New Takahashi

[Nicola Fletcher]

I bought myself a Takahashi FC-76 DCU from FLO on Thursday night. I’d been obsessing about a Tak for a while, especially since reading the recommendations by @DirkSteele and@JeremyS. It arrived today, and I can’t even articulate how excited I was when I saw the box, opened the ‘box origami’ and finally beheld the magic within. The Certificate of Inspection with the autographs of Mr Takahashi and colleagues was the icing on the cake!

I’m planning on using this as an ultra portable setup for travel, and putting it on my Giro Ercole mini with a (yet to be purchased) lightweight tripod. 

Quick question - I bought the TKA20420Q tube cradle for it - but now realise that I need a dovetail bar to put it on the Giro (there’s a TS Optics dovetail clamp for vixen dovetails on it) or my EQM35 Pro. Will the Takahashi TKP71423 dovetail bar work for both of these mounts or would anyone be able to suggest something if not? The dovetail bar supplied with the EQM35 Pro doesn’t look like it will be suitable - the screws supplied with the clamshell are too wide.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Edited March 1, 2021 by Nicola Fletcher

[Sunshine]

What a little gem of a scope that is! congratulations! I feel the excitement from thousands of miles away! look at that Russian doll box, they know how to pack them. Enjoy it, it looks simply beautiful and you must be holding 

it like it was a newborn.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Sunshine

[Nicola Fletcher]

5 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

What a little gem of a scope that is! congratulations! I feel the excitement from thousands of miles away! look at that Russian doll box, they know how to pack them. Enjoy it, it looks simply beautiful and you must be holding 

it like it was a newborn.

Thank you! Yes, every bit of it is amazing, I just keep thinking of the people that make these scopes with such precision and attention to detail. Can’t believe how lucky I am 🤗

[Stu]

1 minute ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

Thank you! Yes, every bit of it is amazing, I just keep thinking of the people that make these scopes with such precision and attention to detail. Can’t believe how lucky I am 🤗

You will love it Nicola! I had one a while ago and still regret selling it. Such lovely sharp optics and very lightweight and portable with it. Enjoy!

[JeremyS]

Congratulations on your new scope @Nicola Fletcher. It’s a Beauty.

I use a standard Vixen style dovetail on mine. The Tak dovetail bar is fractionally narrower and for some reason too narrow for my ADM. It’s fine for the clamps on all my other scopes tho.

Edited March 1, 2021 by JeremyS

[Nicola Fletcher]

5 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Congratulations on your new scope @Nicola Fletcher. It’s a Beauty.

I use a standard Vixen style dovetail on mine. The Tak dovetail bar is fractionally narrower and for some reason too narrow for my ADM. It’s fine for the clamps on all my other scopes tho.

Thanks a lot for that Jeremy - much appreciated. Good times ahead I imagine with this little gem!

[JeremyS]

1 minute ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

Thanks a lot for that Jeremy - much appreciated. Good times ahead I imagine with this little gem!

Indeed 👍🏻
The pic I posted showed the full size Tak tube cradle. I’ve also got a narrow one which is slightly lighter for travelling (and mounting)

[JeremyS]

Tak narrow tube holder (on Tak FS60 Q)

[Marki]

What a beautiful scope, Nicola. I wish a successful first light!

BTW, Jeremy, is the dovertail to clamshell fixing the same for the FC100s, do you know? Or are there tube rings that fit the tubes? (I've been wondering how to attach the clamshell to a bar for use on my azq6, should I ever succumb to the Tak tempatation....)

[Nicola Fletcher]

1 minute ago, JeremyS said:

Tak narrow tube holder (on Tak FS60 Q)

I got the full size one - I also saw the smaller one that you have but thought I hopefully won’t be so tight on weight restrictions (even going to Africa) that it’ll make a huge difference. The smaller one looks very good on yours though, I must say.

[JeremyS]

1 minute ago, Marki said:

What a beautiful scope, Nicola. I wish a successful first light!

BTW, Jeremy, is the dovertail to clamshell fixing the same for the FC100s, do you know? Or are there tube rings that fit the tubes? (I've been wondering how to attach the clamshell to a bar for use on my azq6, should I ever succumb to the Tak tempatation....)

