Eyepieces for Tak FSQ106

mtodman (Matt) · #1 13-11-2009, 07:37 PM

Hi,
I'm fortunate enough to have come into the posession of a Tak FSQ106. Even though I purchased it with imaging in mind, I understand that it's also a very good viewing instrument.

Having come from the SCT world, I'm not entirely sure what eyepieces I should be considering now. Assuming that I'll be using the scope from my suburban Sydney home, I'd appreciate some suggestions as to what limiting magnification I should be looking at?

According to the manual, on nights of good seeing, it can handle 100x per inch (ie, 400x). Obviously the nights of good seeing in Sydney are few and far between. Should I be aiming for a couple of eyepieces to give me ~100x & 200x (5mm & 2.5mm)?

Any suggestions as to what eyepeices will work well with an FSQ106?

Matt

leon · #2 13-11-2009, 09:08 PM

Mathew at a starting point, and the fact that I too have a FSQ-106 i suggest you go for 1/3 of its capabilities to give you very clear and sharp viewing.

So i would suggest to stay away from the high power for a while until experience has kicked in.

Try for something like 12 mm and no more than 7.5. for now, you will be rewarded.

Leon

mtodman (Matt) · #3 13-11-2009, 10:14 PM

Thanks very much Leon.
Sounds like a good starting point.

AlexN · #4 14-11-2009, 02:28 PM

Best eyepiece for the FSQ 106 would have to be a KAI-11002M/KAF-16803 sensor

mtodman (Matt) · #5 14-11-2009, 04:42 PM

Alex,
Yep. That's pretty well what I'm thinking as well.
Who knows, if I really scrounge for money & sell one of my kidneys, I may be able to afford one in 2 or 3 years (that's the plan anyway).

AlexN · #6 14-11-2009, 05:23 PM

Who needs kidneys anyway? And think about it.. You've got 2 lungs... Thats natures version of redundancy. Sell one of them off too.. Souls usually get between 40~50 bucks on ebay!

if you sell your soul 100 times you'll be sweet

dannat (Daniel) · #7 14-11-2009, 08:50 PM

why not purchase some Tak LE ep's - should be a good match

mtodman (Matt) · #8 15-11-2009, 11:29 AM

Hi Daniel,
I hadn't heard much about the Tak eyepieces. A quick read of some reviews shows them to be excellent units at what appears to be a reasonable price (for Takahashi).
Thanks for the suggestion.
Matt

Fox · #9 15-11-2009, 11:58 AM

Hi Matt, I'd suggest a Pentax 7mm XW as maximum for now, and you can add barlow or (better) Powermate later. Fox.

Starkler (Geoff) · #10 15-11-2009, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtodman

. Assuming that I'll be using the scope from my suburban Sydney home, I'd appreciate some suggestions as to what limiting magnification I should be looking at?

I think small scopes are very unsatisfying from light polluted locations, regardless of the quality of the optics and I suggest that really you're pretty much limited to lunar and planetary.

Exit pupil sizes under 0.5mm become difficult due to dimness of image and floaters in the eye can start to become intrusive.About 200x mag.

jamespierce (James) · #11 22-11-2009, 06:19 AM

My pick would be a 10mm TV Ethos - That will give you about 50x and 2 degree field of view. Add to that one of the Nagler zooms (3-6 or 2-4mm) for planetary mag and getting a closer look at smaller objects.

The previous comment about exit pupil is right, unless the object is very bright going past 0.5mm of exit pupil starts to become an exercise in futility.

rally · #12 22-11-2009, 09:42 AM

Matt,

Any eyepiece in answer to your question should work, then it becomes an issue of preference and budget.

Not sure which FSQ106 you have but unless its the FSQ106ED with the extra back focus you will need to get a hold of Taks special 2" FSQ diagonal and the adapters, otherwise you might find you cant reach focus or you will have to view straight through - which might get a bit hard on the neck at times.
I think that some 1.25" diagonals can be made to work but not sure.

The FSQ106 is perfectly fine for visual and with its amazingly tightly corrected spectral range there is not going to be any false colours and fringing common in most APO's - the moon is very clean.
There is no reason why you couldn't achieve a magnification factor that any other similar sized scope in the same seeing conditions could yield if the seeing permits
eg 190x with a LE 2.8mm or 150x with a XW3.5
Add the Tak 1.6x adapter and go higher if the object is bright enough.

The Pentax XW series is quite superior to the Tak LE series for my eyes !, but so is their price too.

Obviously aperture helps greatly with light gathering and so having less will be more limiting especially compared to your SCT, adding in a nebula filter can improve on nebulae viewing by filtering out some of the light pollution and this will improve contrast.

Have fun.

Rally