Tak FC100DL F9

[25585]

Very pleased with this set up . 

[JeremyS]

18 minutes ago, 25585 said:

Very pleased with this set up . 

Crikey! Are you sure you’ve got enough tube rings? Is it trying to escape?

:-)

[Pig]

Cmon..... how can you say the standard clamp looks worse than that :-) don't get me wrong I am not knocking your equipment, its great, but talk about using a hammer to break an egg !!!!

[kerrylewis]

‘ A Takahashi in a cage puts all heaven in a rage” 

Apologies to William Blake  

[Stu]

Common guys, we were promised a 495mm long losmandy clamp, I can see some unused dovetail surface, surely that is a vulnerability with a risk that the scope may fall?

I just hope those 6mm bolts are feeling strong!

[Stu]

I must apologise for my posts which I hope can be taken by the OP in jest. My thoughts are that it seems a shame to shackle the Tak with so much additional hardware which really isn’t necessary. 

That said, if it allows the scope to be used without undue concern and for the OP to relax then it will have succeeded. Better the scope is used than kept in its case through fear of damage.

I shall keep quiet now  

[25585]

 

 

The 495mm clamp is for the 120 Equinox, which will have its 2 OE rings to hold it, but on a Losmandy bar, though OE bar is chunky.

When vertical, with a heavy diagonal + eye piece, and finder scope, the Tak will be well gripped. If I forget to secure a ring lock, or 2, or 3, the Tak will be better idiot-proofed. If the set-up gets bumped, the tube will be less likely damaged. Obviously not as well as a Tak clamshell, but over a greater area.

Weight of the bar and rings is more than a single Tak OE clamp, but still light enough for me to carry around as a whole unit. 

 My photos were taken with flash, Primaluce red is darker than shown. And the Tak's name is "Candy". ?

 

[Timebandit]

2 hours ago, 25585 said:

Very pleased with this set up . 

 

 

Well that's not going anywhere from those ring clamps, is it.

Very pimpt up, now does that not look more funky than those boring clamshells from the 67 era. Very space age looking.

And if 25585 feels so much happier with that clamping set up ,and the scope is now getting under those stars and drawing those planets in. Then good on him?

Am I on my Red card ? from the Tak owners club??

 

 

[Pig]

Like Stu said it’s only simple fun, there are a lot of folk that would love a set up of that quality ?

[mikeDnight]

 

[John]

I'm just worried about the single 8mm screw bearing agaist soft cast alloy that holds that mounting point in place on the Skytee II altitude axis. It's going to be under a lot of strain from that lot I reckon 

Personally I'd have put the scope on the mounting point that is on the end of the alt axis I think.

Get some counterweights on your C/W bar ASAP !

 

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, John said:

I'm just worried about the single 8mm screw bearing agaist soft cast alloy that holds that mounting point in place on the Skytee II altitude axis. It's going to be under a lot of strain from that lot I reckon 

Personally I'd have put the scope on the mounting point that is on the end of the alt axis I think.

Get some counterweights on your C/W bar ASAP !

 

That sounds scary John. Where is the single screw, holding the black puck onto the white part of the mount??

[CraigT82]

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

That sounds scary John. Where is the single screw, holding the black puck onto the white part of the mount??

I think John is referring to the lock screw holding the alt axis from rotating.

[John]

7 minutes ago, Stu said:

That sounds scary John. Where is the single screw, holding the black puck onto the white part of the mount??

The one arrowed in yellow - I think it's the only thing that prevents the mounting point from rotating around the alt axis:

 

[Stu]

18 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

I think John is referring to the lock screw holding the alt axis from rotating.

Ah, ok, I get it now. Hence the Counterweight comment!

[jock1958]

41 minutes ago, John said:

I'm just worried about the single 8mm screw bearing agaist soft cast alloy that holds that mounting point in place on the Skytee II altitude axis. It's going to be under a lot of strain from that lot I reckon 

Personally I'd have put the scope on the mounting point that is on the end of the alt axis I think.

Get some counterweights on your C/W bar ASAP !

 

Tried it with my Tal 100 in the same position just to see what it was like and quickly realised it would be way to dodgy without counter balance weights 

[GavStar]

5 hours ago, 25585 said:

Very pleased with this set up . 

 

What do you think of the views given by the DL compared to your skywatcher scope?

[F15Rules]

Clearly, Candy has a Can-do Character: Candidly, I Couldn't Countenance that Cantilever Caper but Caps off for a Capital Colour Campaign!??

