Which Takahashi refractor?

[paulastro]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Congratulations on your new baby Kerry. You moved fast on this one! The ad was there then it wasnt; truly a case of survival of the quickest I feel! 

Logically it is a great move. Earlier this evening my friend paulastro pointed out some soberring facts that are worth considering. He said you won't find a sharper scope anywhere that will also deliver such high contrast, high definition, colour free views, and that will on the vast majority of nights resolve to the limit of the atmosphere, and be so easily manageable. It will also hold its value well for decades to come.

Mike

I told you not to quote me when I said that to you Mike!!!!!!!!!!!   .............only joking     I admit it, I said it, it was me

[mikeDnight]

10 hours ago, paulastro said:

I told you not to quote me when I said that to you Mike!!!!!!!!!!!   .............only joking     I admit it, I said it, it was me

You can rely on me to drop you in it Paul. I wouldnt have wanted to claim your genious quote for myself as that would be unfair. Anyway, it all makes for lively debate! Not that here's anything to debate, as what you said is true. The only thing the FC100 lacks is aperture, which is of great advantage for DSO's, but not so important for visual lunar & planetary observing. Having said that, the FC's are unusually bright on many DSO's too! 

Mike

[kerrylewis]

Thanks everyone for the comments and, above all, thanks to Gavin for making the whole transaction so pleasantly easy - despite my bank trying to mess things up! 

For those that missed the ad, I realised that I had to respond quite quickly but I did think about it for an hour or two, partly because I had an informal reservation with Ian King for one of the  proposed new batch, and I wanted to clear things with him.

This is a dream for me and just to look at the scope, not through it, is a wonderful feeling. 

I hope my observing experiences can live up to descriptions of the views - especially that by paulastro. 

Meanwhile some quick pics. I have attached the Tak finder for now and the scope is shown in 'straight through' mode. I'm not sure that any of my diagonals is up to the job. May need a new one?! 

 

[DRT]

Very nice, Kerry - I hope you enjoy the views

 

[JeremyS]

Looks amazing Kerry. Congratulations!

Jeremy

[mikeDnight]

Looks pretty Kerry! 

[Highburymark]

A lovely thing. Congratulations Kerry. And great to have the MEF focuser. I just bought one this week, and it's a really useful upgrade.

[Telescope40]

Congratulations.  Looks the business and looking through it will be the business too, I'm quite sure. 

Regards   John 

[Pig]

Looks very nice on that lovely mount Kerry 

[GavStar]

It looks great Kerry. I think I'd go with a diagonal though -maybe I shouldn't have mentioned to you what the extender was for ??

[Chris]

7 hours ago, kerrylewis said:

I'm not sure that any of my diagonals is up to the job. May need a new one?! 

Tak prism diagonal!  

https://www.takahashiuk.co.uk/Accessories-v2/1376-/Takahashi-125-Prism-Diagonal

[Alien_Photons]

kerry

Nothing like a photo of a fine telescope on a sunny day.

Can I suggest that you rotate the rings so the thumb screws are above the scope.

[Davey-T]

Dave

[John]

Bit late to this (been in the USA for a week) but congratulations on the FC-100DL Kerry

I use the Baader T2 Zeiss prism diagonal with mine and I've no complaints on the performance of the setup whatsoever

[kerrylewis]

24 minutes ago, John said:

Bit late to this (been in the USA for a week) but congratulations on the FC-100DL Kerry

I use the Baader T2 Zeiss prism diagonal with mine and I've no complaints on the performance of the setup whatsoever

Welcome back John - I hope you had an enjoyable trip.

Yes I now have had that dream Tak - I'm amazed and delighted - perhaps that's it now? Perhaps.... 

But I think will get one of those Baader diagonals! 

[F15Rules]

On 2017-6-3 at 21:49, Gavster said:

It looks great Kerry. I think I'd go with a diagonal though -maybe I shouldn't have mentioned to you what the extender was for ??

Yes, they are quite long...but rock solid as the parts thread together very nicely.. I have a vari- extender that has 7 parts altogether!?

Dave

PS the Tak 1.25" diagonal is of excellent quality!

