Show us your equipment!

[Larryp]

Cheers, Matt :)

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Just Beautiful , Laurie .
Brian.

[FlashDrive]

A new Scope Laurie.....nice indeed....

Col......:hi:

[Larryp]

Thanks Brian and Col :hi:

[Stardrifter_WA]

Very niceeee..... :)

[Larryp]

Thanks, Peter

[jjjnettie]

My newest baby, a Tak FS78.
I'm the third IISer to own this particular scope.
And how's this... I got first light on the first night. :)
Though the near full Moon was a bit of a bummer. :lol:

[Larryp]

Lovely scope, JJJ

[Kunama]

Nice scope and nice moon pic JJJ :thumbsup:

[brian nordstrom]

:) Very nice JJJ , welcome to the Tak club :thumbsup: , nice scopes .
Brian.

[MattT]

The Tak Club???? Bit tacky ain't it Brian?

Here is my newest scope. Been working physically on this for the past three months and mentally for about 30 something years....ever since drooling over the Unitron catalogue as a kid.
My home made 6" f12 Istar Refractor.
Matt

[FlashDrive]

My only 2 Scopes .... both acquired recently and both keepers.

Flash.....

[Larryp]

A very nice set-up, Col! Definitely keepers :thumbsup:

[Kunama]

Beautiful scopes Col, look forward to hearing how you like them after some time under the stars!

Edit:
Now where have I seen those eyepieces before :question:

[casstony]

Another TSA120 on a T-Rex.

Hey Laurie, where did you get the padded Stellarvue case from?

[Larryp]

Direct from Stellarvue, Tony.
It's a snug fit, but you can fit the scope with mounting rings, but without the focuser extension.
They do make a longer case, but its not available at the moment:)

[Kunama]

Nice one Tony !!! (Makes me wish I had bought the black TREX)

[casstony]

I like your white T-Rex Matt - easier to see in the dark. Mine came second hand so I didn't have to choose the color.

On a maintenance note, the focuser on the TSA will loosen over time but it's easy to adjust, being constructed according to the same principles as the cheaper rack and pinions. The grub screws on top of the focuser bear on a pressure plate and there are slides at the 4 & 8 o'clock positions.
The focuser tube on mine was loose/wobbly and wouldn't hold any weight but 1/16th turn on the 3 grub screws firmed it up. I used acetone to melt away the glue seal over the grub screws and cleaned up the hole with a small drill bit.

[Kunama]

I was given, very generously I might add, a Feathertouch Micro Pinion Assembly by Graeme (Rigel003) which I fitted soon after so did not use the stock one very much. The FT MPA is a beautiful bit of kit but took quite a bit to get adjusted just right.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Now that's how a telescope should look , congratulations Matt it looks superb , bet its a planet killer ?
Tak,ie , I know :rofl: .
Brian.

[Kunama]

Being from a Finnish background has some advantages ....... Santa gets to us on Christmas Eve ..... I must have been good this year as my wife bought me a Mewlon 210 and reimbursed me for the Argo Navis DTC which I bought a few weeks ago but wasn't allowed to open till today.

Boy do I owe her big time !
Looking forward to putting the µ-210 up against the TSA.

P.S. ( I think I can still blame Baz for the cloud cover as long as he doesn't see this topic .......)

[FlashDrive]

Matt.....another fine addition to the TAK Family :thumbsup:

Flash.........:D

[Larryp]

Quite a collection, Matt!:thumbsup:

[mr bruess]

is that a Unitron refractor????

[FlashDrive]

:D
Megrez 80SD Semi-APO f/6 SD .... combine this with a Baader Semi-APO Filter for
those brighter objects ...very nice views.

Nice Wide Field Scope. :thumbsup:

Nostalgic piece of equipment.....Very good condition all round, cosmetically and optically...clean and unmarked...!!

A lovely bit of ' WO ' History.

Flash......:D

[Astroman]

Hi all,

Time for an update on my setup. I have now completed the Observatory and have added a new Telescope into it. So now I am running an 8" f/4 Newt, on a HEQ5pro and all housed in a 2m x 2m RoR Observatory. :)

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Congrats Andrew!!:)

I've been following progress on your observatory, and I see you have the final piece of the puzzle with the 8" f/4.

Looking forward to your images.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Kunama]

With tears in my eyes, I handed the TSA120 over to its new caretaker on Sunday at Bowral ......... just as seller's remorse was setting in on Monday morning the Baader Planetarium Man and 'galaxy' came to my rescue with some new goodies so I now have my daylight and night time setups sorted ...... well almost ...... there is always something else isn't there:

The daylight system is the potent little Takahashi FS60CB + CQ1.7x module + Baader 2" Clicklock visual back + Baader 2" Cool Ceramic Herschel Prism and the Vixen LVWs.

The night time is taken care of by the equally impressive Takahashi µ-210 F11.5 DK with the Baader M71 & M72 adapters + Baader 2" Zeiss M68 Clicklock + Baader 2" Clicklock Mirror Diagonal and Vixen LVWs / Pextax XFs.

[Larryp]

Looks good, Matt! How do you find images in the Mewlon compare to the TSA120? :thumbsup:

[Kunama]

Laurie I think the TSA120 is as sharp as a reasonably priced a scope gets, the Mewlon is good but not in the same league as the TSA120 as far as sharp, contrasty images but it is very very good. It seems very dependent on adequate cooling as expected.

Its main advantage over the TSA for visual is obviously the extra aperture and on nebulae it becomes very obvious.

Compared to other 8" cats and reflectors the Mewlon to me seems to have a visible edge. But I have not done side by side comparisons, nor am I really into such comparos.
The Mewlon 210 does have minor but obvious image shift during focusing but for the visual use that was its primary design idea, such mirror shift is of no consequence.

[The Mekon]

Is the Bowral buyer an IIS member, and if so is he willing to make himself known?

[Kunama]

Hi John, He actually lives in Sydney but met me in Bowral to collect the scope as I was there to pick up a new puppy.

[Allan]

Matt, I can't believe you sold your TSA. Must have been a hard call. Looking at the Tak refractor line-up, would you say the TSA's are the best visual scope they make? Just curious.

[Allan]

This is my set-up after the latest round of modifications. I'm quite happy now with how everything is working.

[Astro_Bot]

That's very neat and tidy, Allan. You put me to shame! :)

[Kunama]

The TSA funds are actually being stashed away for another Takahashi acquisition in the future (hopefully this year) which I have been planning for a while, but I agree with you that the TSA120 takes it to another level.

The Mewlon purchase is to keep me going in the meantime.......

[Larryp]

What are you going to get now, Matt?;)

[brian nordstrom]

;) C9.25 ,
Jupiter at 147x tonight , the 16mm nagler way ....nice .
Brian.

[FlashDrive]

Brian....very neat and clean setup there....:thumbsup:

Col.....:D

[brian nordstrom]

:D Thanks Col , I had it out last night and using my 27mm Panoptic at 87x and 16mm Nagler at 147x it was very , very good almost as good as the Tak M210 , you would be hard pressed to tell them apart in a blind test , all the hype is true , these 9.25's are a special scope :thumbsup: .

I went as high as 230x with my 10mm Radian but the seeing was not good but lots of detail seen in those fleeting perfect seconds of still air , 'very good '.

M42 at 87x was huge , 'D' and 'E' stars easily seen .
Omega Centari was resolved to the core later on in the night .
I am very impressed as it arrived in perfect columination after a trip from NSW , impressive . I originally thought that it was slightly out but as the night wore on and the scope settled it turned out to be spot on .

