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Christmas quiz! [Or Guess what 'scope I just bought ;-)]

AstroPhil

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AstroPhil

AstroPhil

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Happy Christmas all,

Thanks in no small part to the tremendous enthusiasm and great advice of this wonderful forum, I have just taken delivery of my second refractor. So, rather than just launch into the first light report etc. (cloudy, naturally, so that'll be delayed a bit!), who can GUESS what I bought...... ;-)

Couple of hints and background - I've been observing for quite a while and have an old 8" Newtonian and a C8 as well, both using my trusty vixen SP. About a year ago I got a new ASCOM mount and a wide field refractor to dabble in some imaging/guiding (a work in progress). Of course, I could not resist sticking an eyepiece in the WO ZS71 as well as the camera and I was instantly gripped with the views that this little refractor gave me... And \Gandalf mode on\ aperture fever took me \Gandalf mode off\ So, I went on the search for a new, slightly larger, refactor to compliment the "imaging focused" ZS71.

What did I buy ..... ?

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AstroPhil

AstroPhil

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A winner! @glynnlondon

Yep, I am the very proud owner of a Tak FC100DL - Ian King had 5 delivered Wednesday and (he told me) has just one left to sell. I've not had clear skies yet to try it, but the scope is truly a thing of beauty, very well made, and now sits atop my SP mount waiting for action. It was packed in 3 boxes, Russian-doll-style, requiring just modest assembly (clamshell and finder) to be ready to go. The only snag I had was fitting the Tak clamshell to a spare ADM vixen dovetail. I obviously did not want to touch or alter the clamshell (let alone scope!) in any way and as the clamshell was tapped on one side for 2 large-ish hex bolts (around 9mm I think, or 10?) I needed to do some minor drilling to the dovetail bar to get the bolts through, with the correct spacing, and with enough countersink to be flush, allowing proper fit to the saddle.

A few pictures below... clear skies all! And, merry Christmas!

IMG_8856.thumb.JPG.937848cd1ab08fbd7404a9cc1d84f34c.JPGIMG_8854.thumb.JPG.7912b6acef0999b1c11ce89c060c6810.JPGIMG_8855.thumb.JPG.b405b2950b6ca677ff303125a1b50e14.JPGIMG_8851.thumb.JPG.93fb9bac57ac3ab4f7aee7cd124779d8.JPGIMG_8853.thumb.JPG.fdb0608a7eec7dcce4a7752652f5cbdf.JPG

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Stu

Stu

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2 hours ago, GavStar said:

Stu, I think there was was another limited run of 100 DL scopes done this year in addition to the run of 100 done last year.

The focuser on the latest run is Tak green/blue rather unlike the first run where it was black.

Ah yes, I remember now.

I prefer the green focuser in the new batch I think. Lovely scope and lovely optics whichever focuser it has though :) 

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AstroPhil

AstroPhil

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Cheers @Stu! I'm looking forward to using it, just as soon as the weather plays ball of course. Although this'll be mostly for visual I'm sure the odd photo will surface from time to time as well. Yes indeed, you're absolutely correct @GavStar, from talking to Ian the other day it seemed that the fist batch was so popular and sold out so quickly, that Takahashi were persuaded to do another limited run. He thinks this will truly be the last run this time though. Famous last words? Who knows.

I never saw the black focuser, but the green is very nice, and the action is silky smooth (just single speed though). If I upgrade anything that'll be it (for a feathertouch) but I'm in no rush.

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Stu

Stu

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1 minute ago, AstroPhil said:

f I upgrade anything that'll be it (for a feathertouch) but I'm in no rush.

I do have a featherotuch on my 100D and it is very nice, particularly the dual speed for fine focusing.

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John

John

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Congratulations on your new Tak FC-100DL :hello2:

Nice to see one of the "new run" ones - confirms the colour change to the focuser body and bezel.

I bought the last available UK FC-100DL of the previous run from Ian King last year - very good guy to deal with :icon_biggrin:

I wonder if the 2nd run sold out as quickly as the 1st run did ?

Hope you get 1st light with it very soon - the performance of these is outstanding IMHO - I just can't see how a 4" scope could produce better views :thumbright:

 

 

taknight01.JPG

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kerrylewis

kerrylewis

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Congratulations Phil. I had my name down with Ian for one of the new batch but in the summer a SGL member had one of the earlier batch for sale so I went for that. Beautiful scope. I have a hankering for the Tak green focuser though - perhaps I could send it to Japan to have it resprayed! :icon_biggrin:

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AstroPhil

AstroPhil

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Yep, she's a beauty, for sure. I'll see how I get on with the stock focusser for a bit, but I do have a sneaking suspicion that a dual speed will be fitted at some point! I've no idea how quickly Ian King sold them but I think they didn't last long - he said the only reason he has one left was due to a cancellation.

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John

John

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1 hour ago, AstroPhil said:

...I've no idea how quickly Ian King sold them but I think they didn't last long - he said the only reason he has one left was due to a cancellation.

Thats just what he said to me !

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GavStar

GavStar

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Congratulations - I think fc100’s are the best 4 inch visual scopes available. I fitted a mef-3 dual speed upgrade to mine. It was ok and kept the Tak focuser with the serial number etc. However in the end I succumbed to the full feathertouch replacement (not the dual speed upgrade). Lots better imo but I appreciate its horses for courses.

88FBE6F9-F2E0-4050-944F-97C6EBB35BAB.jpeg

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AstroPhil

AstroPhil

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Well, a short but very pleasurable first light occurred Thursday evening for me with the mighty FC100DL.

What can I say? Truly a ‘keeper’ of a scope. Even with heavy dew and some high cloud, I was able to take a very quick look at a few select targets of opportunity the other night, with more to come I am sure. Yep, these Tak’s carry a high price, but it was worth it: the view of the moon was just stunning, completely clear right to the terminator, and certainly no CA that I could see (using 20mm XW, 12mm Delos and 7mm XW eyepeices). Naturally I took the opportunity to take a very quick picture (below, a single frame using a Lumix GX1) but other than that, this evenings session was purely visible.

I certainly understand the ‘crisp’ refractor view and this was confirmed over the next hour or two: Mizar and its neighbour (and Alcor of course) very easily resolved despite being low on the horizon and in the midst of the light pollution. The Pleiades were a joy - hanging there although in 3D (using an ES24mm 82 degree eyepiece to try and get them all into view). And finally, a quick look at the great Andromeda galaxy and M110, requiring some yoga-like poses in the dark as it was high on the zenith. And at that point the dew was getting to the lens so I called it an early night - my 4” dew heater tape is coming for the objective thanks to another SGL member.

Super performance and amazing images - I’ll be keeping hold of this scope, for sure!

Clear skies all and happy new year!

\Phil

P1100175.JPG

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