Dave

PS: please can we have a first light report when conditions allow??☺

[25585]

1 hour ago, John said:

I'm just worried about the single 8mm screw bearing agaist soft cast alloy that holds that mounting point in place on the Skytee II altitude axis. It's going to be under a lot of strain from that lot I reckon 

Personally I'd have put the scope on the mounting point that is on the end of the alt axis I think.

Get some counterweights on your C/W bar ASAP !

 

Top Skytee 2 has 2 screw holes, the same as the side. Either 6mm or 8mm. I am using 6mm currently, the same size as Primaluce holes. 

My Tak on its Primaluce bar and 4 rings is lighter than my 100mm SW Equinox on its OE Vixen bar with its beefier OE 115mm rings. The 120 Equinox will be heavier still. 

Would not a vertical saddle (on any mount) put more strain on screws with the weight of an OTA pulling rather than pushing down? 

 

[25585]

43 minutes ago, GavStar said:

What do you think of the views given by the DL compared to your skywatcher scope?

Comparing both 100mm F9 scopes, I have not noticed any signifigant difference yet, but have kept to low magnifications & early days. The 32mm Tak AO & Vixen LVW 22mm are both excellent so will show up any differences. 

More testing needed. More different magnifications on different things. Pentax 8 - 24 zoom will also be a good test for the Moon. 

[25585]

2 hours ago, John said:

The one arrowed in yellow - I think it's the only thing that prevents the mounting point from rotating around the alt axis:

 

Total weight is below the advertised limit for Skytee 2. 

Is there a way of aligning the side saddle parallell with the top one? They both move together but are askew. 

Put Candy to bed in her case for the night as it's gone back to April weather here. 

[John]

33 minutes ago, 25585 said:

Top Skytee 2 has 2 screw holes, the same as the side. Either 6mm or 8mm. I am using 6mm currently, the same size as Primaluce holes. 

My Tak on its Primaluce bar and 4 rings is lighter than my 100mm SW Equinox on its OE Vixen bar with its beefier OE 115mm rings. The 120 Equinox will be heavier still. 

Would not a vertical saddle (on any mount) put more strain on screws with the weight of an OTA pulling rather than pushing down? 

 

When the scope is horizontal it's centre of gravity will be over the alt axis and it will be fine. As you tilt the scope back and point it upwards the centre of gravity of the tube moves outwards from the alt axis and the leverage on the mounting point and the 8mm bolt (arrowed in the picture that I posted earlier) that holds it in place on the alt axis increases amplified by the lever arm force of the long tube. Counterweights on the shaft below the alt axis will counteract the leverage and reduce the strain. On the other mounting point, the CoG of the scope tube is in the same place as the centre of the alt axis so the mounting point is under less strain.

I'm not an engineer so I've probably described it poorly but I think the nub of it is that the top mounting point of the Skytee II is better for short and light scopes and the mounting point at the end of the alt axis is better for longer, heavier scopes.

 

 

[John]

26 minutes ago, 25585 said:

Total weight is below the advertised limit for Skytee 2. 

Is there a way of aligning the side saddle parallell with the top one? They both move together but are askew. 

Put Candy to bed in her case for the night as it's gone back to April weather here. 

Lousy night here in North Somerset as well

The Skytee is capable of carrying quite heavy scopes without breaking but you also want the thing to be steady and smooth to adjust when observing.

There are two 8mm bolts holding the the top mounting point assembly and clamp in position, the one that I arrowed and another just below the black hub. Loosen these and you can adjust the alt and az positioning of the clamp in relation to the mount and align it reasonably closely with the clamp on the end of the alt axis. These bolts need to be tightened again when you have done this of course. I've found that you can have two scopes pointing at the same part of the sky, at least close enough for a low power eyepiece, using this adjustment.

I don't tend to use the top clamp on my Skytee II though - I don't have a light / short scope currently which I'd feel secure in putting on there.

It's a decent heavy duty alt-az mount for it's cost but it does have it's quirks which need to be discovered and hopefully not the hard / expensive way !

Last night my STII was earning it's keep and doing a good job even at 270x:

 

 

[25585]

I will try these suggestons out! Hoping to use a ST80 as finder in the side saddle using a finder with 40mm Plossl, so 10x80.

 

[25585]

Just now, 25585 said:

I will try these suggestons out! Hoping to use a ST80 as finder in the side saddle using a 40mm Plossl, so 10x80.