My First Tak!!!!!!!!

[JeremyS]

Just now, dweller25 said:

A tripod sniffer 🥴🤪😂

Guilty as charged 👍

[Sunshine]

Back to the tripod conversation, I have my mind on a berlebach tripod which I think would be smashing and, maybe even lighter than my current skywatcher tripod.

regarding the stain, when the time comes I just know I will be torn between stain if I can choose them as mentioned above.

[Cleetus]

With a telescope like that your choice is between the Berlebach or a Takahashi wooden tripod. Nothing else will do I'm afraid.

 

[JeremyS]

That EM2 is a thing of beauty, @Cleetus . And of course you need a Tak tripod for that set up.

It looks like you managed to colour coordinate the classic Tak mint green throughout too 👍🏻

Is is single axis drive?
 

Edited August 27, 2021 by JeremyS

[Cleetus]

27 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

That EM2 is a thing of beauty, @Cleetus . And of course you need a Tak tripod for that set up.

It looks like you managed to colour coordinate the classic Tak mint green throughout too 👍🏻

Is is single axis drive?
 

Hi Jeremy,
Drive to RA only with built-in drive corrector for AP. About twenty years old now but I haven't had it that long - bought last year. FC 100 DF five years old so everything before new Tak paint colour.

[Sunshine]

On 27/08/2021 at 04:19, Cleetus said:

With a telescope like that your choice is between the Berlebach or a Takahashi wooden tripod. Nothing else will do I'm afraid.

 

Wow, looking at your EM-2 once again I see it is a beautiful mount and I would love to mate it with my 102. Is it a goto mount? can it be used manually by way of slow motion control knobs? on nights where tracking isn't a necessity? the tripod is beautiful!. OH NO! something else I want for my 102, now its just an obsession, I imagined my 102 on that mount and it raised my heartbeat and cause me to sweat a bit, seriously. Takitis is not a joke, I fully understand Jeremy now.

I see it seems to be long out of production now.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Sunshine

[F15Rules]

Hi Sunshine,

My FS128 came with an EM2 mount. It's single speed RA drive but has slo motion knobs for manual tracking on both axes too. I fitted a longer slo motion rod to my Dec axis to allow small corrections (which are all that are needed when the RA drive is on and the polar axis manually aligned with Polaris).

There is a 2x RA "speed" control button but frankly it's so slow it's much quicker to loosen the RA clutch knob and manually move the scope to where you want it.

The EM2 is not goto, but nevertheless is a lovely, smooth mount, quite similar, but IMHO a bit better than the Vixen GPDX (a very fine mount itself).

Mine also came with the original tripod, which would be fine on a 4" scope, but struggled with my 5" due to the longer tube and higher weight. So I sold mine and used  instead my trusty old fixed height hardwood tripod..on this the rig is rock solid.. I adjust height by using a variable height Geoptik Nadira seat.

HTH,

Dave

Edited September 18, 2021 by F15Rules
Additional text info

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

Hi Sunshine,

My FS128 came with an EM2 mount. It's single speed RA drive but has slo motion knobs for manual tracking on both axes too. I fitted a longer slo motion rod to my Dec axis to allow small corrections (which are all that are needed when the RA drive is on and the polar axis manually aligned with Polaris).

There is a 2x RA "speed" control button but frankly it's so slow it's much quicker to loosen the RA clutch knob and manually move the scope to where you want it.

The EM2 is not goto, but nevertheless is a lovely, smooth mount, quite similar, but IMO better than, the Vixen GPDX (a very fine mount itself).

Mine also came with the original tripod, which would be fine on a 4" scope, but struggled with my 5" die to the longer tube and higher weight. So I sold mine and used I stead my trusty old fixed height hardwood tripod..on this the rig is rock solid.

HTH,

Dave

It seems I am correct in assuming an EM-2 can only be acquired on the used market as it seems to be long out of production. It is a wonderful looking mount/tripod combination and, seems to have a higher weight capacity than my Vixen GP should a TSA-120 fall into my lap one day 😂

Edited September 18, 2021 by Sunshine

[F15Rules]

Yes, but they do come up occasionally.

They are built to last and if like me you are visual only and like finding objects without goto, a wonderful mount for a scope like yours.

A few pics for your interest ☺️..

Dave

[dweller25]

@Sunshine Your vixen GP is a very good mount but a GPDX on a Berlebach tripod works well and looks great…..

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by dweller25

[Sunshine]

2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Yes, but they do come up occasionally.

They are built to last and if like me you are visual only and like finding objects without goto, a wonderful mount for a scope like yours.

A few pics for your interest ☺️..

Dave

I love my Vixen GP but that EM-2 with its stained tripod is beautiful, I will search far and wide for one.

[F15Rules]

10 hours ago, Sunshine said:

I love my Vixen GP but that EM-2 with its stained tripod is beautiful, I will search far and wide for one.

I believe, but cannot be sure, that this Takahashi tripod is still available new.. it's the FC-L model..

https://www.robtics.nl/en/tripods/2691-takahashi-wooden-tripod-fc-l-for-em-2-em-10-mounts-twt20030.html

..and if you Google the model it does come up readily, especially in the States, but the above link is to a Dutch dealer (note that they state on the Google search "in stock", but I don't think they are the best at keeping their website up to date...). sadly, FLO don't appear to stock it in the UK.

They are NOT cheap tripods though, and, having used this one, I still think that an equivalent cost Berlebach would be a more solid platform for an FS128 or TSA120 sized scope. It would be perfect for a 4" though.

HTH,

Dave

Edited September 19, 2021 by F15Rules
Additional text info

[F15Rules]

On 18/09/2021 at 22:25, dweller25 said:

@Sunshine Your vixen GP is a very good mount but a GPDX on a Berlebach tripod works well and looks great…..

 

+1. The GPDX is an excellent, solid and well engineered platform. Quoted capacity is similar to the Tak EM2/EM10 mounts, (c 10kg), but as with most Japanese companies they tend to be a bit conservative with their claims..my FS128 fully loaded with 50mm RACI finder, extension tube, 2" diagonal and large 2" eyepiece is at least 9-10kg, possibly more, and is very solid on my hardwood fixed height tripod..and I've used it on a GPDX as well, with no issues👍.

Dave

Edited September 20, 2021 by F15Rules

[John]

I think this is the same mount that @dweller25 has posted above, here with my 130mm F/9.2 triplet on board. That scope weighs 9.4 kg which I felt was on the limit for the GPDX but workable with a little care. It's a longer tube than the FS 128 though

My Tak FC100-DL (2nd pic) is a piece of cake for the GPDX as you might expect.

[dweller25]

All the above mounts and tripods are solid, top quality options.

The Tak mount with the Tak scope just looks right 👍

[IB20]

Some beautiful set ups in here, I need to stay out of this thread, will cost me a fortune. I already keep looking at the 76DCU which I absolutely don’t need. 😅

[Sunshine]

On 19/09/2021 at 06:25, IB20 said:

Some beautiful set ups in here, I need to stay out of this thread, will cost me a fortune. I already keep looking at the 76DCU which I absolutely don’t need. 😅

You miss the point, my friend, nothing in amateur astronomy is about “need” it’s all about want!.