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Who uses their refractor without a diagonal?


iPeace

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4 hours ago, elliot said:

Newb here @John so sorry for dumb Qs, is that a focal extender sticking out the back or is that the focuser? Whatever, it's all so pretty.  <3

No focal extender in there. There is the Moonlite focuser drawtube and a Moonlite extension tube followed by a Moonlite 1.25" adapter and the Pentax XW eyepiece stuck into that. The eyepiece has a long lower body section so that sticks out a fair bit too !

 

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1 hour ago, alan potts said:

I have done when I was 17yo, use to lay on the grass there in Hull, neighbour knew I was nuts so it didn't matter. Would I do it now I am 60, not a chance.

Alan

In the most positive way, I would hope that you could afford to still be nuts, now more than ever.

:icon_biggrin:

At forty-something, I certainly can't afford not to be. Thanks for the inspiration. I will try this when I get my TV-60. No mount, just pirate style with a zoom eyepiece on my back in the grass.

:happy11:

P.S. I may not go to Hull, though.

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58 minutes ago, iPeace said:

I will try this when I get my TV-60. No mount, just pirate style with a zoom eyepiece on my back in the grass.

Congratulations! It's a very nice little scope to complement your larger ones. An ideal one for travelling. :)

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12 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

Any idea what the strehl figure is for a Tak FC 100 DC is (use MikeDnights) for example 

And the SW equinox 120ed Apo. Obviously a bit more aperture on my side, but I think I have heard Mike pushing his to 100x per inch and still getting cracking views.

If that's the case my Chinese offering may need to bow out disgracefully? 

I've absolutely no idea about the strehl of the FC100D series. Tak seem to leave it to the individual, or indeed the forums to debate. 

The SW 120ED's are superb scopes, of that there is no doubt! The differences between the SW ED and the FC100D are not immediately that noticeable or obvious. You'd notice a reduction in brightness by moving from 120mm to100mm, but you'd also notice a lack of any visible CA in the Tak. As regards strehl, the Tak must be very high I'd imagine, as on a steady night it will just keep taking magnification, without any image breakdown,  until you run out of exit pupil, or at least that's how it seems. I also think you'd notice an improvement in contrast and definition of lunar and planetary detail. 

Considering that the Tak will not show more detail at high power than any other apo of the same aperture, as its limited by its resolution, you could argue why bother to change scopes? For me its the higher quality of optical finish that appeals, as I'm able to increase the image scale of a tiny object like Mars, which I'm still observing, and see detail on its surface with relative ease. May be also, the 100mm aperture is better suited to my local seeing conditions. I've owned bigger Taks that haven't had such a pull on me as the FC100, possibly due to its minimal build I'm more inclined to observe at a moment's notice. 

A couple of nights ago I'd given up on doing any observing, so i had a shower and lounged around in my PJ's and dressing gown. Just before bed time my wife informed me that the skies had cleared, so.....

 

2017-04-21 00.22.32.jpg

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25 minutes ago, Piero said:

Congratulations! It's a very nice little scope to complement your larger ones. An ideal one for travelling. :)

Thanks! It's due to the Tak FC-76DCU getting lost in transit between distributor and supplier that we've agreed to change my order to a TV-60. That is, if the Tak hasn't surfaced unscathed by Monday... Perhaps it's just meant to be, I always wanted one.

:happy11:

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2 minutes ago, iPeace said:

Thanks! It's due to the Tak FC-76DCU getting lost in transit between distributor and supplier that we're agreed to change my order to a TV-60. That is, if the Tak hasn't surfaced unscathed by Monday... Perhaps it's just meant to be, I always wanted one.

:happy11:

Having already an 85mm, to me a 60mm seems a better purchase than a 76mm assuming that you want something below 85mm. On the other hand a 76mm is a lovely under-100mm grab 'n' go.. On these things, I don't think there is the best solution (=telescope), but rather the best combination that works out for one's needs. :) 

The eyepiece focal lengths (24, 9, 6-3) suggested by Al Nagler work well on the TV60.

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1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

I've absolutely no idea about the strehl of the FC100D series. Tak seem to leave it to the individual, or indeed the forums to debate. 

The SW 120ED's are superb scopes, of that there is no doubt! The differences between the SW ED and the FC100D are not immediately that noticeable or obvious. You'd notice a reduction in brightness by moving from 120mm to100mm, but you'd also notice a lack of any visible CA in the Tak. As regards strehl, the Tak must be very high I'd imagine, as on a steady night it will just keep taking magnification, without any image breakdown,  until you run out of exit pupil, or at least that's how it seems. I also think you'd notice an improvement in contrast and definition of lunar and planetary detail. 

Considering that the Tak will not show more detail at high power than any other apo of the same aperture, as its limited by its resolution, you could argue why bother to change scopes? For me its the higher quality of optical finish that appeals, as I'm able to increase the image scale of a tiny object like Mars, which I'm still observing, and see detail on its surface with relative ease. May be also, the 100mm aperture is better suited to my local seeing conditions. I've owned bigger Taks that haven't had such a pull on me as the FC100, possibly due to its minimal build I'm more inclined to observe at a moment's notice. 

A couple of nights ago I'd given up on doing any observing, so i had a shower and lounged around in my PJ's and dressing gown. Just before bed time my wife informed me that the skies had cleared, so.....

 

2017-04-21 00.22.32.jpg

Grab-and-go. It's all in the mind.

:happy11:

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1 hour ago, Piero said:

Having already an 85mm, to me a 60mm seems a better purchase than a 76mm assuming that you want something below 85mm. On the other hand a 76mm is a lovely under-100mm grab 'n' go.. On these things, I don't think there is the best solution (=telescope), but rather the best combination that works out for one's needs. :) 

The eyepiece focal lengths (24, 9, 6-3) suggested by Al Nagler work well on the TV60.

My thoughts exactly, or close enough. This one is meant for travel, so it's about the combination of compactness (the Tak's tube is divisible for transport) and performance.

The Tak 76 should show more, but if I have enough fun with the TV-60 I think I will skip the 76 and just add a Tak 100 to the herd.

The simplicity of the TV-60 appeals to me. Really looking forward to seeing what it can do. Including with a Vixen HR.

:happy11:

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If one is fine with 1cm eye relief, the Vixen HR current line is great for high mags on short or fast telescopes.

To me the only thing Vixen can improve on that line is shortening the depth of the threading part. As it is right now, only filters with a sufficiently long thread can be screwed. My bàader solar continuum filter thread is too short and cannot be used. This fact is not really an issue for the current HR focal lengths but it will be if they decide to release longer focal lengths and keep the same internal threading design of the barrel.

Aside from this, they are amazing eyepieces to me and I would replace my Vixen SLV with equivalent Vixen HR focal lengths if they were available.

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15 hours ago, alan potts said:

I have done when I was 17yo, use to lay on the grass there in Hull, neighbour knew I was nuts so it didn't matter. Would I do it now I am 60, not a chance.

Alan

That sentence could apply to a great number of things that a nuts boy from Hull (or anywhere else) might have been prepared to do at 17 :lol: 

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