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It's as skinny as a skinny thing!

Stu

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Stu

Stu

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As mentioned in my status update, my minimalist, scope reduction program has taken a further battering. I've always wanted to try one of these, so took the chance when one popped up on ABS.

Purchased from Ade Ashford (very nice chap), I picked it up from him today; a long round trip journey but well worth it. Ade reviewed this unit in AN recently I believe, repeating a similar review done with a dob version of the same scope (OD150L Deluxe) around 5 years ago.

http://www.nightskies.net/scopetest/scopes/OD150L/OD150L.html

This is an updated model with the latest primary cell and 1/10th wave optics (0.992 Strehl). It has a 25mm secondary giving a 17% central obstruction by diameter, 2.9% by area. The secondary really does look tiny!

I'm not totally sure how I will end up using this. A dob mount on my EQ Platform is a possibility, but it is very light and actually sits on the Vixen GP mount surprisingly well. Ade used it successfully on a Vixen Sphinx mount so I will see how it goes in this configuration. It will be used for planetary, lunar and double star observing from home, so the Goto will be handy for doubles and the tracking will help keep vibrations down. I may look at a motorized focuser at some point for similar reasons.

Potential upgrades include a curved vane secondary, plus also some of Shane's other mods which he did to his similar scope some years ago such as flocking and reducing the rather large primary clips in size.

Looking forward to seeing what this scope can do, should be fun.

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John

John

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They are interesting scopes :icon_biggrin:

I've seen his previous one I think - I used to see Ade reasonably regularly when he lived near to me.

I think Shane uses his on an Eq platform ?

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Stu

Stu

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Just now, John said:

They are interesting scopes :icon_biggrin:

I've seen that one I think - I used to see Ade reasonably regularly when he lived near to me.

I think Shane uses his on an Eq platform ?

That's right John, I think Shane finds his works quite well on an EQ platform so I may go down that route.

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Stu

Stu

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4 minutes ago, cotterless45 said:

That's just an epiphany  of a classic scope. The contrast should be be fantastic. It's good to see you are building up the minimalist scopes , with good classic stuff.

clearest skies !

Nick.

Cheers Nick, I think I'll enjoy it, and it was pretty cheap considering!

Now I just need a similar spec 8" f8!!! ? Always wanted to try one of them too but not just at the moment.

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Stu

Stu

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19 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

Nice, i will be keen to hear how you get on with it, i am down to 3 scopes now and still think its time to cull down to just one

You won't do it Jules ???

I have one more TAL to shift once I've sorted it then I'm down to four, not quite the two I intended but close ?. All of them very useable though so that's great.

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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26 minutes ago, Stu said:

You won't do it Jules ???

I have one more TAL to shift once I've sorted it then I'm down to four, not quite the two I intended but close ?. All of them very useable though so that's great.

I might just do it Stu, not used a scope in months

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Chris

Chris

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I wondered who had bagged that beauty :) Ade is a real nice guy, is he still driving the mini campervan mystery machine thing? 

I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on Stu, it should be a right planet killer, looks great too!

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Stu

Stu

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13 hours ago, Chris Lock said:

I wondered who had bagged that beauty :) Ade is a real nice guy, is he still driving the mini campervan mystery machine thing? 

I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on Stu, it should be a right planet killer, looks great too!

Thanks Chris, he is indeed ?

I didn't see any evidence of a mini camper van mystery machine thing, but perhaps it was tucked away somewhere?

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Stu

Stu

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12 hours ago, Piero said:

Very nice Stu! :) Looking forward to reading about your impression on Jupiter and Saturn!

 

2 hours ago, jetstream said:

Great scope Stu!

Is the Tak ready to take on the "APO killer"?  :grin:

I am very eagerly waiting for the lunar reports.....

Should be good I hope. Perhaps it needs the curved vane secondary support to get rid of the spikes for ultimate performance, but the contrast should still be lovely. 6" is a nice aperture to give good detail but still cut through poor seeing.

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Stu

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9 hours ago, Moonshane said:

Great stuff mate. Welcome to the tall and skinny club!  :icon_biggrin:  

I think you'll love it.

Cheers Shane, I think I will too. It's amazingly light and also very rigid due to the narrow tube.

Did you fit a curved vane secondary support in yours in the end or not?

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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I did mate but took it out in the end and put the old one back. Although the curved vanes was better aesthetically on Jupiter I found doubles were more compact with the straight vanes. Spikes on doubles are only an issue with a handful of doubles so personally I prefer  the standard vanes for mine at least.

Not used mine for at bit. You post has inspired me to crack it open ASAP!

 

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Stu

Stu

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26 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

I did mate but took it out in the end and put the old one back. Although the curved vanes was better aesthetically on Jupiter I found doubles were more compact with the straight vanes. Spikes on doubles are only an issue with a handful of doubles so personally I prefer  the standard vanes for mine at least.

Not used mine for at bit. You post has inspired me to crack it open ASAP!

 

Interesting. Did you buy one or make your own?

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