Its also very light and man that Carbon Fibre is so blardy sexy ;) .

I like this scope a lot and should be with me for a long time :rofl: ...????

Brian.

[iandix]

here is my classic Celstron 8 (1979) with a 80mm auto guide scope and a ZEQ25 "Z" design mount.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Ian what an unusual set up , best of both millennium's :lol: , how does the 'Z' handle the weight ?
Breian.

[iandix]

it has no problem it can handle over 12 kilos without any issues. Yep it is unusual (but then so am I) I had the C8 since new and it's just too nice of a scope to not use. So I updated it with and new mount and had the optics all cleaned.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Thanks Ian , its a sweet set up and I hope you get many happy hours out of it .
Do you think the 'Z' would handle the weight of my CF C9.25 ? .
Brian.

[iandix]

I think it might be okay if you don't add much more to it ..check out this youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cIOTROXEpQ

also I have been reading that they have just released a new Z mount the CEM60 that can handle 30 kilos ... so that would handle your scope and a small child strapped to it

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Thanks Ian , that's mighty impressive :eyepop:.
Brian.

[DJ N]

Hi all

Here is my latest visual set up....... and I have been having an absolute "hoot" with it. In my opinion, the 41mm Panoptic is a match made in heaven for the C11 giving a 1 degree field of view with around 4mm exit pupil.

So in the picture we have....

Celestron C11 OTA (flocked and fitted with peltier coolers) plus Baader 3.25" Click Lock as well a Feathertouch microfocuser (which only arrived a couple of days ago)

Skywatcher AZ EQ6 mount

I have the Dewbuster mounted to the top rail (with heater straps for the OTA, finderscope and eyepiece), therefore minimising setup time when at a dark site.


Cheers,

Daniel

[Hans Tucker]

Real nice setup you have there Daniel. Are the tri-bolts that hold the mount head adapter plate to the pier custom made?

[Kunama]

Very nice setup Daniel, not just the scope and mount but the pier top, and in particular the 3 s/s bolts holding the adapter plate on. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[DJ N]

Hi guys,

The adapter plate is on loan from a mate......which he had custom made. But it is a pretty bit of hardware:)

[byronpaul]

Here's a collection of my scopes at various locations

Coronado SM40
Imaging set-up of ED80 on a HEQ5Pro with W.O. ZS66 Guidescope
Celestron CGEM1100
16" Meade Lightbridge in the foreground with little 12'' brother in the background
CGEM and Dobs set-up at home for a visual night

The 16" dob is a recent addition (thanks casstony), and a big step up from the 12". I love the CGEM with the simplicity of the GOTO and very pleasant views courteous of the tracking.

Really like dabbling in imaging with the ED80 set-up, but find it very time consuming as I don't do it enough.

The solar views through the SM40 are astonishing, and I never cease to be amazing at looking at the sun.

Had a very good look at the moon a few nights ago with the 16" though 2 polarizing filters ..... amazing detail !!!!

See in the background of the 5th photo, I'm trialling a ShelterLogic portable shed I got at Bunnings for $99. Long term a roll-off-roof shed is on the wish list, but in the meantime this is proving to be quite adequate. It's bone dry, and I simply lift it off to obverse. It comes with 4 long ground screws which you simply tie down the shed to secure. So far after about 4 months of all sorts of conditions including heavy rain and wind, it's performed flawlessly.

Paul

[alistairsam]

Nice collection Paul

visually is there much difference between the 16 and 12 inch with the same EP and target?
That shed looks good. Do you put a cover on the scope when the shed is on to protect from the heat or is it not required?
Temperatures even under the shade can get quite high.
I use the silver car shade wrapped around my scope and even with no shelter, it stays cool underneath.

Cheers
Alistair

[traveller]

Nice collection there Paul, I remember taking a peek out of your CGEM 1100 at snake valley, very impressed with its views. Can imagine the views you'd get from 16".
The shelter looks interesting, must check out my local bunnings.
Cheers,
Bo

[Marios]

My Hubble beast! :D

[FlashDrive]

Orion ED80 f/7.5 with JMI EVH 2 x Speed Electric Focuser.
Mounted with a TeleVue Clamshell...fits perfectly.

Courier dropped it off today....as usual clouds all across the Sky...:(

Love my Refractors...:thumbsup:


Flash....:D

[Kunama]

That's very Flash mate! Nice eyepieces too .......
(spoke to Claude today, my lens could be in Oz as early as the 28th ....)

[Larryp]

Looks good, Col!:thumbsup:

[FlashDrive]

Yes it is....beautiful coatings on the Optics ... love the motorized focuser
;) ....let me know how your new Lens work's out.



Thanks Larry ..... I have to ' stop ' at 4 Scopes .... no more...:rolleyes:

Flash....:D

[Larryp]

Thanks Larry ..... I have to ' stop ' at 4 Scopes .... no more...:rolleyes:

Flash....:D
[/QUOTE]

Heard that before, Col :rofl:

[casstony]

Newest addition is a Celestron EdgeHD 9.25, set up after checking collimation with an artificial star under the fog this morning. Collimation was a long way out at first light last night. The artificial star check was in agreement with the real star collimation and I prefer daytime collimation in general.
I decided to go for something a bit more portable after Paul took the 16" Lightbridge off my hands. (still looking for an 11" Edge though :))
Also pictured is the TSA120 in it's Tenba TTP34 case - had to change from Parallax to Vixen rings to fit in the case.

[byronpaul]

And I'm a lucky boy for doing that :D

Nice and shiny setup there Tony and sits well on that mount for useability.

Paul

[WingnutR32]

Sounds like my old 16" lightbridge is slowly making its way around peoples houses :-)

I'll keep an ear out for an 11" Edge for you, Tony.

[casstony]

I suspect it may have found it's final destination Sam. Just a thought, don't you have one of those AZ-EQ6's? Must be nearly time to move that along :)

[WingnutR32]

I do have an AZ-EQ6 that I was looking at moving. Tried to sell it to Erg over Christmas to fund a new EQ8, however I bought a house instead..

I'll keep you posted if I ever go through selling it again, as I can deliver it to Orbost pretty easily.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Love the EDGE Tony, if its as good as my XLT C9.25 it will be a killer scope .
Brian.

[bloodhound31]

You've probably already seen it, but since it's the thread topic...

[brian nordstrom]

:eyepop:Mars right now at 170x in the C9.25 is ,,,,
,,,,small :eyepop: . I just showed mars to a new friend for the first time
in her life ,, woaw! , Detail starting to be seen ,,
Another top night in Rockingham WA .

Saturn soon .

Brian

[casstony]

Thanks Brian, the vents are a necessity in my climate; I have to rig up a computer fan over one vent to get the rear end cooled.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very serious looking set up there Barry

[Stardrifter_WA]

Had a look at Mars myself last night Brian, but alas, was still too low on the horizon to see any detail. Could wait to rise high enough, as I had to head off to bed, as I had an early start.

Yes, Brian, we have had an amazing run of clear skies this since late last year. Hope it remains that way.

See you Friday, hope we get some great seeing again then.

Cheers Pete

[Intergage]

wow.... wowowowowow... So jealous.. So god damn jealous.

