Time to get a 4” APO?

[CraigT82]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

That’s kind of her Neil, but I’m not sure the bathroom is the best place to store a telescope. Especially a Tak 🤔

Dunno… Tak green might look quite fetching alongside a nice avocado suite

[Stu]

Whilst I agree about lightweight eyepieces suiting the FC100 better, don’t forget the beautiful widefield views possible with a 31mm Nagler for instance. Fab on the Veil and NAN.

@JeremyS must be far more discerning than me 😉, I use my 100 on the ScopeTech Zero most of the time on a Gitzo tripod. It is not rock steady, but the benefits of lightweight, single handed carry out to the garden are more important to me for those quick sessions I seem to do a lot of the time, day or night.

[MalcolmM]

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Agree. I generally use lighter, 1.25 inch EP with my 3 and 4-inch Taks. Especially for travel. This is where the TV Naglers come in - and the Tak LEs for even lighter use. This is not that the foster can’t take it, by any means - just my usage preference

Another vote for light eyepieces. Especially in the DC or 76 which are such  light scopes, it feels counter intuitive to me to be putting heavy eyepieces on them. That being said I do put a binoviewer on the DC sometimes! But with light eyepieces in the binoviewer 🙂 

I usually take @JeremyS's word as gospel 🙂 but I would consider Naglers as heavy. Gimme a good Tak Abbe!

Malcolm 

[Littleguy80]

6 hours ago, jetstream said:

Could you change the focuser down the road if need be Neil?

I dont like big, long hvy eyepieces in a frac- the 42mm LVW is pretty light for what it is however. The lightweight 16T5 is great in my fracs for M42 etc as a higher power option on them.

Oddly , I hardly ever use the 20mm APM in my fracs.

I would think I could upgrade the focuser further down if it came to it. 

If I look at my usage of the 80mm Equinox, it gets a lot of use with the APM UFF 30MM for widefield. Same idea as the 31mm Nagler that Stu mentioned though a lot lighter. One of the benefits of the Tak is it can replace the 80mm as a travel scope so I’d probably sell the 80mm. 

I know the Tak will be awesome at high powers. Now just wondering if the DC or DF is the right model to cover widefield alongside that. 

[Mr Spock]

2 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

avocado

🤢

[IB20]

8 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

I’ve been playing the dangerous game of putting combinations of things into a FLO basket just to see how much it costs.

With regards to FC100DC, how good is the focuser if I wanted to use a 2” diagonal with something like the APM HDC 20mm eyepiece or an entry level Canon DSLR? Not sure if I need the more expensive version with the stronger focuser? If the DC is ok with that, I think I need this to use the 2” diagonal?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/takahashi-adapters/takahashi-2-inch-eyepiece-holder-for-fs-60-and-fs-78fc100dc.html

I mentioned my hopes and dreams of a Tak to my lovely wife who has made her opening counter offer of some bathroom refurbishment should she agree. We’ll see where the negotiations go from here 😂

I think the focuser on the 100DC and the 76DCU are the same. It has a very short amount of travel but it is really nice. I use big XWs and have tried BVs on and it handles fine. It would probably take a DSLR but it might also be best off getting the DF if that’s what you want to do. If you wanted to upgrade to a larger focuser from the DC you’re probably looking at £700 for a FT with adaptor and also probably months of lead time to source one too. If the DF is a goer for another £550 you could get the DZ if it was mainly for visual. 😈

[Littleguy80]

It’s been a long wait since I started this thread but I can finally reveal my choice of 4” APO… 

Takahashi FC100DF. The edge in optical performance and the fact that I can pack it up for trips abroad made it the one for me. I’ve really enjoyed bringing my 80mm frac on holidays with me, so being able to bring a telescope of this quality instead was a big selling point. 

Managed a quick first light on the sun today. Seeing was on the poor side but the granulation popped so much more than in the 80mm. My only issue so far is balance with the little Daystar Solar Scout. The Tak is noticeably heavier than the 80mm. The Giro-WR is struggling a bit. Will have to figure out how to deal with that. Strangely I was surprised by how big the Tak looked after my 80mm scope. Really looking forward to getting to know it better  

As always, I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who advised me on this. I had some people reach out on PM’s too. Whether I followed your advise or not, I can promise you that it all helped  

[John]

Very good choice Neil - I'm sure you will love it 🙂

 

[Littleguy80]

8 minutes ago, John said:

Very good choice Neil - I'm sure you will love it 🙂

 

Thanks John! I’m really chuffed. I’m sure I have many happy years of observing with it ahead of me!

[mikeDnight]

An awesome refractor Neil. Looking at the pic of yours makes me want to buy one all over again. 

[JeremyS]

Congratulations @Littleguy80. You have impeccable taste. Enjoy!

[RobertI]

Well done on making the jump, I’m sure you’ll love it. 

