Least desirable scope ever ?

[Waddensky]

15 hours ago, rl said:

I can see a few plusses though...

No problems with planning permission..

Even an ES 30MM with coma corrector won't upset the balance..

No meridian flip...

No barlow lens required..

The gantry up to the eyepiece has a certain je-ne-sais-quoi..

It's f/8.7, very kind to cheap eyepieces. I guess it came with a stock 25mm and 10mm plössl.

[Solar B]

49 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Last week I ended up buying a pink fishing rod for my son, as it was the only colour left.  He ended up catching just as many fish as I did with my black rod.  (He’s only 4).

I assume telescopes are the same. My epsilon is a daft yellow colour for example but works ok.

 

Where abouts was this Adam ? ... brilliant 👍

Still loving that iOptron 😅 it's ok John I think we all know this thread is just a bit of fun 😀

Brian 

[John]

9 minutes ago, Solar B said:

 

....it's ok John I think we all know this thread is just a bit of fun 😀

Brian 

I hope so Brian - that was how it was intended of course

I'll have to pop out and check what colour my fishing rods are now  - I haven't used them for ages !

[johninderby]

John, I only saw this thread as a bit of light relief and not intended to be serious. 👍🏻

After all I did post the Takahashi teapot. 😁

Edited July 29, 2020 by johninderby

[Solar B]

Yes I'm sure we all do John ... I've a pic of me with one of those pink Ping drivers 

but can i find it now 🙂 no.

Brian 

[Saganite]

1 hour ago, John said:

The colour of the scope was only small one part of the package of the scope that I linked to. The specification of the scope, the mount and it's price all added up to what I felt was a poor deal for the budding astronomer. If the price had been £25 then I would not have thought to mention it.

I suspect that I've no chance of redeeming this thread though so fair enough. Apologies to those who I might have inadvertetly offended.

As the saying goes, "the first thing to do when you are in a hole is to stop digging" 

 

 

 

It was not the colour of the scope that amused me John, but the   rock solid mount that it was on. 

Nothing to apologize for.

[Macavity]

I cut my teeth on  the "dreaded" 30x30 (GreenKat-style) Refractor... 🙀
I still keep and "love" it in some ways. 🙄 Taught me a lot, despite?



(I hope) I do e.g. "get" the "Pink Stinks" thing - And I empathise...
But some folks come into hobbies in the most non-obvious ways?
Had someone bought ME a [pink] scope as a kid? Not my parents.
I hasten to add, they were not "Meanies"...  I bought the Greenkat! 🤡

Something about "buying dogs"... "kissing frogs"... or something? lol
"I didn't get where I am today? It's a Darwinian thing, Astronomy? 🥳

Edited July 29, 2020 by Macavity

[Geoff Barnes]

I think we all know there was only one person who took the post too seriously @John, everyone else seems to have joined in with the lightheartedness you intended. Indeed I am sorely tempted to paint my SW Dob bright pink and post a photo, might as well as I'm not getting any astronomical use out of it lately! 🤣

[Macavity]

Came across this:

post-ironic

adjective: When one's ironic appreciation of something becomes genuine, usually due to either
prolonged exposure or the enjoyment derived from how amusingly terrible it is.

Who knew? But that be ME! 🥳

[John]

35 minutes ago, Macavity said:

I cut my teeth on  the "dreaded" 30x30 (GreenKat-style) Refractor... 🙀
I still keep and "love" it in some ways. 🙄 Taught me a lot, despite?



(I hope) I do e.g. "get" the "Pink Stinks" thing - And I empathise...
But some folks come into hobbies in the most non-obvious ways?
Had someone bought ME a [pink] scope as a kid? Not my parents.
I hasten to add, they were not "Meanies"...  I bought the Greenkat! 🤡

 

My brother was given one of those and a copy of "The Observers Book of Astronomy" when he was about 10. He didn't show any interest so I nicked both the book and the scope from him (or possibly traded them for an Airfix model kit) and they and a pair of 8x30 Prinz (Dixons) binoculars got me started observing

 

[andrew s]

How about a campaign for pink Takahashi refractors.

