12016 replies to this topic

[Terra Nova]

I spent an hour last night watching Saturn out on the front porch with the Monolux 4380, putting it through its paces and checking everything out before I give it to my friend this week. I need to clean and lube the GEM. I want it all 'ship-shape in Bristol fashion' as they say.

[wrnchhead]

Took my girlfriend and her daughter slightly away from town last night with binoculars and my Jason 313, of course mostly looked at Saturn. Was pretty darn incredible. I can't wait to get my 1.25 conversion completed and view (anything really) through quality modern optics, which I have never done before. I love showing people that you can point a telescope at what looks like nothing and your view is full of stars. 

[BigC]

 

My RV-6 is one of my best buys -- Good Luck with yours!

Well, I won the auction.Seller says he is willing to store the RV6 for a while.

Jupiter was so low and thin haze that it was just a slightly fuzzy white orb although two bands appeared very fleetingly.

Saturn better but not as sharp as been seen;maybe the Sears needs checked for objective fiddling by previous owners.

Had to carry the Sears up the hillside a hundred yards to see Saturn just above the southern treetops.

 

Still a thousand times better conditions in many ways  than people in Florida this week

Edited by BigC, 11 September 2017 - 09:19 AM.

[starman876]

 

 and my first time seeing Neptune. 

I remember, decades ago, seeing Uranus and Neptune in the same field of view.  What a coincidence to be alive and able to see that.  Won't happen again for ages.

 

neptune is always great to see.  

[Bomber Bob]

RV-6 + RKEs = Great Views!

 

28mm / 43x

21mm / 57x

8mm / 150x

 

First, Saturn at 200x was sketch-worthy with the HD Orthos.  Spent the rest of the session in Ophiuchus with the RKEs in my systematic zig-zag sweeping.  Seeing was easily 8/10.  Spotted IC4665 in the Nihon-Seiko 50mm RACI finder (a real miniature refractor compared to the GSO that I swap between scopes) in the same field as Cebalrai (Beta).  It's a young cluster, and in the RV-6 it's all blue-white brilliants with several neat patterns.  The finder got me in the neighborhood of NGC6633.  It's more compact, but to me prettier with the RKE21 than 4665.  M10 & M12 are good comparisons with the RKE8.  Seemed to break out a few stars of M10; none with M12.  The central region of M12 had more of an oval shape to it.

 

After years of small refractors, star-hopping with these 6" reflectors is tough!  So many stars that I get disoriented.  The 50mm finder helps.  (Yeah, I know that these days a 6" is a small Newt.)  I'm very happy with these eyepieces -- hate that Edmund is apparently phasing these out.

[member010719]

Bomber Bob

 

I understand the solution I will suggest is not fit for a classic telescope.

But the solution for good star-hopping is in the reverse direction , one should go lower than conventional  finder ,  to an RDF.

The RDF is showing where the telescope is actually pointing.

So ,you can easly  use triangles  , diamonds or rectangles of stars , to set the telescope where the DSO is supposed to be according to the map.

I use this on my rebuilt 200mm Dobsonian since about a month and I'm getting good results.

Last night I saw NGC 7000 , the brightest part of North America Nebula.

 

Mircea

[Kasmos]

I want it all 'ship-shape in Bristol fashion' as they say.

Did someone just watch The Ghost and Mrs. Muir?

I saw it again tonight and there's a line like that in the film. It does partly star a telescope to boot.

[Kasmos]

I tried testing my Crescent 60x800 again using Saturn as the target. I tried flopping the crown even though I was 99% sure it was in correctly. It didn't help so I put it back but rotated the crown 90°. It looked promising but way too many clouds rolled in before I could be sure.   Maybe tomorrow?

[Terra Nova]

 

I want it all 'ship-shape in Bristol fashion' as they say.

Did someone just watch The Ghost and Mrs. Muir?

I saw it again tonight and there's a line like that in the film. It does partly star a telescope to boot.