Dave

[DRT]

5 hours ago, John said:

Bit late to this (been in the USA for a week) but congratulations on the FC-100DL Kerry

I use the Baader T2 Zeiss prism diagonal with mine and I've no complaints on the performance of the setup whatsoever

I think anyone who did complain about having a Tak FC-100DL with a Baader T2 Zeiss Prism should perhaps take up another hobby

 

[25585]

This is a thought--provoking thread, having read right through it! Both informative and sobering.

I came across it Googling on Q1.6x extender.

@kerrylewisdo you still have yours, how does it work with your DL?

@John I will have to check my box for my 2nd run DLs year of manufacture.

Looking at current signatures, some of the posters now have a Tak, and some no longer do. Good currency.

Seeing through thin cloud is what spotting scopes which are nitrogen purged, especially those made for marine use excel at. So for an unsealed OTA to be capable of the same is testament to Tak's optical excellence.

Overall my choice was purism, but unlike the Aston Martin owner, initial outlay is the only necessary expense. But an extender to give me the option of having a double fig FL frac with no compromise is tempting, especially if it works well with other makes too.

 

 

 

[Mr Spock]

32 minutes ago, 25585 said:

Seeing through thin cloud is what spotting scopes which are nitrogen purged, especially those made for marine use excel at.

Sounds intriguing - can you provide some evidence for this?

[JeremyS]

37 minutes ago, 25585 said:

I came across it Googling on Q1.6x extender

Try also "extender-q"

[Stu]

1 hour ago, 25585 said:

Seeing through thin cloud is what spotting scopes which are nitrogen purged

Really? Why don’t we all use those then?

[25585]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

Sounds intriguing - can you provide some evidence for this?

I can for birdspotting. Its amazing the difference for mist/haze penetration that capable optics make compared to plain models. Looking across Sedgmoor and the Somerset Levels, and wetlands.

Top spotting scopes with 85mm to 100mm aperture are in the same price bracket as Taks and TV,  or more. Be cool to try one out on a night sky. Probably more to do with coatings and inner OTA temperature. 

Nice Zeiss!

[Stu]

15 minutes ago, 25585 said:

I can for birdspotting. Its amazing the difference mist/haze penetration capable optics make compared to plain models. Looking across Sedgmoor and the Somerset Levels, and wetlands.

Top spotting scopes with 85mm to 100mm aperture are in the same price bracket as Taks and TV,  or more. Be cool to try one out on a night sky.

How does any scope penetrate mist? Not sure I understand?

[CraigT82]

1 hour ago, 25585 said:

Top spotting scopes with 85mm to 100mm aperture are in the same price bracket as Taks and TV,  or more. Be cool to try one out on a night sky. Probably more to do with coatings and inner OTA temperature.

I think the price differential is due to birding scopes being weatherproof. As they are nitrogen purged they need to be air tight to keep the nitrogen in, which leads inherently to waterproofness. 

The nitrogen purging is to prevent dewing inside the scope and to inhibit fungus growth. The dry nitrogen replaces the damp air. Nothing to do with the optical characteristics as far as I'm aware

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

10 hours ago, 25585 said:

I can for birdspotting. Its amazing the difference for mist/haze penetration that capable optics make compared to plain models. Looking across Sedgmoor and the Somerset Levels, and wetlands.

Top spotting scopes with 85mm to 100mm aperture are in the same price bracket as Taks and TV,  or more. Be cool to try one out on a night sky. Probably more to do with coatings and inner OTA temperature. 

Nice Zeiss!

Sorry, no. Nitrogen purging prevents the scope misting up on the inside, for dew on the outside you still need dew bands. Fog or thin cloud can only be beaten to some slight extent by going to longer wavelengths (Rayleigh scattering is inversely proportional to the wavelength to the fourth power). Birding scopes have no special optics, other than being weatherproof. I have used my APM 80mm F/6 triplet (not LZOS, just a good Chinese triplet) together with an Orion 2" 90 degree Amici prism and Nagler 22T4 for birding, and the images are stunning, far beyond what I have seen in most birding scopes, except some VERY expensive ones, and even those I had beaten by a mile in terms of field of view.