JAN 6TH - MOON AT FIRST QUARTER - DESLANDRES & MAGINUS WELL PLACED.

[paulastro]

I put the alarm on at 4 am to catch the Moon at last quarter in the morning sky.  Outside, laying snow and a severe frost awaited me.  I observed with the Tecnosky 102ED F7 FPL53 on the Vixen DX mount.  Excellent views in between cloud, but with long clear patches.  I was outside from 4.30 am to 5.55 am when cloud thinkened - followed by some snow when I was indoors. 

Fabulous detail along the terminator, particularly favourable for Deslandres and Maginus. 

To show the terminator, I took a single frame at 5.05 am at prime focus with my Olympus E-M5 Mk11, 1 /250 sec at 400 asa.  It is shown below with a couple of crops of the same frame.

 

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

A very enjoyable read Paul and well done getting up at 4am.

I knew that you had sold your ED120 but did you obtain the Tecnosky 102ED F7 FPL53 from new?

I always missed the Astro Tech but I would guess that this is an improvement on that.

[wibblefish]

Very nice shot! I have an Olympus E-M5 Mk1 and am hoping to toy with the idea of connecting it up to the telescope eventually good to know its capable enough!

[paulastro]

1 hour ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

A very enjoyable read Paul and well done getting up at 4am.

I knew that you had sold your ED120 but did you obtain the Tecnosky 102ED F7 FPL53 from new?

I always missed the Astro Tech but I would guess that this is an improvement on that.

Yes Mark, unusually for me I did buy it new 🙂. I bought it from Rupert at Astrograph, he imports them from Italy, and then checks them out before sending on to the buyer.

I've nothing against non - fpl 53 optics, and if I could have bought an Astrotech version the same vintage as the one we had, I might well  have done so.  Also I was wary of buying any new incarnation of a non-fpl53 version as I couldn't be sure it would be of the high quality of 'our' Astrotech.

Having said that, the Tecnosky, in the brief time I've had it, has really impressed me..  It's one of those scopes you get excited about before going out to observe with it.  The small tiny star  images are very apparent, as is the contrast and sharpness of the images and the lack of CA.  I will write a report on it when I've had more time with it.  But do PM me if youd like to know anything else in the mean time. 

And, it hurts me to say it, but it does seem a step up from 'our' Astrotech 😔.

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, wibblefish said:

Very nice shot! I have an Olympus E-M5 Mk1 and am hoping to toy with the idea of connecting it up to the telescope eventually good to know its capable enough!

Many thanks, that's kind of you.  A great camera the Mk1, I still have mine as well as the Mk11, but I seldom use it - though I wont part with it.  I cant remember why I 'upgraded', but there were some particular features that were useful for the different types of photography I do.

The feature I find indispensible on the Mk11 is the ability to magnify the image on the rear screen by up to x14 and focus on it to ensure you have the best chance of catching the moments of best seeing.  At prime focus my 102 has an effective mag of just over x28. When you magnify this by x14 you are focusing on an image magnified x392 !!  Fabulous for lunar purposes.

I dont recall if the Mk1 has this facility?  I think it may, but I'm not cerain.

[wibblefish]

@paulastro I am not sure it does on the live view, will have a tinker with it. I am going to probably try some wide field piggyback first as I don’t have the t adapters for the camera (not even really sure what youd need total newbie!). I am always a bit confused if you put the camera in the diagonal or into the scope directly and how it might affect it weight wise, so plenty to research before I try that! Plus I only have a 90mm achro short tube on an az pronto mount so I would imagine moon shots would be doable and might be fun to explore what is possible at some point if I decide to play with some astro 🔭

Edited January 6, 2021 by wibblefish

[paulastro]

Usually the camera goes straight on the telescope rather than on your diagonal. You just rebalance the tube on the mount to accommodate the change in weight.

The T adapter you'd need is the macro 4/3, I use one of these to attach my camera to my refractors.

For imaging, it might be helpful to post questions to the appropriate imaging section.  My astro photography is very limited as I'm mainly a visual observer.  I only do simple things imaging wise that wont take up valuable eyeball time 🙂.

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

2 hours ago, paulastro said:

Yes Mark, unusually for me I did buy it new 🙂. I bought it from Rupert at Astrograph, he imports them from Italy, and then checks them out before sending on to the buyer.

I've nothing against non - fpl 53 optics, and if I could have bought an Astrotech version the same vintage as the one we had, I might well  have done so.  Also I was wary of buying any new incarnation of a non-fpl53 version as I couldn't be sure it would be of the high quality of 'our' Astrotech.

Having said that, the Tecnosky, in the brief time I've had it, has really impressed me..  It's one of those scopes you get excited about before going out to observe with it.  The small tiny star  images are very apparent, as is the contrast and sharpness of the images and the lack of CA.  I will write a report on it when I've had more time with it.  But do PM me if youd like to know anything else in the mean time. 

And, it hurts me to say it, but it does seem a step up from 'our' Astrotech 😔.

Thanks for that Paul. I notice that the Widescreen Centre sells this OTA for £899 which for a 4" APO with FPL53 optics seems quite reasonable.

[paulastro]

Yes, I paid the same amount, so is the Altair Astro version of the same scope.  I chose the Tecnosky version as I've dealt with Rupert at Astrograph before and he's a top man.  As you say, it's a good price. The only comparable for about the same price is the Sky Watcher f9 100mm ED.  I

44 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Thanks for that Paul. I notice that the Widescreen Centre sells this OTA for £899 which for a 4" APO with FPL53 optics seems quite reasonable.

wanted an F7 version anyway.  Also, the fit and finish of the Tecnosky is much better, and dare I say it, the optics appear to be noticeably better too.  This is no disrespect to the ED pro series, I've been happy to own many of them over the years, and I still have the SW 72ED which is excellent - and it achieves this without using fpl53.

[BRADLEY 1953]

Hi  Paul,  lovely crisp image. It was very brave of you to get up in this cold weather, still snow on the ground down here at Knowles Mill.  PS.  New scope sounds good.  

[paulastro]

27 minutes ago, BRADLEY 1953 said:

Hi  Paul,  lovely crisp image. It was very brave of you to get up in this cold weather, still snow on the ground down here at Knowles Mill.  PS.  New scope sounds good.  

Many thanks Chris, that's nice of you. Yes, still snow and ice here too.  I'll look forward to the time we are able to get together again and do some observing. Looks like it will be clear again in the early hours of Thursday 🙂.

[Paz]

Nice report. Anyone getting out of bed early to observe deserves a medal.

I've promised myself I would do this many times but don't have the discipline to actually do it!

[Your Star Will Shine]

Got up at 5am this morning went to get my gear ready and then mist came down plus it was low which didnt help with the trees around me so knocked it on the head and went back to bed.

I will try again in the morning