[pw]

No, looks like you are setting up your own Mt Stromlo, what an awesome setup :-)

[Stardrifter_WA]

This is my portable setup, which consists of an AZ EQ6 GT mount, with a Williams Optic FLT 110mm mounted on one end of the alt axis. Mounted on the other end is a Astro Tech 65ED Quad Astrograph, which I use as a low power wide field scope, and piggybaked on my SCT in my observatory, via the use of an ADM Mini-Max mount. Please note, the photo shown of the AT65EDQ mounted to the AZEQ6GT shows it fitted to an ADM Max mount, which was subsequently changed to the Mini-Max (due to size issues), as shown in the case. Also fitted to the WO FLT110 is a Stellarvue 8x50 Illuminated viewfinder and an Arctic Fox rifle scope laser, not shown in this photo.

Last night was the first night in a dark sky with the AT65EDQ and I really gave it a work out. I got this in the US last year for around $579. Considering the price, this is an exceptionally made instrument with excellent optics. This has to be the best buy I have ever made. The WO FLT110 was also used for the first time in dark skies and its performance was outstanding.

I have the AT65EDQ setup as my grab-n-go, with everything in the case I will need. The case contains the ADM Mini-Max. The two eyepieces shown in the case are a Televue 24mm Pan optic and a 7mm Nagler.

Both scopes are fitted with Televue Everbrite star diagonals.

Also shown are my Delos eyepiece case (which includes my Leica 8x32 binoculars), with the othe case being my Ethos set. All my cases have machined high density foam inserts and are made by Image Alloy Cases in Welshpool, WA.

[FlashDrive]

Great piece of ' kit ' ....love the ' easy ' chair :D
That little 65EDQ looks good....

Flash.....:D

[Stardrifter_WA]

Its such a great little scope Flash, as you know! :D We pushed the mag last night, using Brian's 3mm Radian and I was so surprised how well it performed. And yeah, that 'easy chair' is sweet, and veryyyy comfortable.

[gvanhau]

Hello
Here is my C8 on the CGEM. 1 of my portable systems.
This scope is second hand and you can see the previous owner didn't handle it very well....
A detail of my self made OAG, you can see a double threaded cylinder that is to fit my lodestar or my qhy5L guider cams.
And the camera I normally use whit it.

[gvanhau]

Here my fixed setup at home.

Vixen VMC260L - MI250 - Atik 383L - Lodestar
Self made obs and pier.

[Allan]

Pete, that's a pretty sweet eyepiece case setup you have. How did you sort out the shapes for all the cut outs? Did you have to take all your bits into Image Alloy Cases so they could trace them out?

[Stardrifter_WA]

Yes, I just took all the bits into Jez at Image Alloy Cases and he sorted out the best way to fit it all in. Jez, came up with the idea of two tier, instead of a larger case. I think he has a small CNC cutter. He does a great job and I will be getting three further cases made, for my WO FLT 110 (which will be an aluminium road case), my AZEQ6GT mount and my camera gear.

Image Alloy Cases has the best prices in Perth. These are not exactly cheap, although each case only costing me a little more than a Delos eyepiece (including the cost of the case and machined high density foam inserts), I think they are worth every cent. Great insurance policy for keeping everything safely together and clearly seeing what is missing when packing up, at the dark sky site.

Also, the machining has been done to close enough tolerance that I can dispense with the annoying eyepiece caps, which is why I went this route in the first place. I simply hate all the eyepiece caps!

The aluminium road cases he makes are awesome too. See pics below for my SCT. Housed underneath the Star Diagonal are the tube counterweights in a machined out hollow, so that cannot move. It also has edge reinforcing, recessed lockable butterfly locks and recessed handles.

Cheers Pete

[Allan]

Thanks Pete. You have got a nice clean setup going there. I would like to get that nice machined look for my eyepiece cut outs. But will have to find an option a bit closer to home than WA. Cheers

[Shano592]

Al, you'll probably find someone like that in the US. First time over, take the plans; second time to collect.

Simples ....

[Kunama]

Image Plastics Pty Ltd
Unit 4/109 Fairford Road
Padstow, NSW 2211
Ph: (02) 9792 1677 Fax: 9792 1334

[Allan]

Shane, I found my case builder in the US, have not used them, but they are an option. I will check out Matt's option, thanks for that. I just have to stop buying new gear first, otherwise the new setup will become redundant very quick.

[Scheimfluge]

Hello
I would like to introduce myself
My name is Geoff I am located in southern California

Clear Skys

[Shano592]

And you will need a bigger car! :lol:

[Allan]

Ain't that the truth Shane. I pick up my new telescope from the US next week. Will post a photo here when I get it home.

[Allan]

Nice setup Geoff. You've got a lot going on there.

[Shano592]

So what you're saying is that it ain't ever going to stop raining here!

Can't wait to see it.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Hi Allan,

Thanks, I do like things clean and orderly. :D

Check out "road case manufacturers" in your area, by doing a google search. There are plenty of people out there that do this sort of work, mostly for musicians and such, as it is how they carry all their expensive sound gear around.

However, check prices and specifications, as I found they varied a lot. Although Image Alloy Cases (IAC) wasn't the cheapest in actual price, it was cheaper overall when the higher quality of the product was taken into account. I could have got the SCT case done cheaper, but it was using cheaper materials, like wooden sides instead of aluminium, whereas IAC was only a little more expensive, but had better quality build, including more reinforcing, and quality fittings. You get what you pay for, as the old adage goes.

It is also worth mentioning that dealing locally, my manufacturer even measured the boot of my car to insure that the SCT case would fit. Just hope I don't have to buy a smaller car. :sadeyes: Well, that won't happen, unless I can chop some leg length off, as I just don't fit into a small car all that well. The joys of being tall!

Cheers Pete

[mr bruess]

interesting observatory pictures

[chuckscap]

Here's a picture of my unused mount bolted to my patio, due to illness haven't used it a bit. Feeling better, just bought an Orange C14 OTA to replace my Mewlon 250 to put on it. The Mewlon hasn't been out in years (since our forest fires started, I was afraid to leave it out and can't haul it in and out anymore). Will post pictures of the two together later this spring.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg144/chuckscap/P1010085.jpg (http://s247.photobucket.com/user/chuckscap/media/P1010085.jpg.html)

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg144/chuckscap/ChucksOrangeC14_zps37601aca.jpg (http://s247.photobucket.com/user/chuckscap/media/ChucksOrangeC14_zps37601aca.jpg.htm l)



Good to be back looking at the stars!

[Allan]

Look what I bought...

158561

It's the 'is' version. I was going to get the standard NP101, but I found this one on the web. I bought it through a dealer who sold it to a customer, who then returned it after the first night for something bigger. It's in mint condition, but I paid the used price for it, so I'm happy I had the patience to wait for it to come along.

I am going to put it on a Discmounts DM4, but haven't bought that yet. In the mean time I will have to satisfy myself by looking at it rather than through it. At some stage I will put up a post to see if anyone going to IISAC has a mount I could use for an hour or two. The wait is going to kill me though.

[Shano592]

Oooooooh, pretty!

What are you intending to put this puppy to use as, an imaging scope?

[Allan]

Shane, I don't want to get caught up in the imaging spiral dive just yet, but it's nice to know I have a scope I can use for that when the time comes. I might even get a DSLR and do some simple stuff. I can see myself getting a big dob at some stage. I would rather spend my money on that first. I do prefer being out under the stars at a dark site, and taking in the view through an eyepiece, or two eyepieces at once. :)

[Shano592]

Yeah, that's a dive you might have difficulty pulling out of! :lol:

[leon]

Now Geoff that is very impressive indeed, :eyepop: surly it is covered in adverse weather, or do you pull it down each time after your imaging run.