The Tak FC 100 Dx have wider tubes than the FC 76 DCU and FS 60 (Q). So they need bigger tube rings. They can be mounted to the same dovetail plate tho. Not sure if that’s what you were asking 

[Marki]

Yep - the dovetail thing, thanks.

 

[dweller25]

Welcome to the Tak club @Nicola Fletcher 👍

[Nicola Fletcher]

15 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Congratulations on your new scope @Nicola Fletcher. It’s a Beauty.

I use a standard Vixen style dovetail on mine. The Tak dovetail bar is fractionally narrower and for some reason too narrow for my ADM. It’s fine for the clamps on all my other scopes tho.

Quick question before I buy it - is this the same as yours? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/astro-essentials-dovetail-bars.html

[JeremyS]

2 hours ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

Quick question before I buy it - is this the same as yours? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/astro-essentials-dovetail-bars.html

Yes that’s the one (18 cm). I don’t think the screws supplied are the right ones for the Tak tube cradle, though. I used two screws from my toolbox instead. Note the advantage of the Tak dovetail is that it comes with correct screws (but as said above, it’s too narrow for some dovetail mounts)

[Nicola Fletcher]

5 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Yes that’s the one (18 cm). I don’t think the screws supplied are the right ones for the Tak tube cradle, though. I used two screws from my toolbox instead. Note the advantage of the Tak dovetail is that it comes with correct screws (but as said above, it’s too narrow for some dovetail mounts)

Great stuff, thanks for your help. I don't mind the screws, I can get those from a hardware shop if necessary. Just don't want to buy the wrong thing as it's a bit of a pain returning items from Ireland!

[A McEwan]

Congratulations on your first Takahashi!     They really are something rather special!

Edited March 2, 2021 by A McEwan

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Yes that’s the one (18 cm). I don’t think the screws supplied are the right ones for the Tak tube cradle, though. I used two screws from my toolbox instead. Note the advantage of the Tak dovetail is that it comes with correct screws (but as said above, it’s too narrow for some dovetail mounts)

Skinflint!  Anything to save a few grand!!  If Nicola buys a Tak mount she won't need to worry about dovetails or screws.  

Just trying to be helpful! ☺

[callisto]

A thing of beauty 😍   (I'm hovering the Buy button for the FS-60CB)

The cert deserves a frame of it's own to hang on the wall 😁

 

Mark

[Nicola Fletcher]

17 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Skinflint!  Anything to save a few grand!!  If Nicola buys a Tak mount she won't need to worry about dovetails or screws.  

Just trying to be helpful! ☺

A Tak mount....what a great idea. I shall return the dovetail immediately! 🤣

[jock1958]

19 minutes ago, callisto said:

A thing of beauty 😍   (I'm hovering the Buy button for the FS-60CB)

The cert deserves a frame of it's own to hang on the wall 😁

 

Mark

Go on press that button you won't regret it, once you've bought the FS-60CB you can invest in a CQ 1.7x Extender then you have an FS-60Q......only trying to help 😉

[callisto]

1 minute ago, jock1958 said:

Go on press that button you won't regret it, once you've bought the FS-60CB you can invest in a CQ 1.7x Extender then you have an FS-60Q......only trying to help 😉

Stop it!....my finger is twitching 🤔

[A McEwan]

20 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Go on press that button you won't regret it, once you've bought the FS-60CB you can invest in a CQ 1.7x Extender then you have an FS-60Q......only trying to help 😉

I'm actually tempted by a FOA-60Q at the moment. It's in my brain now...

🥴

[F15Rules]

3 minutes ago, A McEwan said:

I'm actually tempted by a FOA-60Q at the moment. It's in my brain now...

🥴

Don't fret, Ant...it's a "no brainer".. 

Dave

[jock1958]

9 minutes ago, A McEwan said:

I'm actually tempted by a FOA-60Q at the moment. It's in my brain now...

🥴

Trouble is once you go down the Tak route it’s very difficult to get it out of your system and can be very expensive...but hey ho you only live once 😬

Edited March 2, 2021 by jock1958