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Kit reduction strategy - EPIC FAIL!


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Well, it was going very well, and I genuinely have shifted a huge amount of kit, leaving just my Tak and TAL (well actually two TALs but that's another story!)

I do miss my little Taks (60 & 76) though especially for taking abroad so when this little beauty came up, I couldn't resist. It's a Burgess Optical 91mm Triplet Apo. Very compact scope for the aperture, and even better, it splits in half so making it very convenient for air travel.

The objective is in near perfect nick, I understand it's a cemented triplet with fpl-53 and Lanthunum glass elements. The weak point is the focuser, but I acquired a nice Moonlite from the FLO clearance which should go on nicely. A FeatherTouch would be much lighter and in keeping but I cannot afford one currently. Perhaps a future upgrade, and I can put the Moonlite onto a 120ED when I eventually re-buy one.

First daylight views are promising. Straight out of a warm house, there was some CA present off axis, but on axis it was nice and sharp. After around 30 mins, it appears basically CA free (looking at thin branches and aerials against the background sky), so I'm hopeful the Astro views will be similarly positive.

Whilst it's windy today, it looks like there will be some clear patches coming through so I'll have a little chance for first light hopefully.

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I admire your ability to buy and sell stuff Stu, I don't think I've ever sold a scope (or camera lens) I've only bought one thing so far this year though, an Altair 60mm guide scope, so small it hardly counts :)

Dave

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Good way to fail Stu :icon_biggrin:

I read a lot about the Burgess triplets when they were launched and nearly bought one new which would be a rare event for me !.

I'll look out for your 1st light report on it.

 

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Nice !!

 Haven't seen one of these in a long time.

I've got it's brother, the less well known and somewhat rarer 90mm CaF2/La Doublet. Same Body mechanics as yours by the looks at it, especially at the dewshield end. Does yours have a split threaded tube(hidden under the rear ring?) of about 4"? Just wondering, as all other Fluorite versions I've seen had slightly different tube mechanics to mine.

Hope you get 1st light soon.

 

Cheers,

Andy

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Very very nice Stu! Watching the Sun with it should be a wonderful experience! You should update your 'minimalist' signature now! :)

Looking forward to reading about your first report, 

Cheers, Piero

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55 minutes ago, AndyH said:

Nice !!

 Haven't seen one of these in a long time.

I've got it's brother, the less well known and somewhat rarer 90mm CaF2/La Doublet. Same Body mechanics as yours by the looks at it, especially at the dewshield end. Does yours have a split threaded tube(hidden under the rear ring?) of about 4"? Just wondering, as all other Fluorite versions I've seen had slightly different tube mechanics to mine.

Hope you get 1st light soon.

 

Cheers,

Andy

Thanks Andy. Yes, the tube does split at around that point, I think it's 90mm or so but haven't measured it. That was one of the attractions for me as it makes it more portable.

Yours must be extremely rare, as I've not even seen another of these for sale. Not sure how many were made?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Chris,

Im glad you enjoyed the read, it was a lovely trip.

Yes, I have sold plenty of kit recently, I'm setting up business on my own so need funds currently. There are a number of scopes I would re-buy in future and the Tak FC-76DC split tube would certainly be one of them. Lovely sharp optics and highly portable. I reckon it's probably the best I've found so far, but not cheap.

I seem to be constantly on the lookout for fast, portable scopes which can give maximum aperture whilst still giving widefield views (>3.5 degrees) and sharp stars across the field. The 76 was pretty good. I briefly tried a Tak Sky 90 but it seems it's far more an imaging scope than visual, I did not get on with it so sold it quickly. The Burgess seems nice on the widefield side but I'm yet to be convinced on higher powers due to the flaring. Other than an AP Traveller, I guess there is the TMB 92mm f5.5 which gets good reviews, would be nice to try one of these at some point though I'm not sure where you can buy them from.

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Good luck Stu with your business, until last year we ran for (almost 10 years) an "award winning franchise" * that cost £££'s to run...Our own, non franchised biz much better, but can be a sink of time and money.

Chris

 

* the franchisor description, not ours!

 

 

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