Show us your mini scope

[nicoscy]

Borg 60ED running at f3.6 for EEVA on the AZ GTi. Grab this with one hand, ipad with the other and just plop down on a chair for some fun. Easiest setup ever, instant gratification!

[jock1958]

On 09/12/2020 at 09:36, Chinapig said:

Please excuse the mugshot (something to send the grandchildren!), but here’s my delightful Tak FS-60C, with Herschel Wedge in place, enjoying the recent sunspot activity.

I’m truly amazed by the quality and versatility of this little scope.  It’s become my most-used and favourite scope, whether in F6 mode as here, or at F10 with the extender in place.  The detail it could pull out of the sunspots and their surroundings was most impressive.  And it rides so sweetly on the Scopetech Mount Zero.  Solar, lunar, open star clusters, wide-field views - it’s a joy.

 

 

Snap! Got my little FS-60 on a Scopetech Zero as well. It’s a brilliant little scope and with only 2.4” of aperture it punches way above its weight and as I get older and more creaky I think I’ll be using it a lot more. I’ve mounted mine on a manfrotto 190 carbon fibre tripod, what are you using? PS: love the peep sight! 

Edited February 9, 2021 by jock1958

[JeremyS]

39 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Snap! Got my little FS-60 on a Scopetech Zero as well

One here, too: Tak FS 60 Q on ScopeTech Zero and Berlebach Report 312:

[jock1958]

12 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

One here, too: Tak FS 60 Q on ScopeTech Zero and Berlebach Report 312:

Great set up Jeremy - Mini Tak + Scopetech Zero + Berlebach Tripod + Berlebach Chair - now that's what I call grab & go Nirvana!!

[A McEwan]

An oldie but goodie - my Swift 839. 60mm f13.5. It now serves on my modified AZ-3 mount, though I have the original EQ mount and storeage box (courtesy of PhilJ)

 

[JeremyS]

On 09/02/2021 at 12:17, jock1958 said:

Great set up Jeremy - Mini Tak + Scopetech Zero + Berlebach Tripod + Berlebach Chair - now that's what I call grab & go Nirvana!!

I’d still like to try a Tak FOA 60 Q, though 😊

[Nakedgun]

I just gotta have the power!

And, at f/7 the prism diagonal seemed the right addition.

 

 

 

Pocket Borg 25mm f/7

[recceranger]

[Stardust]

Lomo Astele 60 mak. Russian, metal tube, star map and just looks so sweet 

[KP82]

For widefield and terrestrial

[Pixies]

12 hours ago, KP82 said:

For widefield and terrestrial

Wow - what mount is that?

[vlaiv]

1 minute ago, Pixies said:

Wow - what mount is that?

Looks very much like this one:

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11386_Artesky-Alt-azimuth-Mount-with-fine-adjustment-for-instruments-up-to-7-kg.html

except for color scheme

[KP82]

21 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Wow - what mount is that?

vlaiv is mostly correct.

The mount is actually called Hercules 2.5" Alt-AZ mount (the size of the main bearing). There are also 4" and 6" versions. They are all made by the same company in China. I bought mine from RVO as a package including the vixen clamp and weights. They are also available directly from the manufacturer through aliexpress.

The build quality is very good. Its size and weight make it very portable. However unlike many conventional alt-az mounts that use a proper clutcher and worm drive for slow motion, this one has a belt drive with ball bearing rollers and friction based clutcher for slow motion. As a result it's quite sensitive to balancing. Also the advertised payload is way overrated. RVO states the mount is good for 10kg, but I wouldn't be comfortable with putting anything more than 5 - 6kg on it.

[GlenM]

On 05/03/2021 at 21:43, KP82 said:

For widefield and terrestrial

Nice Hercules mount. How do you get on with it?

 

Glen.

 

[KP82]

1 hour ago, GlenM said:

Nice Hercules mount. How do you get on with it?

 

Glen.

 

Have used mostly for terretrial and a little bit on the Moon.  I really like its compact size and solid finish. Smooth panning in the azimuth. But because of the ball bearing rollers + friction based clutcher instead of the conventional worm drive, the mount is quite sensitive to balancing in the altitude axis which could be an issue if swapping between eyepieces with big difference in weight. Also the payload capacity is way overrated both on RVO and Hercules own websites. Because of the sensitivity to balancing I'd only recommend the mount for short refractors and all kinds of cassegrains.

[Second Time Around]

On 13/12/2020 at 17:11, Second Time Around said:

I have various mini scopes based on Tamron's Wide Field Tele-View.  This a 90 degree Amici prism and 20mm/70 degree eyepiece.  It attaches to any of Tamron's Adaptall camera lenses.  2 of the 3 I've bought have a 49mm internal thread and so with a 42mm step down ring may also take a T thread lens.  When I find a suitable one I'll check if it'll reach infinity focus when set up like this.  It does of course do so with Tamron's Adaptall lenses.  The Tele-View is long discontinued now, but does come up fairly often on eBay, as do the Adaptall lenses.

The picture above shows a 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 lens attached to the built-in tripod adapter on the Tele-View.  As you can see, I've fitted it with finder rings.