Leon :thumbsup:

[FlashDrive]

A T-Rex for my Vixen NA140SS ..... A ' BIG ' Thanks to Kunama ( Matt )

Very smooth action in the Slow - Mow Controls ...Solid as...and very very stable indeed.....now I can get some real ' rock steady ' views in coming nights.

Now...I just have to wait till all this rain to go away.....

Flash....:D

[Kunama]

Looks great with the big Vixen Col, though I fear you and Lewis have conjured up a few weeks worth of precipitation with your recent purchases.

:windy: :cloudy: :windy:

P.S. Now you have enough bubble wrap to last a year or two ......

[Stardrifter_WA]

Looks very nice. :)

And Flash, what is rain? :lol:

Cheers Pete

[brian nordstrom]

:D MATE ! , that's gorgeous , well done .
Brian.

[Larryp]

Looks good, Col :thumbsup:

[FlashDrive]

Thanks Brian, Peter, and Larry ....not the best Photos...will post better ones another time.
It's heavy....there's no Scope movement even when ' tapping ' the leg.
Rock solid it is.:)

Col.....

[04Stefan07]

Here is my Solar Telescope Setup.

[Stardrifter_WA]

My portable set up.

Shown are:

The Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 GT Mount. This is a really nice mount, however, I had a problem with the hand control, when used in the Alt/Az mode, as it wrapped around the mount. So, using a spare Stellavue finder dovetail and bracket (and a few other bits and pieces), I made a control holder to fit on top of the mount, so that the hand control is always in a handy location, and doesn't wrap around the mount. The dovetail bracket itself is attached to the mount cover plate via 3M Dual-Lock (DL), which doesn't mar the surface of the cover plate, if the DL is ever removed. DL is great stuff, even though it is a tad expensive, but then, it does it's job like no other. DL is strong enough to have held my speakers on metal mounts for years without ever coming apart. Because the cover plates were fitted with soft phillips head screws, on which the head strips easily, I replaced all the screws with stainless steel hex cap head screws. Why SW didn't do this in the first place is beyond me, particularly considering the thought that went into this mount. Also, I replaced the T-Bar locking screws, which got in the way, with stainless steel grub screws.

The Astro Tech 65 ED Quad (f/6.5) astrograph, mounted on a ADM Min-Max mount, with a Televue Everbrite diagonal. This scope is primarily used as a wide field scope, but can also be piggybacked on my observatory scope and used for AP. This has to be the best priced ($579) telescope that I have ever bought. It has amazingly sharp images for such a small scope, which I also use as my grab-n-go scope. Just have to find a decent grab-n-go mount now.

The Williams Optics FLT110 (f/6) Triplet, with a Stellarvue finder, an Arctic Fox GL Laser and a Televue Everbrite diagonal. Also attached is a digital Pathfinder watch/compass.

Modified Celestron Power Tank. Replaced the battery with a deep cycle battery and modified the charging circuits (bypassed inbuilt charger) of the Power Tank so that a normal charger can be used. This is now a great portable power pack. Will be building a new, and larger, power pack in the near future.

This set up will be modified further with the inclusion of a Lunt 80mm PT Ha scope, as the FLT110 also has a Thousand Oaks glass white light filter. I will also be changing the WO Focuser, to something much better. Aluminium cases also need to be made for the WO FLT110 and the AZ-EQ6 GT mount, but that will have to wait for a while.

I am really happy with this set up.

[Kunama]

Well thought out system Peter. :thumbsup:

[FlashDrive]

This is the ' BEST ' Refractor I have ever owned with this size Aperture ( Neo - Achromatic )
5.5 inches fully Made in Japan .....Vixen NA140SS :thumbsup:

Flash.............

[Allan]

That looks very nice Col. There is something classy about a quality refractor setup.

[Larryp]

Nice looking set-up, Col :thumbsup:

[Camelopardalis]

This is my latest addition, and I'm really stoked about it :) Haven't had first light yet as it only arrived yesterday and the Sydney weather doesn't look like cooperating :mad2:

There will be lots more pictures of this once I can get some decent light...

[FlashDrive]

That's sure looks nice ...... what is it ..... what Brand and Diameter ... ?

Flash.....

[Camelopardalis]

Skylight Telescopes 102 R.ED, see Skylight Telescopes site (http://skylight-telescopes.com/)

Accessorised with TeleVue (Gibraltar, Starbeam, Everbrite) and Pentax XW40...can't wait to get under the dark sky at IISAC with this baby :D

[FlashDrive]

Thank You .....Yes ... had a look at their Website... thanks for the Link.
Nice bit of ' kit ' Dunk ;)

Flash.....

[MortonH]

Bootiful!

[Camelopardalis]

My iPhone photography on a dreary afternoon in Sydney doesn't do it justice!

[Doogs38]

Hi. I upgraded mid last year from a Skywatcher 5 inch newt (on an EQ2 mount) to a DIY truss dob with a Skywatcher 14 inch f/4.5 conical mirror. The dob was designed for a 15 inch mirror and is very well built. I've put a Telrad and Orion right-angle finder on the scope and I'll also be putting DSCs on it by years end. It also has a beaut motorised JMI focuser. I'm performing some minor upgrades on things like truss tube clamps to minimise maintenance & improve reliability. Despite its reasonable size, it can be broken down & transported quite easily.

Jumping from a 5 inch to a 14 inch telescope came with profoundly improved views ... things that required averted vision can now be seen directly. I can view detail in Jupiter's belts and Saturn's rings (and see those lovely yellow/green bands around the planet), and comfortably view Mar's major features. I haven't taken it to a dark site yet, but I'm sure it will memorable when I do. Alex

[garin]

Apologies to all those in Perth that have had the rain and cloudy conditions since my new scope arrived ;)

Neverthless I have managed to get it out a few times and it's a dream to use.
Thanks to Peter Read of SDM Telescopes

160407160408160409160410160411

[jenchris]

Just about ready to suck the photons in.
Pity I'm off to UK next week - for 6 months

[Allan]

Garin, your scope looks like a piece of art work. I bet it works as well as it looks to. What mirror did you put in it?

[LewisM]

This is my pride and joy - had to sell all the others plus some other stuff to afford it.

Hasn't even seen first light yet - hopefully tonight!

[Kunama]

Makes me almost want a dob .............. I said almost !
Beautiful scope, I wish you clear skies :thumbsup:

[Kunama]

Like they say in the song " Take good care of my baby ......."

[LewisM]

Mieleeni Suomen loukkaus porosta ja isoäitien ... :)

[Kunama]

After some 12 months "tarnishing time" since the necessary evil of being cleaned up, the old brass refractor is beginning to once again mellow to a nice golden sheen ...

Circa 1880 - 1890 Berry&Mackay 3" F15 brass refractor on library stand

[LewisM]

Lovely Matt, just sublime.

[Larryp]

Very nice, Matt!

[Kunama]

Thanks Lewis & Laurie, for the past year I have only been able to touch the scope with cotton gloves on ........ I'll give it another year or two before using the scope again...........

[Stardrifter_WA]

I thought I better take some photos of my 16" before I part with it, since I now prefer Apo's, this just doesn't get used any more.

It is fitted with:

1: Astrozap Shroud.
2: Farpoint collimation screw and spring upgrade, a must for these scopes.
3: Stellarvue 8x50 RA illuminated viewfinder and a 40mW GL laser.
4: JMI Track-N-Train
5: JMI Counterweights.
6: Lockable high quality wheels
7: Secondary mirror cover
8: Scope cover

Cheers Pete

[FlashDrive]

Nice 16" inch LB ..... always wanted to look thru' one of those but never had the opportunity.

