Finally……. FS-128 😊

[Stu]

I’ve been looking for one of these for years, and never quite been in the right place, right time to nab one when they came up. This one was on eBay and managed to pick it up when travelling back from Dartford to Crewkerne last night.

It looks in excellent condition I must say. Optics are pretty good considering it’s about 22 years old! It has the original focuser which is very solid and smooth, though I may add an MEF for micro focusing at some stage. @F15Rules has also kindly shown me the correct adaptors to get me up and running with 2” eyepieces and binoviewers, in the meantime I’m limited to 1.25”. It also has the clamp which is solid and surprisingly light, and the excellent 50mm finder.

It’s a large scope, but seems very light compared with the LZOS 130mm f6. It will be interesting to do some comparisons between the two, but the LZOS will be looking for a new home soon.

Some poor pictures here taken last night, will post more when I get a chance to use it. Expect more cloud 🤪

[F15Rules]

Wonderful Stu!

Looks immaculate all round and a rare find. I'm very chuffed for you and am sure you will love it.

How do you plan to mount it?

Btw, I love the clamshell on mine and IMO so much easier to use and adjust than rings👍.

Dave

[Telescope40]

Nice one @Stu   Welcome to the FS128 owners club.   Looking good. Would this be the one I found on e Bay ??   It has disappeared from my watch list on that site - LOL 

Have you got a serial number. Interested to know where in the production run it lies compared with mine and Daves @F15Rules. 

John 👍👍👍

 

[R26 oldtimer]

Very nice scope, congratulations Stu 👍

[Stu]

13 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Wonderful Stu!

Looks immaculate all round and a rare find. I'm very chuffed for you and am sure you will love it.

How do you plan to mount it?

Btw, I love the clamshell on mine and IMO so much easier to use and adjust than rings👍.

Dave

Thanks Dave. Yes, a few marks here and there but generally excellent condition. I love the end cap too, light but very solid! Thanks for your help on the adapters, I’ll get those ordered up as soon as they are in stock.

I have an embarrassment of riches in terms of mounts. Vixen GP-DX might be nice for planetary and lunar, or I have the AZ75 and AZ100. On a Uni-28 the AZ75 should take it no problem and will make quite a light but stable setup.

I do agree that the clamshell looks great. I don’t really like them on the smaller scopes as they seem more bulky, but on the 128 it looks like a great option and as you say, just one knob to undo to adjust the scope for balance or rotation.

[Stu]

14 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Nice one @Stu   Welcome to the FS128 owners club.   Looking good. Would this be the one I found on e Bay ??   It has disappeared from my watch list on that site - LOL 

Have you got a serial number. Interested to know where in the production run it lies compared with mine and Daves @F15Rules. 

John 👍👍👍

 

Yes indeed it was John. Popped up on my searches as I’ve been looking for ages. I’ll check but believe it is 01017 which is 2001, correct?

[dweller25]

That looks to be in excellent condition Stu, the views are very, very good 😁

 

[JeremyS]

Amazing what you find on the road from Dartford to Crewkerne!

Seriously, though, congratulations on this magnificent beast Stu. It looks absolutely stunning and I am sure will be a superb performer. Good luck with first light.

[Telescope40]

25 minutes ago, Stu said:

Yes indeed it was John. Popped up on my searches as I’ve been looking for ages. I’ll check but believe it is 01017 which is 2001, correct?

Stu. Yes. A 2001 scope. Mine is a 1999 same as @F15Rules

Agree with the clamshell comments. I’m normally a tube ring fan. Converted with this scope. Got myself a ADM D Series Universal Dovetail bar for Takahashi 11" from FLO. 

Connects very solidly and without issues to my AZ100. 
Also saw an advert on ABS last night. Chap looking  for a nice frac and he mentions a LZOS 130.  Just sayin. 

Look forward to your first light report.  Seen that @mikeDnight is now back owning this scope too. 
 

Regards.  John 


 

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Stu. Yes. A 2001 scope. Mine is a 1999 same as @F15Rules

Agree with the clamshell comments. I’m normally a tube ring fan. Converted with this scope. Got myself a ADM D Series Universal Dovetail bar for Takahashi 11" from FLO. 

Connects very solidly and without issues to my AZ100. 
Also saw an advert on ABS last night. Chap looking  for a nice frac and he mentions a LZOS 130.  Just sayin. 

Look forward to your first light report.  Seen that @mikeDnight is now back owning this scope too. 
 

Regards.  John 


 

Thanks for the info John, appreciated. I’m guessing @mikeDnight bought @dweller25s scope???

[dweller25]

News travels fast 🤣

[F15Rules]

36 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Also saw an advert on ABS last night. Chap looking  for a nice frac and he mentions a LZOS 130.  Just sayin. 

Saw that ad, John. But he specifies an F9 Lzos (Stu's is an F6) or Tak TOA130 and doesn't seem to think a non triplet can match  a Mak Newt or an apo triplet for planetary observing😵‍💫🤐. Hey ho..

Actually, Stu will soon be able to give us a first hand comparison of the FS128  and Lzos 130 F6: Will make interesting reading!

John, you mentioned that Mike has got another FS128 recently?? More details please!🙂

Dave

[John]

Great find Stu and in lovely condition as well 🙂

How much does an FS 128 actually weigh with clamp / DT plate / finder and diagonal installed by the way ?

It would be very interesting to compare the FS 128, LZOS 130 F/6 and the LZOS 130 F/9.2. Probably need a night of excellent seeing to do the job properly though. 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by John

[Saganite]

22 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Saw that ad, John. But he specifies an F9 Lzos (Stu's is an F6) or Tak TOA130 and doesn't seem to think a non triplet can match  a Mak Newt or an apo triplet for planetary observing😵‍💫🤐. Hey ho..

