First light with Takahashi FC76 DCU

[Piero]

31 minutes ago, John said:

Personally, having tried the ES, Vixen and others of similar spec, I love the Panoptic 24 in my Tak FC-100DL.

I also prefer the 24 Pan to the ES_82 or Vixen LVW I bought, in terms of FOV performance and at the edge. 

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, Piero said:

p.s. hope this does not start an AMD vs RD war, with an army waving TV flags!   

You might get away with it Piero. The title indicates this is a Tak discussion, but you never know who's watching ? 

Edited June 15, 2018 by JeremyS

[Chris]

What a great looking travel setup, and the views to match it's looks by the sounds of it. Wishing you many happy holidays with it, Jeremy  

[JeremyS]

15 minutes ago, Lockie said:

What a great looking travel setup, and the views to match it's looks by the sounds of it. Wishing you many happy holidays with it, Jeremy

Many thanks Chris - much appreciated. 

I hope you are enjoying the FS60CB. That's a lovely scope too (I know as I have two!)

[Piero]

15 minutes ago, Lockie said:

What a great looking travel setup, and the views to match it's looks by the sounds of it. Wishing you many happy holidays with it, Jeremy  

^^^^  very true! 

And yours (Chris) is also an excellent light setup!  

[Chris]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

I hope you are enjoying the FS60CB. That's a lovely scope too (I know as I have two!)

Only used it 3 times so far but I've been very impressed with the image it puts up for such a tiny scope. 

2! are you going to make a bino-Tak?

[JeremyS]

10 minutes ago, Lockie said:

2! are you going to make a bino-Tak?

Hah! I suppose I could Chris. One is permanently mounted on my C11 in the dome and is used for widefield CCD imaging. The other is for portable visual, including solar.

[Piero]

Awesome!

[Chris]

10 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Hah! I suppose I could Chris. One is permanently mounted on my C11 in the dome and is used for widefield CCD imaging. The other is for portable visual, including solar.

Nice! I'm considering getting a solar wedge for the Tak myself, but I did have one before and sold it, so might just pick one up if one appears second hand.

[JeremyS]

I tried the Neewer tripod and TS altaz head out last night, supporting the Tak FC76 DCU. This combo actually allows me to lift and carry the OTA with one hand, the tripod being so light it can just dangle as you are moving it about.

I was expecting the tripod to be a bit shaky, but I actually got on rather well. It's certainly not up to the Vixen Porta + tripod combo, and there is vibration when focusing, but as a very lightweight travel tripod it will be fine. There is a hook at the bottom of the central pillar that allows you to add a weight to increase stability - I'm thinking a supermarket plastic bag filled with sand would be a good option - must try it out!. I operated the tripod with the first leg sections fully extended, the second sections 50% extended and the third sections not extended. This resulted in the eyepiece being at a suitable height to view Jupiter while sitting in a chair (nice views, but the way!). I wouldn't really want to extend the tripod much further as it becomes more prone to vibration. You can adjust the friction/tension on each axis of the TS altaz head to suit the payload and your preference. The altitude allows a range of tensions, from almost tight to very lose; the azimuth has a smaller degree of freedom, but is still fine (it's also a bit more fiddly to do, but you really only have to do it when first setting up).

So far, so good.

[iPeace]

22 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Too true, John. £302 for that experiment! Moreover, the Panoptic 24 doesn't seem to be as widely available as other Pan's and not at huge discount either.

Maybe I should look for a second hand one, although people tend to hold on to them

I'm an addict; I've got three. Every scope should own one, and my fracs all do.

[iPeace]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

I'm thinking a supermarket plastic bag filled with sand would be a good option

2 or 3 half litre water bottles is the ticket. Takes the shakes right out, even at full leg extension.

Edited June 16, 2018 by iPeace

[iPeace]

23 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Its a "Neewer Carbon Fiber 65 inches", John

It looks very similar to my Sirui - apart from the colour scheme. If it's as good, it's very good.

[JeremyS]

Here's a pic to show the Neewer tripod collapsed next to its carry bag (minus its ball head, which I am not using) and the TS alt-az head. All nice and compact and light weight.