Flash.....

[Stardrifter_WA]

The optics are great Flash, but the mechanics was crappy until I fixed it with the JMI T-N-T and the Farpoint collimation screw and spring upgrade. It then became a very usable scope. The JMI T-N-T made all the difference, and I would highly recommend anyone that has a LB to do this upgrade. Although, JMI are bringing out goto for the smaller LB's, but have yet to get to the 16". I will be at JMI in May and will be talking to Steve about this, although my interest in this upgrade has waned since deciding to sell it. However, if I decide otherwise, I would definitely upgrade to the GOTO. :D

Cheers Pete

[Kunama]

Had the pleasure of meeting Ian Fry today and walked away with one of his toys.......
Thanks Ian for looking after it so well, it really is 'unmarked' as you advertised.

Here is my 'as new' FS128 F8.1 with my little Tak ( FC76DCSV F7.5 )

I tried hard to resist but Force is very strong in this big Tak ......

[casstony]

Looks great Matt. Let us know what you think compared to the TSA120.

[Kunama]

It will be a little while as I don't have a mount that will carry it at the moment :sadeyes: but I will be keen to see the differences in visual use. I have resolved not to get into imaging so a little colour, if present, won't bother me.

I asked my wife recently what she was getting me for our 30th anniversary (next week) ...... she just told me to get my own present, so this was it .....
I hope that this was what she meant :shrug: otherwise I might need some :help:

[FlashDrive]

Oh .. Yes indeed Matt ..... all you need now is a ' T-Rex ' to mount it on.. :whistle: ... lovely score there mate ....
Hmmm ... nice Bino's ....;)

Flash ....

[casstony]

couple of pillows on the roof of the car?

[Larryp]

Nice acquisition Matt!

[LewisM]

I know a really nice guy with 3 surplus to requirement EQ mounts... I reckon the Sphinx would drive this nicely.

Just sayin' :)

Nice acquisition Matt. Should have pestered him for a certain FL102S :)

[MortonH]

Matt,

A very nice pair of Taks. You gotta get a dual-scope setup for them!

[Swampthing]

Here's my 20" home made Dob.

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i446/Swampthing101/scopes%20and%20parts/image_zps026de1ec.jp

[pluto]

Here's my new gear getting ready for its first all-together test, which it's passing with flying colours! :D

Look out IISAC!

Tak TSA120 + EQ6 + STT-8300M + FW8G + AO-8T :D:D:D:D:D

[Kunama]

Very nice system Hugh, now where have I seen that TSA before?
Don't forget to put an eyepiece into it at Lostock, no point letting the STT have all the fun.

[pluto]

Thanks Matt, I'd say you'd miss it but I've seen what you replaced it with!

Can't wait to get it somewhere dark :D

[Kunama]

I hadn't got out of Bowral when I already had seller remorse. Glad to see you've got it all set to image. :hi:

[cometcatcher]

I don't think my 2 indoor only cats that bounce off the walls and knock everything flying would be any good at your place. ;)

[Kunama]

Due to the enormous amount of pottery and glassware my wife has gathered, two cats could have a field day here.
I look at the stuff and think to myself " Hmmm ... I could have bought a TOA150 with those $$$$$s instead"

[brian nordstrom]

:) Hi all , I was a little bored the other night so I decided to mount my Takahashi SKY90 on my HEQ5 mount .

These show just how small the Tak really is , its tiny ;) .

Would this make an awesome AP set up ,, you think ? I bet it would .

Hope you all enjoy I only did it for a lark but it looks nice .

Brian.

[Larryp]

Very nice, Brian!

[brian nordstrom]

:) My solar set up on its HEQ5 , Istar/Lunt Hershell wedge , awesome solar white light viewing , tons of detail seen on the surface and sunspots are almost 3D ,

Brian.

[chuckscap]

Vintage Orange C14 on a vintage Parallax HD 150 mount. Got my Gemini 2 retrofit kit installed. Just got it all together today. The worm gears need some tweaking as does the C14 collimation, but getting close!

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg144/chuckscap/776da118-452a-487e-96de-cb05a82a19dd_zps57224dee.jpg (http://s247.photobucket.com/user/chuckscap/media/776da118-452a-487e-96de-cb05a82a19dd_zps57224dee.jpg.html)

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Very Nice Chuck , I have a soft spot for the C14's awesome scopes and the mount and pier are so good looking , nice set up .
Brian.

[chuckscap]

Thanks! Now if I only lived under darker skies. I am excited though. Double stars, clusters, planets and a few bright nebulae should be very nice. I still have to get the mount tweaked a bit, and the C14 collimated (shipping probably wasn't kind to it), but feel capable to do both. I should be able to "warm start" the Gemini 2 after that and going outside to view for a few hours should be really nice. A Starlight Instruments Crayford focuser and a nice orange aluminum dew shield are on the short list.

Thanks again,

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Sweet , look forward to a detailed ;) first light report once its sorted .
Thanks in advance .

Brian.

[cometcatcher]

It's heeeere. The Skywatcher Black Diamond ED100. It comes with a 2 inch diagonal and eyepiece. After 40 years of astronomy this is my first 2 inch eyepiece! It's freaking huge! Hopefully this will make for a good solar and lunar scope at the very least. If not I'm sure the cats will have fun with it. Was on special at Astro Pete's so couldn't resist. I might even put it on a better mount than my 40 year old Tasco EQ. Nah... :P

[cometcatcher]

The power pole nebula 500 metres down the road looks sharp and clear. Can't see any sign of CA in daylight. Much happier with this scope than the Long Perng 90. Solar pics with it later today if it remains clear.

[brian nordstrom]

:D Welcome to refractor land Kevin , these ED100's get rave revievs world wide and in many side by side reviews these hold their own against the TV 102 , Takahashi 102mm doublets and thats no mean feat , great scopes .
It looks nice on that mount and congratulations on a great APO .

Brian.

[killswitch]

It has no CA against the moon. heres a photo i took:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flipfire/9098600371/

Weird, My ED100 came with a right angle finder and 2x 1.25" EP's

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Brian. Thanks Edison. Must be a good scope. It just generated cloud. :D

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Edison that's a very good moon shot , and Kevin :lol: clouds but looking at the power pole shot yours should be the same no CA and very , very sharp ! , nice scopes and if I did not already have a nice 127mm Istar I would be all over one of these .

Brian.

[cometcatcher]

That is a great shot of the Moon Edison. I hope I can get one that good soon.

Well first light goes to the nearest star the Sun. Very clear view and the best out of all my refractors for white light solar. Very happy with this scope.

This is just 2 frames stacked of 1/80 second at ISO 100, Pentax K-x and SW ED100.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Nice shot ! I can see plenty more taken with this sweet refractor .
Brian,

[Kunama]

**** WARNING ****
DO NOT store your Fluorite Takahashi scopes together ..........
I made that mistake and much to my horror when I returned home today,
I found my FS128 in our bed with a smug grin on his objective, next to him was the FC76DCsv nursing a brand new baby FS60CB.

Seems that Takahashis like to breed, have a short gestation period and take over your life ..............

Here is documented proof:

[Camelopardalis]

Matt, you shouldn't have fed them after midnight :lol: :lol:

[opensea64]

Meade Lightbridge 10" f/5. Mods include Bobs Knobs, 4 wheels , 2 locking, and removed stock finder and added a telrad.
This scope will soon be for sale (minus the telrad) as I am changing from dob to SCT. I think aperture of the 10" is a great size as its not so hefty but gives you that big sky brightness of DSO's . I found it keeps collimation well if pulled down (hint ...I numbered the trusses so they go into the same spots.)

