SHOW US YOUR MAK.......

[Alfian]

9 hours ago, chiltonstar said:

It will be interesting to see how you get on with the mount and scope with time - vibration may perhaps be an issue?

 

I managed some time out with the Mak 127 last night. Early evening skies were big blue clear so it looked promising although the wind which has howled here (1000 feet up) for the last few days  had not abated much.  With the scope nicely cooled and with skies not fully dark the moon was the obvious target and views were not disappointing with the southern highlands looking particularly good with magnification with the 12.5 at 120x. At this magnification there was sporadic high frequency vibration that  undoubtedly tallied with strong gusts of wind and settled in a just a couple of seconds,  but it was clear there was no point pushing magnification any further.

Switching attention to Jupiter , the equatorial cloud belts were prominent with maybe just a hint of variation and the GRS though just a "faint suggestion" was clearly there, so for a shake down outing I was pretty pleased. One thing that I was pleased with was the level of contrast.  I have seen mentioned  that this is  significantly affected by the central obstruction but given that skies were a good way from fully dark, contrast I thought was surprisingly good.

Getting back to the vibration, time will tell whether this is going to be an issue with this mount. I confess last night I was a bit lazy and didn't put the bolt on spreader tray on with a bit of weight on it which would probably help matters. If it comes to it I can easily use the Mak on the AZ4 and leave my Tal setup for use with my TS 80mm/f7.5  refractor.

An inevitable thought was to compare early impressions of the 127 Mak with the ED100 and that properly needs to be done side by side. However though by no means disappointed in any way with the Mak,  the ED100 views of the moon are quite something in a way thats hard to define, lets say "involving". In my motorcycling days they used to call it the "grin factor"! The Mak though packs a big punch in a very portable package and that is worth having. The ED100 and Mak are different beasts anyway so there is no reason why they cannot co-exist doing their own particular things!

[nightfisher]

Ian, a very fair first light report, i think with a few more sessions you will discover the pleasure of a fair size Mak, very contrasty views and not just planets an moon, some DSO respond well to the Mak, i guess it highlights how different scopes have different qualities 

[nightfisher]

If i get a chance at weekend i will post my new set up, though the OTA did belong to me a few years back, we have been "re united"

nothing special a skymax 127 on the star discovery mount

[RT65CB-SWL]

Here is my 'modded' Meade ETX105 OTA - with 1.25" visual back attached...

 

...and after a 're-mod' to the backplate - without 1.25" visual back.

Edited July 9, 2017 by Philip R

[nightfisher]

I have ordered a 9x50 RACI finder for my Skymax 127, it was pointed out that it would not be in the ideal position if i used the standard finder shoe as it would be in the way of the diagonal/eyepiece, so i mounted a second finder shoe on the tube, i left the original in place, just in case i want to add some thing else to the scope like a red dot finder, just waiting for the 9x50 to arrive

[pluton]

Hello,

 I have a 127 Mak SW, it is a very good lunar and planetary scope.

I am not compare with a ED100, but my first thought is that there is too much difference price between this two telescopes..if the image quality is " similar" ....

Regards,

Paul

[nightfisher]

Just been outside having a play with the Star discovery mount, kinda getting to know it, not to difficult as it happens, managed to enter date and coordinates first time, so this is now my main set up, should do okay for a bit of moon gazing and Moon imaging, the pic of the church is an afocal holding camera to 32mm ep, church is about 1.2 mile away, you will notice how i mounted the 9x50 to get it out of the way of the main eyepiece, just need to make a dew shield for it and all done

[Stu]

That Finder looks to be in a really comfortable position Jules, nicely done  

[nightfisher]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

That Finder looks to be in a really comfortable position Jules, nicely done  

It looks a bit odd sat all the way down there but yes very comfy to use, the big finder is a little extravagant but worth doing for main scope

[Stu]

11 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

the big finder is a little extravagant

Not at all, I've got an 80mm on my FC100  

[Chris]

Great looking setup, Jules. I'll have to have a closer look at the Star discovery mount, do you know if it remembers date and time info? i.e. internal clock? 

[nightfisher]

Chris, no i dont think it remembers, though i seem to remember if you set it to park it might do but dont quote me on that

[Paz]

Here's my Mak in action with a makeshift solar finder...

 

 

[Alien 13]

Great scopes folks, I think of all the "show me threads" the MAK one is the best, some beauties out there..

Alan 

[happy-kat]

My mak is small at 70mm. Celestron C70 with custom rear plate. Has a small dove bar with standard camera thread so versatile to mount.

[nightfisher]

Last job done on the 127 skymax, she is all ready for action and at last the skies are getting darker a bit sooner.

Here is my home made foam dew shield, this is craft foam bought from the Range and its about 2mm thick, this is a laminate of 2 sheets, bonded together with UHU POR (safe on foam)

[Merlin]

Camping mat is great material for dew shades, especially as there's no weight penalty. Do we take it that you'll be lining your's with some absorbent matt-black material?

[nightfisher]

2 hours ago, Merlin said:

Camping mat is great material for dew shades, especially as there's no weight penalty. Do we take it that you'll be lining your's with some absorbent matt-black material?

I think it might need a flock lining, I have a roll some where

[Stub Mandrel]

Is this the world's cutest Mak?

Centon 500mm + Vivitar 'telescope lens adaptor' from the 1980s (not a teleconverter, this is a correcting roof prism and fixed eyepiece of good quality) with a 3D printed tripod bracket. 76mm x 500mm  F8, ep FL unknown. About the size of a chubby coke can.

The depth of field is tiny and focus is very critical, which probably explains why few people got good results with these as a terrestrial lens.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

I tried out the Micro Mak on the moon and distant leaves yesterday. Sharp enough when you get it in focus (tricky) but poor contrast. No signs of CA, as expected.

[Stub Mandrel]

No ... that didn't sate my 'new scope' lust ... I've accidentally acquired a new C90 :-)

[Stub Mandrel]

On 13/03/2017 at 18:26, Alien 13 said:

I think my 90mm is by far the best scope I have ever owned, its compact easy to mount even on lightweight EQs or camera tripods, a DSLR fits without any faffing about and it does produce great Lunar images.

Alan

... and it's all your fault!

[Alien 13]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

... and it's all your fault!

I love mine 

Alan

[RT65CB-SWL]

On 30/07/2017 at 14:28, nightfisher said:

Last job done on the 127 skymax, she is all ready for action and at last the skies are getting darker a bit sooner.

Here is my home made foam dew shield, this is craft foam bought from the Range and its about 2mm thick, this is a laminate of 2 sheets, bonded together with UHU POR (safe on foam)

Hi Jules,

Your skies must be bad... You have a green thing growing inside your Mak... (see first photo). 

[nightfisher]

I think once i have used the 127 in anger a few times, i might sell the little 102 Mak and put the funds toward a small achro for a bit of widefield viewing