Denk II Bino's with Power Switch ...looking to try these out tonight.
Some clouds about ... ...!!
EDIT: went out later ..Jupiter and Orion well up in the Sky .... these Denk's are just outstanding ...Orion was glorious ...it's nebula ' sprayed ' out in full view in the 2 x 19mm Pan's.
Jupiter ... beautiful ...could easily see 3 of the brown bands crossing the planet ...seeing was a bit diminished ( high cloud )....glad I bought these Bino's....yet to try these in my Meade LightBridge.
Flash ..!!
Last edited by FlashDrive; 07-01-2013 at 09:56 AM.
Congratulations and welcome to IIS. I also had the call for this scope but couldn't manage the finances at such short notice. Very envious. It is one big refractor!! Let's see some photos when it's all set up.
The new addition to the family....a CF GSO RC8. I need to sort out DEC balance issues as a counterweight is required at the front. My modded Canon 30D is attached. Still using my 60mm Tasco refractor as a guide scope.
My HiOptic ED127 Triplet finally arrived this morning, along with the clouds.
There were sucker holes this evening though. So we quickly mounted her up and got her balanced. By the time I'd slotted the camera in, it was wall to wall clouds again.
So I covered her up for the night, and when we were walking back to the house, half the sky was clear again. In 20 minutes it was totally clear again.
stoopid clouds, stoopid new scope curse
The forecast is for cloudy weather for the next 5 days at least.
Cool! Have you stopped peeking at it through the window yet?
How do you rate the focuser?
The focuser is a wee ripper. It arrived with none of the holding screws tightened though, but a few turns with an allen key and it holds very firm.
It takes a fare pull on the focuser to get it to budge. I'd have no qualms about loading a couple of kilo of camera gear onto it. I found no slop at all when I slotted in a 4x Powermate, extension tube and dslr.
It also has 3 locking screws to hold your camera in place which is pretty good I think.
I had first light tonight and will be posting the images once I'm done with the processing.
Theres a need to replace the focuser when it constantly falls apart no matter what you do with it, as mine did. Obviously its luck of the draw whether you get a good one or not.
Yes Laurie , I drew a short straw on my ( now sold) NG 127mm triplet , the focuser was rubbish ! so bad it was usuless! , so I got a Feather touch .
Great scope otherwise .
Brian.
Oh, when you asked earlier re. why the scope is late. They had run out of focusers, so this is the first of a new batch.
I have no idea if it is the same as the ones they used previously.
They had run out of focusers, so this is the first of a new batch.
I have no idea if it is the same as the ones they used previously.
It looks the same. My focuser is OK, better than some but well short of a feathertouch. For example the focuser tension is not uniform throughout it's travel and the thumbscrews are not as easy to operate as a FT.
This is the latest addition to my stable. A Tasco 5VTE - in relatively poor condition. This is a 60mm refractor that has a fixed eyepiece, with adjustable zoom levels of 15x, 30x, 45x & 60x. It has a dented lens hood, focus is loose, so will need some work. The tripod is metal, but is missing the spreader. I just picked it up today from a guy whose father had bought it in the early 1980's - so about 30 years old perhaps. The older versions of this had a metal focus knob whereas this one is made of plastic.
The objective lens appears clear, but I can see some garbage further down the tube - this one is non-inverted viewing so would be great for landscapes, which was probably one of the main reasons for it.
This Tasco 10TE is my very first telescope. Bought secondhand in the mid 1980's from a colleague who was returning to the states. He intended to buy another telescope over there, but many years later, I heard that he never did buy another.
This is a 76.2mm (3 inch) with a focal length of 1200mm - made in Japan in 1969. The little Tasco 5VTE OTA is shown sitting underneath for comparison. The 10TE is shown set up for solar projection, however due to the rain - I doubt that I could see anything for the next few days. Those with sharp eyes will spot the metal lens cover and finder cover sitting on the tripod spreader. This 10TE used the 0.965" eyepieces. The RA axis is quite stiff for some reason, maybe from hardening of the grease due to storage, and also there is some play in the Dec axis. The Dec axis is a tangent arm arrangement.
Last edited by John0z; 07-02-2013 at 12:29 AM.
Reason: Update dates, i.e. 1980's not 1970's, include 1969 manufacture date
...!!
Yes Laurie , I drew a short straw on my ( now sold) NG 127mm triplet , the focuser was rubbish ! so bad it was usuless! , so I got a Feather touch . 
