Grab and Go Jupiter

[John]

Surprised to see a clear sky about 30 mins ago after a wet drizzly evening. Stuck the TV Ranger 70mm out on the photo tripod and having a quick gander at Jupiter.

Very pleased to spot the GRS clearly showing with this small aperture scope at around 100x. I think this is the smallest aperture that I've managed to see this feature with 

Shows what a good "little un" can do !

Earlier this evening I enjoyed a great talk at the BAS meeting from Paul Money on the Voyager missions including some amazing imagery of Jupiter. Nice to take a peek at the giant world personally just a few hours later

[Charic]

No joy here, Street lights and cloud cover, although the street lights are  getting somewhat diffused by the fresh tree foliage, but far from perfect.
If Jupiter was visible, it would be very low through my tree line.

My predominant  view is Northerly, and my North facing tree, which killed most of the direct street light before , is only half the tree it was last Year due to some serious pruning 

May  have to consider a smaller grab & go myself and wonder out to the back field when conditions allow.

[John]

32 minutes ago, Charic said:

...May  have to consider a smaller grab & go myself and wonder out to the back field when conditions allow.

I have to say that this little Ranger 70mm has got me through some tough times with the hobby recently - it's just so easy to pop out and use.

I've just managed to split Delta Cygni at 200x with the little fella - rather amazed by that

[John]

It gets better ....

M57, M13 and M92 plus the "double double" Epsilon Lyrae and of course Albireo have fallen prey to this little pea shooter and are looking very nice against a dark sky. This is fun !!!

If it stays clear I'll pop a UHC filter on and see if the Eastern Veil nebula is possible.

[John]

Currently down in Scorpius.

Messier 80 (globular cluster) looks good !

Messier 4 (anothe glob) hidden by trees just to the E of Antares though. Can't win them all !

 

 

[Ibbo!]

Keep going John.

throwing it down here

 

[John]

Well I've rounded things off with a very nice view of the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) and finally the faint arc of NCG 6992, the Eastern portion of the Veil Nebula. The latter was rather faint even with a UHC filter in play but some high, thin cloud layers had crept in over some of the sky so that might have been affecting DSO visiblity.

The 70mm refractor has kept me entertained for 3 nice hours 

[LukeSkywatcher]

All this with a 70mm? (albeit a TV, which must be quality and I'm thinking expensive). I'm impressed and envious. If I tried for the GRS in my 70mm, it would say to me "you're having a laugh, right". But it is designed as a wide field. 

Great report. 

[Stu]

8 hours ago, John said:

Surprised to see a clear sky about 30 mins ago after a wet drizzly evening. Stuck the TV Ranger 70mm out on the photo tripod and having a quick gander at Jupiter.

Very pleased to spot the GRS clearly showing with this small aperture scope at around 100x. I think this is the smallest aperture that I've managed to see this feature with 

Shows what a good "little un" can do !

Earlier this evening I enjoyed a great talk at the BAS meeting from Paul Money on the Voyager missions including some amazing imagery of Jupiter. Nice to take a peek at the giant world personally just a few hours later

Nice one John!

Have seen GRS in a Tak FS60C and WO ZS 66mm. Have had fab views under dark skies with many small scopes and would look again at something around the 70mm mark which is more portable than the FC100, possibly the TS 72mm f6.

I know that you have previously considered 100mm as your lower limit, something which I confess I always felt left you missing out on the portability and ease of use benefits of these little gems. They have given some of my most enjoyable and memorable sessions. Izar is no problem for a small high quality 60 or 70mm scope, same as you have found for the Double Double, sometimes its is actually easier and more pleasing to view the tight star shapes than in a dob. Being able get anywhere from a 5 degree field up to x200 is pretty amazing.

I hope you continue to enjoy the scope and it gives you lovely views on your trip.

 

[Stu]

1 hour ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

All this with a 70mm? (albeit a TV, which must be quality and I'm thinking expensive). I'm impressed and envious. If I tried for the GRS in my 70mm, it would say to me "you're having a laugh, right". But it is designed as a wide field. 

Great report. 

Prontos are not so expensive Paul, no longer produced but come up used every now and then. They are a good quality achro scope, the TV76 is an apo with better colour correction but more expensive and a bit less portable so the Pronto has big attractions. Some of the little WO scopes like the current 61 are apos with fpl53 glass and are 'pop in your pocket' small. I always think its better to have a small decent scope with you than none at all. Getting to see the lovely southern jewels almost demands it for us in the UK.

[John]

21 minutes ago, Stu said:

...I know that you have previously considered 100mm as your lower limit, something which I confess I always felt left you missing out on the portability and ease of use benefits of these little gems. They have given some of my most enjoyable and memorable sessions. Izar is no problem for a small high quality 60 or 70mm scope, same as you have found for the Double Double, sometimes its is actually easier and more pleasing to view the tight star shapes than in a dob. Being able get anywhere from a 5 degree field up to x200 is pretty amazing.