[swannies1983]

Damn, I would have been interested if it was a 12" Lightbridge.

[GeoffW1]

I always thought this thread had the best title on IIS :rofl:

[IanW]

This is the latest toy, a 12" Meade LX600 ACF F8 which arrived about 10 days ago. It joins my other 5 scopes.

[Joshua Bunn]

Neat Ian, Do you plan to use the starlock for astrophotography. It would be interesting to hear how it performs. Congrats.

[brian nordstrom]

Yes, very nice and I also look forward to how it performs.

Brian.

[IanW]

Joshua, it will indeed be used for astrophotography. I've got two custom made wedges being built. The portable unit is along the lines of the old and almost impossible to get hold of ulti-wedge. The second wedge is for a permanent pier and is being made out of 20mm thick Chrome Molly, which has 1/2 the flexure of Aluminium and greater inherent stability. Both wedges make the new Meade wedge look like a kids toy.

Initial tests of the starlock system are very good with good tracking in Alt-Az mode. I expect things to get far better when it's on a wedge.

[omegacrux]

Here is my ED80 gold pro .
GSO dual speed and the modded mount , and a celestron 17mm Ultima lx
Got this off Barry , great little scope these
I grab this a lot , bit easyer than the big dob

David

[Ric]

A lovely piece of kit Ian

Congrats

[Allan]

I finally have all the pieces sorted out on my new setup. It's a TeleVue NP101is on a Discmounts DM4. I used an Orion Atlas tripod with the 8" extender to help clear the tripod legs. I just added the TeleVue Starbeam finder and a Kendrick dew controller, plus a Sky Wire cable that allows me to plug the iPhone into the XP4 box on top of the mount, so then I can use Sky Safari to point my way around the sky.

Total weight comes in at 21kg, so still light enough for me to move the setup outside without any trouble. Performance of the scope and mount is really nice, and the 4.8 degree field of view throws a completely different perspective on things. I am noticing objects I didn't see before because they were sitting outside of the narrower field in my Dob. So I am quite pleased with how the Dob and Refractor complement each other.

[The_Cat]

Just thought I'd post a pic of my new scope. There is a bit of work remaining to install it next to the Mewlon 250 and then balance the whole "box and dice".

Sitting on the box are, from the left, the field flattener, the tele-compressor (makes the scope F 4.7) and a 68mm dia. spacer.

Balance and mounting:

Second pic shows the two scopes on the mounting plate. Static balance at the centre of the EM400 drive boss is excellent. Fine balance (L to R) is achieved by sliding the EDF scope as the Mewlon scope is fixed.

[Kunama]

Beautiful scope Jeremy, should go well with the µ-250. (Nice area you live in also. I built some houses around there in the late 70s at OneTreeHill and outside Gawler)

[The_Cat]

Thank you Matt. I used to have a TOA-150 but this scope is much lighter and will be used for field trips. It just took a bit of patience waiting for it.

Yes the area is very nice but over the years the light pollution is getting worse making taking better photos more difficult so much so I may have to turn my effort to narrowband imaging.

[The_Cat]

Greetings Allan,

You have a nice setup there. My comments:

... It's a TeleVue NP101is on a Discmounts DM4. I used an Orion Atlas tripod with the 8" extender to help clear the tripod legs. ...

Very very nice telescope and eyepiece combination the views will be pristine.

... Total weight comes in at 21kg, so still light enough for me to move the setup outside without any trouble ...

Weight matters. I got rid of a scope because of weight issues. 21kg is is just over the weight of a jerry can full of water not light!!

.. outside of the narrower field in my Dob. So I am quite pleased with how the Dob and Refractor complement each other ...

Wide angle views in that refractor of yours would be "something" with excellent contrast. i also have a dob ( Skywatcher 10" goto dob). These dobs are perfect as a grab and go scope and so easy to setup and use.

Clear skies,

Jerry.

[moonunit]

2 pics of my 16 inch, before I put wheels and after.

[killswitch]

Some pics of my setup

AZ-EQ6
ED100
C8

[IanW]

Thanks Ric,

I don't know how many of the 12" LX-600s there are in the country but I'm guessing this is one of the first. I know one guy's got a 14" as it arrived on the same shipment as mine. I do know there's a couple of 10" and at least one 12" LX-850.

I'm still waiting for Meade to supply the essential accessories such as an extra counterweight or two, Meade Dewshield and microfocuser.

[Allan]

Hi Jeremy, thanks for the kind words. Yes 21 kg is heavier than I would prefer, but over half of that is in the tripod plus the 8" extension which weighs a ton. On the flip side I get no image vibration when using the scope which was one of my main goals.

I hope you get to put an eyepiece in that beautiful AP130, don't let your camera have all the fun. I started with astronomy near you and still remember how dark and transparent the sky is in SA.

[The_Cat]

Greetings Alan,

Yes I have a couple of eyepieces to view stuff - a TMB 30mm one that works exceedingly well with refractors and some older Vixen ones that are surprisingly good. I mainly use the Dob for visual stuff.

Yes once upon a time we had dark skies but Adelaide and the Barossa Valley are catching up with us. Fast.

Weight is a big issue with me as I do not have an observatory so every time I want to image I have to "build" everything on the pier in the late afternoon then dismantle the setup when I've finished. Interestingly the whole telescope/mount load weighs in at about 70kg and is fixed to the pier with 3 3/8" grub screws!!

Jeremy.

[FlashDrive]

Got them out for tonight ..... looking good so far ......:D

[Kunama]

You wouldn't be strolling about in shorts around here matey !!!
Nice systems you have there Col.

[The_Cat]

Nice pair of 'scopes Col. i notice you have a fringe killer. An excellent filter to go with the Vixen would be a Baader Planetariun UHC-S for nebulae.

Jeremy.

[MattT]

Now I have had this scope for nearly a year time for a photo or two...again.
My 6" f12 Istar ATM scope on the 1877 Gaunt EQ mount, soon to have a tangent arm on the Dec, setting circles and slomo RA gear with friction clutch.
The finder is a Polarex 40mm kindly given from Matt (Kunama) and the 'finder scope' is a 90mm f11.1 Orion with GSO 2" Crayford and 38mm SWA 70º eyepiece giving 2.7º of sky.
It's crying out for an Observatory.

[FlashDrive]

Great G & G Scope you got there Matt .. .. just kidding :lol:
Renovate the shed in the background for the ORB .. .. or is that the ' Chook House '

Col.. ..:D

[byronpaul]

That's an impressive bit of kit :eyepop:

[LewisM]

WOW Matt, just WOW! Beautiful

[hobbit]

Saxon ED120 on Celestron AVX

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: These are a very , very good APO on a great mount , will you do a small report on these when you have used them a bit ? thanks in advance ;).
I have a 127mm f8 and this sized scope kinda hits the sweet spot on most objects , well done .
Brian.
QUOTE=hobbit;1108216]Saxon ED120 on Celestron AVX[/QUOTE]

[FlashDrive]

Nice easy Setup ... very light ... can pick up with 1 hand and carry.
TAK76D fitted with FT Focuser on Vixen / TeleVue Hybrid Mount.

EDIT....The beauty of this Mount is.... the Top TeleVue Caddy can ' spin ' 360* degrees ( the caddy sits on a bearing ) ......I don't have to move the Tripod at all to position the Scope towards a different direction... just ' spin ' the Scope around to any direction you want to point and look and the Tripod stays ' still '.