Actually, Stu will soon be able to give us a first hand comparison of the FS128  and Lzos 130 F6: Will make interesting reading!

John, you mentioned that Mike has got another FS128 recently?? More details please!🙂

Dave

Or maybe not Dave, the LZOS is already up for sale..

[Telescope40]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Thanks for the info John, appreciated. I’m guessing @mikeDnight bought @dweller25s scope???

 

25 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Saw that ad, John. But he specifies an F9 Lzos (Stu's is an F6) or Tak TOA130 and doesn't seem to think a non triplet can match  a Mak Newt or an apo triplet for planetary observing😵‍💫🤐. Hey ho..

Actually, Stu will soon be able to give us a first hand comparison of the FS128  and Lzos 130 F6: Will make interesting reading!

John, you mentioned that Mike has got another FS128 recently?? More details please!🙂

Dave

Gents. I have to take the 5th amendment on this. 
Ta.  John 

[Stu]

8 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Or maybe not Dave, the LZOS is already up for sale..

I suspect I’ll have time to do a comparison between them before it sells, but who knows.

[mikeDnight]

Stu, I picked up Dweller25 (David's) FS128 last night and managed first light on Venus, which was nice as the last thing I observed through my first FS128 was Venus, so beginning where I left off. Anyhow,  mine like yours came with only the 1.25" back, so I quickly removed the green adapter in the drawtube and replaced it with these, which I bought a few weeks ago from FLO. I seem to remember it was Telescope40  (John) who advised me to get these as they allow maximum inward focus for low power bino viewing.

I still needed to use a 2" extension when using a 1.25" prism for planetary, but not with a 2" diagonal.

 

[Space Hopper]

It looks a beauty Stu 👍🏼

Congratulatons 🙂

[Stu]

25 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Stu, I picked up Dweller25 (David's) FS128 last night and managed first light on Venus, which was nice as the last thing I observed through my first FS128 was Venus, so beginning where I left off. Anyhow,  mine like yours came with only the 1.25" back, so I quickly removed the green adapter in the drawtube and replaced it with these, which I bought a few weeks ago from FLO. I seem to remember it was Telescope40  (John) who advised me to get these as they allow maximum inward focus for low power bino viewing.

I still needed to use a 2" extension when using a 1.25" prism for planetary, but not with a 2" diagonal.

 

Thanks Mike. Dave had given me the same info so I will pick them up as soon as there is stock available. How was the scope, as good as you remember?

[mikeDnight]

22 minutes ago, Stu said:

Thanks Mike. Dave had given me the same info so I will pick them up as soon as there is stock available. How was the scope, as good as you remember?

Yes I think so!  The seeing was a bit in and out last night, with a lot of cloud crossing my line of sight. It did begin to clear up quite nicely around 11pm but I'd had enough by then. Venus, which is probably the harshest test for any telescope was beautiful, with a sharp limb and no false colour. Mars was getting low and nearing the high tree line as seen from my site by the time I turned my attention to it. The seeing tends to go off at this point, but I easily saw the north polar cap, a couple of bright regions and some subtle dusky markings. I'm just not used to such a bright image! 😎  Cant honestly say at this stage that the 128 showed me anything that the DZ hasn't easily shown me, but it's early days and I'm now eagerly waiting for the Moon, which should show a noticeable difference.

I've only just noticed that mine doesn't have the Tak writing on the Dew shield. I've never seen one without it, but the scope is 25 years old and may be missed out on later niceties?  

Edited May 11, 2023 by mikeDnight

[laudropb]

Congratulations Stu. Just goes to show that dreams do come true.

[JeremyS]

On 11/05/2023 at 11:17, mikeDnight said:

 

I've only just noticed that mine doesn't have the Tak writing on the Dew shield. I've never seen one without it, but the scope is 25 years old and may be missed out on later niceties?  

Given your steady hand blacking the UFF 30, you you paint it on yourself, Mike.

Failing that, I could pop up with my blue marker pen 🈴️🥋⛩️

Edited May 12, 2023 by JeremyS

[Telescope40]

54 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Stu, I picked up Dweller25 (David's) FS128 last night and managed first light on Venus, which was nice as the last thing I observed through my first FS128 was Venus, so beginning where I left off. Anyhow,  mine like yours came with only the 1.25" back, so I quickly removed the green adapter in the drawtube and replaced it with these, which I bought a few weeks ago from FLO. I seem to remember it was Telescope40  (John) who advised me to get these as they allow maximum inward focus for low power bino viewing.

I still needed to use a 2" extension when using a 1.25" prism for planetary, but not with a 2" diagonal.

 

Stu. Got to give @F15Rules the shout re these adapters. 
The Tak ring was already in place when I bought mine and Dave tipped me off re the ultrashort ring. Think this about as good as it gets re in focus. 
 

John 

[Telescope40]

've only just noticed that mine doesn't have the Tak writing on the Dew shield. I've never seen one without it, but the scope is 25 years old and may be missed out on later niceties?  
 

Mike. Hhmm. A bit odd. Mines a 1999 scope and has the dewshield decal but then @F15Rules version has the word Takahashi on the tube. Mine doesn’t. Go figure ?? 
 

John 

[mikeDnight]

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Given your steady hand blacking the UFF 30, you you paint it on yourself, Mike.

Failing that, I could pop up with my blue maker pen 🈴️🥋⛩️

What a brilliant Idea!