I hope you continue to enjoy the scope and it gives you lovely views on your trip.

 

Thanks Stu

The Ranger cost me £200 for the (20 year old) OTA and £50 for a good tripod. So not too expensive but more so than the F/5 achros of course, which can also be fun scopes to own.

Having had a bit of a "wobble" in motivation for the hobby, I'm somewhat more appreciative of having scope that is so easy to move around and deploy. I do have a nice pair of Japanese 11x70 binoculars but I must say that I prefer using a telescope for observing

I expect that the other little 70mm ED scopes that are on the market now are even better than the Ranger so there are lots of choices in the "super portable" scope niche 

[LukeSkywatcher]

"Prontos are not so expensive Paul, no longer produced but come up used every now and then".

 I saw they are no longer in production. I looked up the Ranger and its price. Maybe i'll have to keep an eye out for a second hand Pronto to use with Quark.

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

"Prontos are not so expensive Paul, no longer produced but come up used every now and then".

 I saw they are no longer in production. I looked up the Ranger and its price. Maybe i'll have to keep an eye out for a second hand Pronto to use with Quark.

Actually a Pronto is an almost ideal match for a Quark in terms of focal length and ratio, it would be a good option and one I considered myself when I had a Quark.

[Piero]

Great set of reports John, and glad to read that you are having fun with your TV Ranger.  

I'm in Italy this week but the sky has been rather hazy so far. Even with the dobson, I have managed to spot only the main Jovian and Saturnian features in the last couple of nights. Hopefully it will clear up a bit tonight and tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the new tripod for my TV60 has been sorted, so this other little pea shooter  ( ) will also see some light soon! 

[LukeSkywatcher]

I found a thread online from SLG dated 2012. Seems the pronto was held in very high regard by many. "ludicrously under valued secondhand" said Mr.Penrice.

[scarp15]

They are indeed. I think I paid £300 (or maybe just a little over) on ebay several years ago for my Pronto. The seller was in France shipping was no problem, it was in perfect condition, unbelievably smooth focusing and exquisite views, pin sharp with excellent contrast, mechanically a work of art. I miss it still and Johns up-beat thread has got me thinking am I doing the right thing with something that has merely been underused?

[LukeSkywatcher]

First one I see second hand I'm jumping on it.... If the price is right and condition is good. 

[LukeSkywatcher]

Could be sooner than I thought. 

[Jforson]

Living in Scotland at this time of the year until September, observing with a smaller scope is really the only option due to the long hours of daylight.  It's not really worth setting up a larger scope. 

I have always been able to get pleasing views of jupiter in a 60-80mm scope. A quick look with the scope on a photo tripod is ideal and also keeps up the kids interest over the summer months. 

I recently picked up a secondhand tv-60 and was amazed at the detail I was able to pick up on the moon, obviously not as detailed as my larger frac but very pleasing. 

I hope that you continue to enjoy the ranger. 

 

[Dave1]

Good reports John, little telescopes can be such joy to use. My 60mm Skylight is my favourite telescope. I can see the GRS in this telescope with ease.

Clear Sky's 

Dave

[Stu]

Whose going to be first to spot it in one of the Skywatcher 50EDs? Could be fun.

[DRT]

7 hours ago, scarp15 said:

They are indeed. I think I paid £300 (or maybe just a little over) on ebay several years ago for my Pronto. The seller was in France shipping was no problem, it was in perfect condition, unbelievably smooth focusing and exquisite views, pin sharp with excellent contrast, mechanically a work of art. I miss it still and Johns up-beat thread has got me thinking am I doing the right thing with something that has merely been underused?

I bought mine for £400 a few years ago. It came with the original bag, instruction book signed by Al Nagler, a 2" TV diagonal and a 20mm TV Plossl, both of which I sold on as I didn't need them so the OTA cost me less than £300. It's a great little scope - excellent with the Quark for solar and sits nicely on a descent photo tripod so very portable and re-assuringly heavy - I wouldn't want to drop one on my toe  

[DRT]

One other thing I forgot to mention. For those who are a bit OCD like me and feel the need to have a brass compression ring around the diagonal nosepiece rather than the original set screw supplied with the Pronto, Tele Vue (via Telescope House) will supply a replacement holder that fits onto the focus tube at exorbitant cost  

[Chris]

Sounds like a very nice evening, John. I'm not at all surprised that the pronto showed the GRS, I remember how richly an ED80 showed this feature. 

 

 

[iPeace]

20 hours ago, John said:

Shows what a good "little un" can do !

Told.

You.

So.

(Don't mind me. Getting an 8" newt soon. But the small fracs stay.)