Hi Matt. I have been trying to buy one since the start of the year. Baader have updated them, so they have been unavailable this whole time. Alpine Astro finally received some recently, but they were all snapped up. There is more stock coming in 3 weeks and I have just paid for 2 of them to secure some this time around.
So I can't give you my thoughts yet, but hopefully will be able to soon.
Thanks Arief, sounds promising. I already ordered another Berlebach tripod so there is no extra postage cost to include the finder. I'll fit this to the clamshell on the CN.
I brought mine home yesterday, and it was a simple 5 minute job to swap the Orion RACI with the SSV. It looks very sharp sitting on the dob with typical Baader quality.
First decision was whether to go with the clear end caps, or fit the tube extensions for dew prevention. Problem is, you can't do both unless you cut the elastic holding the clear end caps together.
I decided to go with the clear end caps, because even with the tube extensions I can see that the finder will dew up eventually on those typical nights. Plus with those fitted, and no caps for protection, there is nothing protecting the glass surfaces of the actual finder.
With the clear end caps in place, I just gave them a gentle wipe to remove the dew that was forming without any concern for scratching the clear plastic.
Last night was sensational here and I gave the finder a good run into the early morning. It was very easy to align, with nice positive click stops felt as you moved the red dot into alignment. Star hopping around was great, and in some ways I already prefer it over my Starbeam finders, but the Starbeams do look very elegant on refractors. For the dobs though I think the SSV is a winner.
The only negative I will include is about the 1 to 11 illumination switch. Anything beyond about 2 is a waste of time as it gets too bright. Plus, with the clear end caps in place the brighter settings create reflections and you end up with 2 or 3 red dots in the sky. I just used setting 1 all night and that projected a small precise dot in the sky with no ghost images coming back from the clear end cap.
Hi,
I love the Baader Skysurfer V RDF beast! Easy to align, very easy to use and built like a German tank! I don't even take the protective caps off when using it as they are perfectly transparent, plus the finder becomes rather long on my Borg travelscope if I attach the dew shields. The miriad of light intensities from 1-11 are a bit of overkill as I usually flick the dial straight to 5, but comes in handy for smaller objects or day time. For me, a flat dovetail foot would be easier to mount on the Borg block than the curved one supplied, but it is also of excellent quality and the curve would undoubtedly suit other scopes.
Regards, J.