This configuration is an excellent substitute for a Telrad, but it's a right angle correct image (RACI) finder, so much more comfortable to look through.

With the lens set at 35mm it gives 1.75x magnification with an aperture of 12.5mm and a 40 degree field of view .  At 80mm it becomes a 4x21 with a 17.5 deg FOV. 

I've fitted my Tele-Views with crosshairs (the eyepiece screws out with a bit of force), but found the crosshairs move when the lens is zoomed, so are centered at only one magnification.

Amongst the other lenses I use are a 35-210mm f/3.5-4.2.  This again can be a RACI replacement for a Telrad, giving the same 1.75x magnification with a 40 deg FOV but with an aperture of 10mm.  Set at 210mm it becomes a 10.5x50 with a 6.66 deg FOV.

There's a wide range of Tamron lenses that can be attached.  Longer focus ones will of course give higher powers, some of which can be fitted with a 1.4x and/or 2x tele-converter that's like a Powermate.

 

I've now bought a 35mm f/3.5 T2 lens. Unfortunately though my step down adapter doesn't allow the lens to focus at infinity.

I've therefore ordered a custom-made adapter from SRB Photographic.  Due to Covid there's a 3 month+ lead time, but when they're ready to make it I'll send the Tamron Teleview and the T2 lens to SRB to make sure it works.

I'll report back in due course.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Second Time Around

[RT65CB-SWL]

On 05/03/2021 at 13:06, Stardust said:

Lomo Astele 60 mak. Russian, metal tube, star map and just looks so sweet 

I have always fancied one of these Russian 🇷🇺 beauties! 😋

Are they any good? 😁

[Bobby Glasser]

TeleVue Ranger (70mm F/6.8 air-spaced ED doublet refractor)

This is my largest, smallest, and only scope!

I am a geologist and it goes EVERYWHERE I go!

[Voyager 3]

On 09/12/2020 at 14:39, rl said:

A poor thing but mine own..an OO right angle finder.

Can we have a thread for the silliest OTA- eyepiece combo? Can anyone match a 30mm ES 100 to a 60mm OG?

Which one is the telescope ?

[mikeDnight]

Here's my 72mm ED addition to the family on a Unitron Altazimuth mount. 😊

 

[Alan White]

31 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Here's my 72mm ED addition to the family on a Unitron Altazimuth mount. 😊

 

Interesting that scopes are now in the house as well Mike.
Is the pier a DIY painting job to the left of the ED72?


 

[mikeDnight]

5 hours ago, Alan White said:

Interesting that scopes are now in the house as well Mike.
Is the pier a DIY painting job to the left of the ED72?


 

No its a genuine Vixen pier Alan. It suddenly appeared earlier this year when my wife wasn't looking. I thought it would provide a more space saving option than a tripod in the house, as I tend to leave my Tak on a mount rather than putting it in a bag or case. The reasons for doing that are 1) It allow as any moisture on the tube after a night's observing to evaporate fully. 2) It gives me something to admire when its raining cat's and dog's, and 3) I'm inherently lazy, and found that if I do put my scope away in its protective bag, I often can't be bothered to mess around unzipping the bag to get my scope and then having to dry it off again before it goes back into the bag. Then finding somewhere to put the bag where its not in the way. With the scope already on an EQ in the house, I can grab the tube assembly in seconds and carry it out to the observatory. 😊

[Stardust]

On 20/11/2021 at 23:07, Philip R said:

I have always fancied one of these Russian 🇷🇺 beauties! 😋

Are they any good? 😁

My collimation  is smidgen off but not sure how to adjust it. Saturn's rings were a nice sight

[Concordia000]

On 05/02/2021 at 16:32, Louis D said:

I looked it up, and now I want one if I can find one for cheap.

It turns out TOMYTEC still owns Borg:

Technically, Borg is but a division of Tomytec and the Famisco predates Borg — if you know about anime, it’s like the film “Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind” is considered a Ghibli Studio film, even if it predated Ghibli itself.

The story behind Borg is a similar story: the Famisco was so successful that Tomytec decided to enter the industry permanently. The first Borgs rolled off the production line in 1991. Internally it was heralded by 3 people initially, including then-new joiner Noboru Nakagawa who would go on to become the head of Borg department. He would continue to work for Borg for the next 28 years until he retired in 2018, having finished working on the 107FL (I believe). I think he now works at Sightron/Syumitto Japan which is a telescope vendor.

Theres an interview of him from 2008 in Japanese:

http://www.astroarts.com/hoshinavi/magazine/shokunin/004/index-j.shtml
 

I always found it amazing that Tomytec somehow still maintains the Borg department after all those years, even getting their lens from Canon-Optron. But given a bit more thought it probably makes more sense; it’s probably highly lucrative, easy to maintain since they can probably use other Tomytec machineries, and have very few staff members. In Borg’s perspective, Tomytec’s wide connection with the industry, its distribution and marketing network are something many telescope makers dream of. That’s why even through the pandemic, Tomytec can continue to sell us (albeit beautifully machined) metal rings for £30 a piece…