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Takahashi FS-60 Review


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A couple of years ago I had another trip to the Sossusvlei Desert Lodge in Namibia in the diary, this time actually acting as the resident astronomer for a few weeks, sharing the night sky with the guests of the lodge using the on-site 12" LX200.  While a really fun scope to use, especially on deep sky, the 3 metre focal length is rather prohibitive to achieving wide fields of view, something the Milky Way just screams out for at that location.  So I decided to purchase the Takahashi FS-60 to get those wide fields (plus it fit within the very limited luggage allowance that a 6 seat aircraft dictates.  Now having travelled with me to Namibia, Mozambique, Slovenia, Spain and many locations across the UK, I have collected my thoughts into a review which can be found on the link below.  Hope you find it informative.

 

http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2016/04/03/takahashi-fs-60-review/

 

Tak60-in-Namibia.jpg

The FS-60 next to the 12" LX200 in the observatory in Namibia.

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Matthew you have produced another excellent, informative and comprehensive review. Many of us have looked at the best small scope to take on holiday or view eclipses and it was good to read your experience with this small Tak. I have wondered whether to take good astro binoculars or a small scope abroad and I came to same conclusion as yourself. In my case I recently bought a 72mm frac.

Thanks again Matthew for this brilliant review.

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Fabulous and highly detailed review as always Matthew, I do enjoy the fact that you only review after having had substantial experience with each piece of kit under a variety of conditions.

I share your love of this little scope, along with its 76mm objective upgrade. I no longer have mine, but would certainly re-purchase in future, particularly for a foreign trip to dark skies. It is amazing what you can see under the right conditions with such a small aperture.

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Great review Matthew,

I've had a couple of these little scopes and they really are very good, however I do feel there are perhaps cheaper and dare I say (quietly....) better alternatives on todays market.

Still a great little scope and I hope it serves you well for many more years.

 

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48 minutes ago, Grotemobile said:

Very good right up. That scope has been

around the world now. What is your opinion

on the 12 " LX 200 Matthew.

Steve.

I quite like the LX200.  The optical quality is pretty good and the Go-To is a lot of fun to use, as well as being very accurate, from both a locating and tracking perspective, especially considering the 3 metre focal length on the 12" model.  However, there in lie the one issue with it.  With such a long focal length, some of the larger DSOs will prove problematic and that is what got me thinking about a small, wide-field scope in the first place.  I am actually heading back there again for a week later this year (as a guest again rather than the resident astronomer) which will give me even more time to evaluate the scope.  Cannot wait!

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3 minutes ago, DirkSteele said:

I quite like the LX200.  The optical quality is pretty good and the Go-To is a lot of fun to use, as well as being very accurate, from both a locating and tracking perspective, especially considering the 3 metre focal length on the 12" model.  However, there in lie the one issue with it.  With such a long focal length, some of the larger DSOs will prove problematic and that is what got me thinking about a small, wide-field scope in the first place.  I am actually heading back there again for a week later this year (as a guest again rather than the resident astronomer) which will give me even more time to evaluate the scope.  Cannot wait!

That begs the question, how easy would it be to mount the FS-60 on the LX200? Best of both worlds then, Goto plus widefield.

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2 minutes ago, Stu said:

That begs the question, how easy would it be to mount the FS-60 on the LX200? Best of both worlds then, Goto plus widefield.

Now there is a thought....  I am going to ponder that question.

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First class review. I also share your feelings about large SCTs for visual. Great when the FL isn't too long, but it often is. A GoTo fork SCT carrying a small widefield refractor is the ultimate outreach weapon and very nice for seasoned observers as well. I heartily regret de-forking my early LX200 in a failed attempt to use it effectively for DS imaging.

The FS 60 really does excel on contrasts, visually, and this must compensate for the small aperture. Your review makes passing mention of the little Tak for imaging and here I'd sound a note of caution. Having tried one I don't think it's as good as it might be. Control of blue stars is photograhically quite poor, with considerable bloat. It would probably do well in narrowband but anyone using it to travel to a dark site would probably want to use it for broadband. Photographically it can be beaten for its size in my view, but not visually by anything I've ever tried.

Olly

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Great review. Its a little larger than 60mm, but I've just put together a lightweight travel setup based on the Borg 77 on a Star Adventurer mount (I intend to do some EAA with it too). So far I'm finding it is remarkable what a high quality ED can achieve visually and the ease of taking it everywhere means it is going to see a lot of opportunistic use in dark skies. Having seen your backpack review I'm wondering if I can fit all my clobber in a Think Tank as it is currently housed in a re-purposed Stellarvue case that is a few centimetres too long... perhaps dating from the good old days when the airlines weren't so picky.

Martin

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8 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

First class review. I also share your feelings about large SCTs for visual. Great when the FL isn't too long, but it often is. A GoTo fork SCT carrying a small widefield refractor is the ultimate outreach weapon and very nice for seasoned observers as well. I heartily regret de-forking my early LX200 in a failed attempt to use it effectively for DS imaging.

The FS 60 really does excel on contrasts, visually, and this must compensate for the small aperture. Your review makes passing mention of the little Tak for imaging and here I'd sound a note of caution. Having tried one I don't think it's as good as it might be. Control of blue stars is photograhically quite poor, with considerable bloat. It would probably do well in narrowband but anyone using it to travel to a dark site would probably want to use it for broadband. Photographically it can be beaten for its size in my view, but not visually by anything I've ever tried.

Olly

Thanks Olly.  Coming from such an experienced reviewer such as yourself, that means a lot.

I think I will add an addendum to the review in the conclusion mentioning that the scope has only been evaluated from a visual perspective and well respected imagers have highlighted there is a bloat problem on blue stars and encourage those considering the scope for imaging to do further research.

 

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7 hours ago, Martin Meredith said:

Great review. Its a little larger than 60mm, but I've just put together a lightweight travel setup based on the Borg 77 on a Star Adventurer mount (I intend to do some EAA with it too). So far I'm finding it is remarkable what a high quality ED can achieve visually and the ease of taking it everywhere means it is going to see a lot of opportunistic use in dark skies. Having seen your backpack review I'm wondering if I can fit all my clobber in a Think Tank as it is currently housed in a re-purposed Stellarvue case that is a few centimetres too long... perhaps dating from the good old days when the airlines weren't so picky.

Martin

The Think Tank bags are excellent for transporting small scopes around.  The Airport Essentials backpack review highlights just how much you can squeeze into one and I imagine it would be a great match for your Borg, which sounds like a fantastic travel set-up by the way.  That bag fits within the most stingy of hand luggage limits and has been no problem on helicopters and small prop-planes.

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