Regards Andrew 

[johninderby]

Or for a slightly different SW Esprit. 😁

[Macavity]

TBH the Takahashi White + Grey livery makes me think "hospital hardware" somehow.
Unlikely to trouble me, but I can think of "nattier" colour schemes... like Black & white? 🥳
Not to mention the ill-fated "Skywatcher Gold"? (Must repaint the MAK150 sometime!)

[endless-sky]

This definitely is a winner: https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rvo-horizon-72-ed-doublet-refractor-ota.html

Since it is supposed to be a real telescope.

Can we throw some more colors on it?!

[johninderby]

Why didn’t they go the whole way and match the dovetails to the rings? 🤔

Pink rings perhaps. 😁

And bit more style to the name on the dewshield.

Edited July 29, 2020 by johninderby

[andrew s]

In the end you can't better laquired polished brass. I used to lust after the large Fullerscope's brass refractors of my youth.

Regards Andrew 

Edited July 29, 2020 by andrew s

[Macavity]

Officina Stellare -- Black with RED highlights... Again, I can dream? 😎
(I sometimes wonder about market research... generally though!)

I have always been pleased (lucky?) with my scopes. Mounts might
be a different issue! But, with Astro stuff, I sometime feel sad, rather
than angry. Mass produced... "Ships spoiled for a ha'porth of tar"? 😕

Personally, I don't mind "fixing / modding" things, but then
you are unlikely to being able to SELL them on afterwards?
You *pay* for things to work "out of the box", I s'pose... 🙄

[niallk]

If the optics are very good, I'd use it

At the risk of making the sexist assumption that this is aimed at females (and I certainly do not wish to offend anyone):

I've two little girls - if they wanted a pink telescope then great.  However I'd like them to want the telescope for reasons other than its colour.  The flip side is that if it helps to encourage more people to dip into astronomy, it's a good thing.

In the main, personally I'd advocate against this type of marketing ploy, however well intentioned.  I don't like to see STEM stuff still aimed at individual genders.  I prefer to see it agnostic of gender.

Just my opinion - which could be very wrong!!  I enjoy cycling and at sportifs, I often see women with high end bikes with day-glow pink paint jobs which look very cool - so who am I to say what another person might like to choose 

[niallk]

19 hours ago, tomato said:

This one gets my vote, what with speculum mirrors that tarnished before your very eyes, and surely the most hard to use, restricted movement mount ever devised, plus siting it in the middle of Ireland, I truly marvel how Lord Rosse and co-workers ever managed to see anything at all. 

 

 

The only part I agree with is the location here in Ireland

I've visited it, and it was an engineering marvel - the biggest of its time, revealing breakthrough observations.  What a testament to man's curiosity and dedication to persist with its execution!!

Doing all this in Ireland only adds to my admiration

[mikeDnight]

4 hours ago, John said:

Apologies to those who I might have inadvertetly offended.

You must be the most inoffensive person on SGL John - after me of course.  The worrying thing is that I'm actually starting to like the idea of an luminous pink refractor. For less than £5.00  I could respray my Tak, which would give me the reassurance that no-one would ever steal it. 

[Ibbo!]

It looks as though it might glow in the dark and those tripod legs look so spindly and they would perform like a spindly thing sat on top of jelly.

[johninderby]

We could end up with the Formula 1 scope. Collimating an F1 could be a bit tricky though.. 😁😁😁

[Robindonne]

48 minutes ago, johninderby said:

We could end up with the Formula 1 scope. Collimating an F1 could be a bit tricky though.. 😁😁😁

For some strange reason they don’t perform well lately🤔

[johninderby]

Ah but they could be usefull to keep sight of the Mercedes. 😁

[F15Rules]

23 hours ago, tomato said:

This one gets my vote, what with speculum mirrors that tarnished before your very eyes, and surely the most hard to use, restricted movement mount ever devised, plus siting it in the middle of Ireland, I truly marvel how Lord Rosse and co-workers ever managed to see anything at all. 

 

 

Looks a bit like a Trebuchet!🤭😁

Dave