Flash.....

[Larryp]

Neat set-up, Col :thumbsup:

[stephenb]

Sdm #059

[LewisM]

More to add tomorrow, but here is my FSQ85 at least

[codemonkey]

Not as exciting as a lot of the posts here, but this is my current set of toys:


NEQ6 Pro
Atik 314L+
Skywatcher Black Diamond ED80
QHY5L-II mono
Orion Deluxe OAG
ZWO LRGB + Filter wheel

[Ric]

Hi Lee

A nice looking setup, all scopes are exciting. You'll be getting some nice widefields with that rig.

[Kunama]

Nothing wrong with that setup Lee that a 90º Rotation won't fix ;)

[brian nordstrom]

:rofl: And I always thought there was no 'up' in space ;) but what a great set up looking forward to seeing a few photos this will be able to produce , this is an APr's dream set up , nice .
Brian.

[pluto]

That's a great setup Lee, I used to have basically the same gear and it worked really well together :)

I thought something looked a bit off with your pic though (and not the 90 degree offset that Matt pointed out ;)) - your EQ6 is backwards on the tripod!? I'm sure it's not your fault as the mount only fits on one way but I'm sure it looks like it's facing the opposite way to mine!
Perhaps they've put the knob thing on the wrong side or maybe they've changed that since I got mine...?
You wouldn't want to live too far north or the counter weights would hit that front leg!

[Camelopardalis]

The peg on the top of the tripod can be switched from one side to the other. I use mine in the same configuration as it happens!

[codemonkey]

Forgot to mention my favourite part of that set up... my Moonlite focuser. God I love that thing. After having a stock SW ED80 focuser... and then having it go bad, using that thing is amazing.



haha thanks mate :-)



I just got the mount second hand very recently and I was surprised by this as well, as my previous mount was as you describe.



I didn't even think of doing that.

[FlashDrive]

Arrived 2 Day's ago .... from O/Seas.

I had 1 of these about 2 years back and let it go ... now there's a ' waiting ' list to get one ....

These are very very nice ... compact ....FPL53 ED Optics ... Quality Build and Solid ' feel ' ....Smooth 360* Rotating Focuser.

I just need to find a ' nice ' Mount for it... Alt/Az

Col....

[Larryp]

Neat little thing, Col!

[LightningNZ]

Such a great little scope. Hope you're having lots of fun with yours Flash. :)

[brian nordstrom]

:D Look at those focuser knob's .

Welcome to the 60mm scope club Flash .sweet scope there .

Brian.

[dannat]

Colin I've been looking for one of those myself

[sn1987a]

20"f4 Zambuto mirror Ultralight. Waiting for cloud to go away.:D

[PeterHA]

Great Ultralight Barry!


Here my collection of:

Travel - Sky 90 on AOK AYO Traveler with Argo
Grab and go - Tak FC-100 on AOK AYO II (now with Argo not pictured)
DSO - Bintel 12" with ultra light custom base and Argo

[Saturn%5]

My little scope that i have been fixing for the last 14 months.

Vixen R150s.

[casstony]

Latest incarnation of the TSA120. The handle makes it more secure to mount and carry - it's a plastic kiteboard handle from ebay and it came with screws that fitted the Vixen rings perfectly.

[casstony]

De-forked C11 Edge now mounted on a T-Rex.
The fork will shortly be converted to a single arm mount and should be capable of carrying a C9.25 though I'll be using it with my 8" Edge ota.

[Slawomir]

The recliners are for looking at the gear when weather is bad...

[FlashDrive]

I decided to re-paint my ( Orion ED80 ) ... it was ' takky green ' ...
now.... Hammer Tone Gun Metal Grey ....

A Porta II Mount Head turned up yesterday from OPT ... bolted straight on.

I reckon it looks better ..... ;)

Col .....:D

[MattT]

:eyepop:Flash.....that was quicker than Flash Gordon :rofl:
Looks miles ahead of Takky Green but isn't it sort of what it was to start with :question:
Next you'll be into ATM quicker than you can say Telescopisamakismiam.
:lol:
Matt

[rrussell1962]

Col, what do you think of the Vixen Porta mount? I have been thinking about one of those for my new (old) Vixen ED80S.

[FlashDrive]

MattT ....sort of... but it's a lot ' cleaner ' cosmetically.

1st pic is the original ... others are the Scope now.... much better IMHO

Col.

[cometcatcher]

You may be surprised to know that in the 40+ years I've been doing astronomy and astrophotography, I've never ever bought a Newtonian. I've built a lot, maybe a dozen but never bought a new one complete. So why did I start now? Cos I'm lazy, it's F4 and I don't think I can build one as cheap these days anyway.

Keep an eye out in the photography forums for pics taken through it. ;)

[jjjnettie]

So.... did you get first light tonight?

[doppler]

Good stuff Kevin, you are going to love that extra apperture and f4 too! Hopefully you have a coma corrector handy. Will look forward to your pics, now you just need the moon to wane and the sky to stay clear.:)

Cheers Rick

[cometcatcher]

It did have first light, with Canopus. Collimation is still a bit off but I'll fiddle more with that later.

Yes Rick I have a Baader MPCC MKIII in line. This is a single 30 second frame with the full moon nearby. Man those diffraction spikes are long with 4 vanes. With a 3 vane spider they are shorter due to energy distribution.

[doppler]

I have found that with my 4 vane scopes the defraction spikes are only that long on really bright stars.
I have an old Astro Optical 8" f6 dob with three vanes that I want to try out on a tracking mount. (I have a samson mount in transit that I can hopefully resurect for the job)

[casstony]

CPC converted to single arm passed it's test last night. An 11" was removed from the forks because the setup was too heavy for me and the scope pictured is an 8".

[casstony]

The ED80 looks nice Flash but I didn't mind the Tak colours either. You and Lewis may have to open opposing body shops.

[rrussell1962]

Obsession 18 inch F4.5 classic set up waiting for dark and the old Vixen ED80S F9 on GP mount with Skysensor 2000PC

[dannat]

Tony that is good

[casstony]

Thanks Daniel. I did have my eye on the new Evolution mount but there's not much point now - may as well save some money.

[rrussell1962]

Not current equipment, but my first telescope. Sadly the Cassie the cat and telescope are long gone. Picture about 1975 I would say. Thinking back, I don't think anything I have owned since has given me the same sense of joy and wonder that that little 60mm F12 refractor from Dixons did. Once I added a 25mm Ortho and an 8mm Ortho to replace the HM eyepieces it actually gave pretty good images. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned there.

[cometcatcher]

I think our first scopes (and cats) have the best memories.

[brian nordstrom]

A few here know of a deal that was done between New Zealand , Belgium and good old OZ , eg me .
This was a long winded affair , but good people allowed this to happen with every one happy .

On to the 80mm Mizar its self, it was a wreck when IK payed for it in OZ dollars off fleabay .

The long story short was I was left with a OTA , mount and tripod in a really sad state , I have since made a CW , grabbed a 30mm finder off IIS , cleaned the objective , etc , etc ,etc .

With an elcheapo 1 1/4 inch diagonal and my eyepieces this f12.5 blew me away !!:eyepop: , no bull this OTA is almost as good as my Tak sky90 ( close ) I cant see any CA on the moon or the bright ( over 1st mag. stars ) it is excellent , .
I only know of one of these here and yes these are special scopes and I will rebuild this one .
One more thing , the mount looks like the cheap chineese eq's but hell no ! this is as good as my Vixen SP .
:thumbsup:.
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

The rest , 1st light , waiting for dark .
For the Holms's out there . ph #4
Brian.