Not quite enough room for the TS head to fit inside the bag as well (unless the zip is left partially undone)

Edited June 16, 2018 by JeremyS

[Cjg]

Congratulation Jeremy on your Tak, the travel set up looks superb. 

The 24mm Panoptic and 9mm Nagler are the two most used lenses with my set up. Am hoping / planning to take my kit somewhere hotter and clearer this year. This report from Stu makes a return trip to Samos very tempting. Trying to fit in a holiday around work committments and new moon proving a little challenging. 

Good luck!

Chris

 

[JeremyS]

15 minutes ago, Cjg said:

The 24mm Panoptic and 9mm Nagler are the two most used lenses with my set up. Am hoping / planning to take my kit somewhere hotter and clearer this year. This report from Stu makes a return trip to Samos very tempting. Trying to fit in a holiday around work committments and new moon proving a little challenging.

Hope you make it abroad, Chris. I'm off to Lefkada in the summer.

Given his superb travelogue from 2015, maybe @Stu could arrange an SGL the Greek islands......

[Cjg]

Great idea, maybe an SGL camp abroad? Given enough notice / planning am sure there'd be enough 'Loungers' that would be up for this?

[Stu]

33 minutes ago, Cjg said:

Great idea, maybe an SGL camp abroad? Given enough notice / planning am sure there'd be enough 'Loungers' that would be up for this?

Superb idea! This year is unlikely for me, but would certainly like to head south again sometime in the not too distant future.

[25585]

On 15/06/2018 at 17:00, Piero said:

I also prefer the 24 Pan to the ES_82 or Vixen LVW I bought, in terms of FOV performance and at the edge. 

A slightly longer FL but very close TFOV is the 1.25" Takahashi 28mm Erfle. It has AFOV of 60 degrees is light as a Plossl and better eye relief. Also good for bino viewing.

The Tak Erfle is "Custom" below.  

[Stu]

8 hours ago, 25585 said:

A slightly longer FL but very close TFOV is the 1.25" Takahashi 28mm Erfle. It has AFOV of 60 degrees is light as a Plossl and better eye relief. Also good for bino viewing.

The Tak Erfle is "Custom" below.  

It’s worth bearing in mind the exit pupil differences too, particularly if your skies are not pristine. The 24mm will give a slightly darker background and better perceived contrast on clusters than a 32mm Plossl or the 28mm in question above.

Regarding the rectilinear distortions in the 24mm Pan, I found recently when using mine with the Tak as a spotting scope, it wasn’t great, and yet for astro it works very well and I prefer the design bias towards reduced astig and field curvature. I rarely use the Pan for viewing the moon off axis so find it great for astro. Such a compact eyepiece too.

[25585]

I like the 35mm Panoptic but the shorter FL ones have too little eye relief. Which is why I treasure my Vixen 22mm LVWs so much, my best 1.25 ep. 

I would like to look through a Pentax XW 20mm one day to do my own assessment. 

[JeremyS]

So I took my Tak FC76DCU to the US last week, packed in a backpack as hand luggage (the tripod and head were in my checked baggage). I sailed through security at Manchester T3 and back out again through Philadelphia. No questions asked (and yet a key ring in another bag caused the bag to be inspected!). I experienced it to be a convenient package to carry around, in and out of taxis, trains, planes etc. The backpack also contained a laptop (taken out at security of course), travel docs and papers etc - oh, and eyepieces! Really pleased.

That's the good news. Bad news is that all three 3 nights available to me were cloudy! I was hoping to see Mars from a lower latitude.

Never mind, at least I know it's possible to take it next time in travel by plane (Greece)

[JeremyS]

Takahahsi FQR-1 quick release adapter for Tak 6x30 finderscope arrived and installed on the Takahashi FC76 DCU (I also have one on my Tak FS102)

 

[JeremyS]

Also installed a Tak MEF-3 micro focuser

 

[surfindogg]

7 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Takahahsi FQR-1 quick release adapter for Tak 6x30 finderscope arrived and installed on the Takahashi FC76 DCU (I also have one on my Tak FS102)

 

I have the ADM version. Very useful too.