out there.. I once marginally suggested that the 4" starwave was better than that Russian magnifying glass thingy only to realise quite quickly I needed to get the heck out of dodge before the lynching..

I've spoken to a few Talites, including Jules (who I consider to be the grandmaster of the Tal's member club) and the reverence these Tals are spoken off is very great indeed.  Shame they stopped making them.. I've nearly punched the button on the second hand market a number of times just to say I've got one..

Mind you I thought about cutting one down for BV purposes and I believe that get you a life time ban from the lodge so best I don't pick one up!

[DRT]

2 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

Great fires of London! That's a perilous thing to throw out there.. I once marginally suggested that the 4" starwave was better than that Russian magnifying glass thingy only to realise quite quickly I needed to get the heck out of dodge before the lynching..

I've spoken to a few Talites, including Jules (who I consider to be the grandmaster of the Tal's member club) and the reverence these Tals are spoken off is very great indeed.  Shame they stopped making them.. I've nearly punched the button on the second hand market a number of times just to say I've got one..

Mind you I thought about cutting one down for BV purposes and I believe that get you a life time ban from the lodge so best I don't pick one up!

Now you've got me worried! I can picture Jules hurtling down the M1 on a pony dressed as a Kossak with his hair on fire heading for my house

Must rush down to Aldi to buy a black plastic plant pot and a big blue sticker so that I can disguise my Altair as a Tal

 

[Stub Mandrel]

25 minutes ago, DRT said:

Now you've got me worried! I can picture Jules hurtling down the M1 on a pony dressed as a Kossak with his hair on fire heading for my house

Must rush down to Aldi to buy a black plastic plant pot and a big blue sticker so that I can disguise my Altair as a Tal

 

Lol! I was just about to suggest buying a drainpipe and painting it white, then I read your post!

[iPeace]

42 minutes ago, DRT said:

Now you've got me worried! I can picture Jules hurtling down the M1 on a pony dressed as a Kossak with his hair on fire heading for my house

Must rush down to Aldi to buy a black plastic plant pot and a big blue sticker so that I can disguise my Altair as a Tal

 

If the pony is indeed dressed as a Kossak, I guarantee you have plenty of time.

[F15Rules]

13 hours ago, DRT said:

At the risk of stirring up the wrath of a thousand Talites, I must confess that I find these scopes rather ugly   (sorry, Chris)

I have never looked through one and I am sure that is where they win you over, but they do seem to look like something you would see piled high and selling cheap by the checkout at Aldi.

I'm out of here...

 

It's called "eclectic industrial chic" actually Derek (sniff sniff) :-)

Dave

[F15Rules]

On 12/07/2016 at 19:13, John said:

Lovely frac(s) kirkster 

Those flextube dobs still remind me of R2D2 when they are in the "down" configuration

I've not posted a pic of my LZOS 130 F/9.2 in this thread yet so yer tiz with the ED120 for scale:

 

 

Maybe it's line of sight effect John, but doesn't the ED120 seem to be wilting a little? Bowing in the presence of greatness, perhaps? :-)