[Dave47tuc]

Well my Stellarvue is finally ready to go :)

New HEQ5 mount , Denk Powerswitch BV with IVB 2" Diagonal 19mm Pano's & Lunt solar wedge on its way :thumbsup:

[Larryp]

Brian, My first refractor was an 80mm Mizar branded as a Meade. It was a lovely scope and was responsible for turning me into a refractorholic!

[Larryp]

Looks great, David! Stellarvue make superb scopes :thumbsup:

[FlashDrive]

Nice WO Scope with Rotolock Focuser.
Has a 3.5" inch Focuser... 4" inches of draw tube travel.
98mm Triplet ....

Flash....:D

[Larryp]

Nice pick-up Col!

[Stardrifter_WA]

Nice scope Col, with the new RotoLock Adapters too.

I am looking at upgrading my 110 to include the RotoLock, so would like to hear your opinion of them.

Cheers Peter :)

[omegacrux]

Nice looking bit of kit Col

[griz11]

I wanted to get back into AP but didn't want a bunch of equipment to lug around. Already had a nice DLSR and lenses so I bought a StarLapse. I had a GM-8 before and really liked it so when I learned that Scott had a half mount I didn't hesitate. Didn't like the stability of it on a regular tripod and polar aligning with a video head is not something I wanted to have to deal with. So I bought one of the Astrotrac wedges and their portable pier. Made a quick modification to the Losmandy dovetail so it would bolt up to the wedge and I had a nice little set up for my AP work. Forgot that I'd never really found stuff in the sky much with out a goto system and immediately started scheming on how to get something working with my rig. An encoder is available for the RA axis half of his DSCH kit. But the other axis was a problem. It does have a shaft however so I found a wheel that would fit that with almost the same count as the Losmandy ones. Used the reader from the other encoder in the kit. The additional parts were 35 bucks and if I ever add the other axis I can just use the other encoder in the kit. Waiting on an Argo Navis to complete it. Should be here in a couple of days.


I've had it out 6 times so far. Outside of one adjustment to the worm/gear lash haven't had to touch it. Longest sub so far is 10 minutes I think it will go longer just haven't tried it yet. I suck at processing AP images so I don't do much to them after getting them out of DSS but I'm gradually making headway. This is the last image I've done. Finally getting good signal to noise. Needs more subs and some at a lower exposure to layer in on the blown out area. But for a quick and dirty test shot it came out pretty nice.

Polar alignment is off just a tad. Looks like I'm not going to be able to get away from drift runs with my longer lenses. For anything under 200 though the polar scope does just fine.


Griz

[Camelopardalis]

Congrats Dan, that looks a great portable AP setup :thumbsup:

As you've noticed, once you get to the longer focal lengths more precise polar/drift alignment is a necessary evil :sadeyes:

[griz11]

I had a Nexstar 11 dome the whole works about 15 years ago. My health went to ground and I ended up on disability and had to sell all my stuff to keep a roof over my head. I had insurance and all that but it takes them forever to start paying a claim. Couldn't hold out. I was a comet and NEO hunter. I worked with computers in my job and was into automating everything. Tried some DSO imaging but never could get the hang of it. And I bought the Nexstar about a month after they came out and they had problems. Not something a beginner could even hope to solve. I had people from the club come over none of us could get it to work for very long. A buddy I met on a forum bought one about the same time he gave up about a month before I did. I bought a Borg refractor and was saving up for a Fuji Finepix S2 Pro DLSR to use for imaging mounted on the 11inch. But my camera train was too heavy for the focuser on the Borg and my Ioptron wouldn't fit on the Borg. Just had to have that big scope. I had a GM-8 and an 8in SCT. Should have bought a refractor I know that now. But its all water under the bridge I did it right looks like this time and I can get the images that I've always wanted to get lots more learning to look forward too as well.

Griz

[DJT]

Finally got to play with this today. FS60CB on a Teagul patrol. Its a pack and go that will go with a Manfrotto tripod and 410 geared ball head which makes getting drift alignment sorted fairly easily in the field.

loads of fun solar observing today

Solar observing setup (http://astrob.in/138430/0/)

[ariefm71]

A 10" f/4.5 Newtonian on an eq mount and pier.
http://i.imgur.com/NZlTdEg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ORL6iNZ.jpg

Arief
------
10" f/4.5 Newt, 4.7mm and 11mm ES 82deg.

[Steve_G]

Hi all,

I'm slowly getting there with my equipment.

A Meade 8" LX200-ACF and Orion Short Tube 80 as a guidescope.

Astrozap crinkle blue Dew shield and focuser (moonlite) to come and a few other bits.

I only got the Losmandy dovetail and rings today and it looks like I'm going to need some counter weights :mad2:

The photos attached were from a Canon 450D unmodded and unguided.

[rogerg]

Some fun after taking some flats with the 6D this morning following imaging of Comet C/2014 Q2 and Horshead through the Megrez 90. Quick snaps using Canon 40mm pancake lens, great fun :thumbsup:

[steradian]

Happy Australia Day 2015 guys!

Just unpacked and setting up my Tak FS-60c - used mainly for purely observational viewing. I'm hoping to see the motion of (357439) 2004 BL86 tonight. I always take a small collection of Carl Zeiss Jena binos to help search about. I work out in the center of Australia and do a LOT of star gazing, but for now I'm based in Townsville and this is where I'll be tonight looking for that elusive NEO.... wishing for crystal skies!!

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Beautiful set up there , I had one of these and they do punch way above their weight , nice ! .
Brian.

[codemonkey]

This lightweight bit of kit arrived last night. Should do alright I guess.

[jenchris]

The only astro photography I get to do these days is taking ics of my astro gear.
Deforked LX90 ACF 8" mounted on an NEQ6pro with an SW102 (F5) achro for guiding.
Made the guider mount to lower overall weight seems to work well - less than 0.4 sec deviation on the PHD2 graph.
Pier and ratcage courtesy of local builder and local metalworks - free.
Fabricated like the shed - by my own fair hand.
Changed the shed this year to a roll off roof rather than a slide sideways as it was too awkward to slide and it fell on me once lol
Forgot to mention. Added Teamviewer so I can now control from my house once it's all in action.

[FlashDrive]

Well ...I've sold all my other Refractors and just wanted something small and light weight... ( for the time being )
It's a ' Doublet ' with one piece of glass being FPL-53

2" Inch 2 speed ( 10:1 ) rotatable Focuser... draw tube travel ~ 3inches.

This ' Gem ' turned up yesterday and was a delight to look thru', although it was only at fern leaves at the end of the garden.
Very nice sharp, crisp and defined views, very clear indeed.

All my eyepieces come into focus with plenty to spare in and outward.

Col.....

[Kunama]

Would you say it's a little bit lighter than the T-Rex/NA140 combo?

A beaut little grab and go.

[Kunama]

With many thanks to Peter (Max Vondel) for taking such great care of this beautiful scope ..........

Getting it home has brought my search for my ideal refractor to an end (for now ;) )

Maybe I should have bought it three years ago, could have saved a fortune in bubble wrap and postage ......

[MortonH]

Nice. If you're having balance issues due to the short tube you might want to look at this adapter that Stellarvue have made for their version.

http://www.stellarvue.com/tp60-extender-for-sv60/