[Stu]

Excellent choice Neil, you will have bags of fun with that. Wait till you get some decent seeing on the sun! 😎😳😎🤩

If properly counterweighted and balanced, the WR should be fine with the Tak; I used it quite successfully with a 106mm triplet which was much heavier. What tripod are you using? I generally found that if the tripod is up to it, the mount copes fine.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on 👍

[JeremyS]

You’ve inspired me to get my 4-inch out. Using with the Extender Q x 1.6

[Littleguy80]

19 minutes ago, Stu said:

Excellent choice Neil, you will have bags of fun with that. Wait till you get some decent seeing on the sun! 😎😳😎🤩

If properly counterweighted and balanced, the WR should be fine with the Tak; I used it quite successfully with a 106mm triplet which was much heavier. What tripod are you using? I generally found that if the tripod is up to it, the mount copes fine.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on 👍

Thanks Stu. The seeing improved a bit as the evening went on. The granulation is so much easier to see with the Tak. Can’t wait to use it more and see what it can do at higher powers. 

With regards the balance, it’s the side to side rotation that’s a bit off. I just need more weight on the solar scout side. Not sure if one of the other bars I have with the WR can have the counterweight and clamp for solar scout on? I haven’t played around yet to see what I can do. The tripod I have is decent carbon fibre one. I do have plans for Berlebach in the future. A Report 312 or maybe a Uni 28. 

[Littleguy80]

20 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

You’ve inspired me to get my 4-inch out. Using with the Extender Q x 1.6

Looks good, Jeremy. I was reading about the Extender Q. Sounds like a nice bit of kit. Wasn’t sure how it compares to something like the Baader VIP Barlow, which I have. 

[Littleguy80]

Got the two scopes balanced nicely now. It doesn’t quite balance perfectly without the solar scout unless I screw the extra bar in. Perfectly workable though  

[Sunshine]

Congratulations! it looks wonderful and I am sure you've just jumped into a love affair with a 4" scope which will sweep you off your feet.

[The60mmKid]

It's so true that everyone should own a 5" refractor.

 

 

(But seriously: That's a lovely FC-100. Those can bring much joy.)

[John]

3 hours ago, The60mmKid said:

It's so true that everyone should own a 5" refractor.

 

 

(But seriously: That's a lovely FC-100. Those can bring much joy.)

I guess "aperture fever" comes in slightly smaller doses where refractors are concerned 🙂 

[Mr Spock]

...every 10mm doubles the cost 

[LDW1]

2 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

...every 10mm doubles the cost 

And ups the weight considerably, I wouldn't want to handle any more than my 127mm refractor unless permanently mounted or a lot younger than I am, lol !

[Littleguy80]

I have to dedicate this post to @Stu for leading me down this path. My Think Tank Airport Essentials backpack proved too small for the Tak so I’ve replaced it with a Vanguard VEO Select 49. A large and a medium LensCoat Hoodie are used to protect either end of the tube. A rubber lens cap, from Amazon, goes over the drawer tube on the focuser. The dew shield is slid over the tube wrapped in bubble wrap to avoid scratches. The clamshell with 7” ADM dovetail is also attached to the tube. 

Alongside the scope I have:

GIRO WR mount

Baader Sky Surfer 3 RDF

TS Optics Herschel Wedge

Baader 2” Clicklock diagonal with Clicklock 2”-1.25” adapter

ES68 24mm

Baader VIP Barlow

Nagler 3-6mm zoom

Televue OIII and UHC filters

Trusty eyepatch (for unexpected pirate conventions)

The whole lot weighs just over 7kg. Tripod, counterweight bar, counterweight and SW pillar can all go in checked luggage. I’ll definitely fiddle about with eyepiece selections but very pleased with how this packs down for travels 😁

[JeremyS]

4 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

I have to dedicate this post to @Stu for leading me down this path. My Think Tank Airport Essentials backpack proved too small for the Tak so I’ve replaced it with a Vanguard VEO Select 49. A large and a medium LensCoat Hoodie are used to protect either end of the tube. A rubber lens cap, from Amazon, goes over the drawer tube on the focuser. The dew shield is slid over the tube wrapped in bubble wrap to avoid scratches. The clamshell with 7” ADM dovetail is also attached to the tube. 

Alongside the scope I have:

GIRO WR mount

Baader Sky Surfer 3 RDF

TS Optics Herschel Wedge

Baader 2” Clicklock diagonal with Clicklock 2”-1.25” adapter

ES68 24mm

Baader VIP Barlow

Nagler 3-6mm zoom

Televue OIII and UHC filters

Trusty eyepatch (for unexpected pirate conventions)

The whole lot weighs just over 7kg. Tripod, counterweight bar, counterweight and SW pillar can all go in checked luggage. I’ll definitely fiddle about with eyepiece selections but very pleased with how this packs down for travels 😁

I had to look a couple of times to actually spot the scope 🤣

[Littleguy80]

4 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I had to look a couple of times to actually spot the scope 🤣

😂 It’s the new Tak camouflage paint job. Pretty effective!