 

I just love that movie! It is soooo romantic!! Always makes me cry at the end. It is one of my absolute favorites!

[Bomber Bob]

Mircea, I used an RDF on that ES AR102.  I'm less than 2 miles from the city center, so I need to see more stars than with an RDF.  The 50mm finders are good for picking my way from known target to the next target -- it's rather like star-hopping with my 3" & smaller refractors, but with a much wider field of view.

 

BIF --> Last night, the Coathanger with both the RKE 28mm & 21mm was so bright that I didn't recognize it at first -- scores & score of background stars (a very rich field!)

[Chuck Hards]

RV-6 + RKEs = Great Views!

 

 

If I had to pick just one telescope, and stick with it, it would be a 6" f/8 Newtonian.  

[Terra Nova]

 

RV-6 + RKEs = Great Views!

 

 

If I had to pick just one telescope, and stick with it, it would be a 6" f/8 Newtonian.  

 

If I had to pick just one telescope, and stick with it, it would be a 4" Takahashi!

[Chuck Hards]

4" scopes just don't have enough light-gathering power for me, Terra, I thought long and hard about my 100mm ED but it lost out to greater aperture.  Mars needs at least a 6" scope.  And a 6" Newt can be used in a Dob configuration when I get too old to want to mess with an equatorial mount and counterweights.  A 6" refractor has to be too high off the ground to be used, meaning a bigger mount, meaning more setup work.

 

I'll stick with my decision, should it ever come to that.  Hopefully at least a couple of decades to go before I'm too diminished to wrassle the refractors and bigger scopes.  I figure when my belt is under my armpits, I'll be down to just one light-weight Dob.  

[Terra Nova]

Take a look through a Tak Fluorite apo Chuck. You might change your mind.

[Bomber Bob]

BIF --> I haven't bench-tested the RV-6, but I'm pretty sure its focal length is longer than 1200mm.

 

If I had to pick just one telescope, and stick with it, it would be a 6" f/8 Newtonian.

 

My two 6" Newtonians have really impressed me with their capabilities.  I'd hate to whittle down to just 1 scope.  But I could see 8:  Questar 3.5, Meade 2045, Goto Hy-Score 452, Sears 6336, Edmund 4" refractor, Jaegers 4" refractor, Edmund 6" F4 Newt, and RV-6.  (I don't count the Mogey and the Tinsley -- they're Display Scopes.)  Maybe 10, with the Edmund 4" F15 Cassegrain, and Dakin 4" F10 refractor.  Either way, it's still a refractor-majority collection.

[Chuck Hards]

Take a look through a Tak Fluorite apo Chuck. You might change your mind.

4 inches is always 4 inches, Terra.  All other things being approximately equal, aperture always wins.

[Bomber Bob]

If I had to pick just one telescope, and stick with it, it would be a 4" Takahashi!

 

Seems that whether it's APO or achromat, lots of visual observers favor 4" refractors.  Makes sense to me.

 

4 inches is always 4 inches, Terra.  All other things being approximately equal, aperture always wins.

 

True.  I was thinking about hauling out my Edmund 4" F15 last night to compare with the RV-6 -- my recollection of views ain't what it used to be.  With both scopes at 300x on Saturn in near-perfect seeing, the RV-6 shows more belt colors than the 4" refractor (I've seen that before), but I think the refractor would edge out the reflector on the very smallest / finest details.  The unobstructed light path is advantageous in certain cases.  Can't imagine the improvement a top-quality 4" APO would make!

Edited by Bomber Bob, 13 September 2017 - 08:52 AM.

[Augustus]

BIF --> I haven't bench-tested the RV-6, but I'm pretty sure its focal length is longer than 1200mm.

 

If I had to pick just one telescope, and stick with it, it would be a 6" f/8 Newtonian.

 

My two 6" Newtonians have really impressed me with their capabilities.  I'd hate to whittle down to just 1 scope.  But I could see 8:  Questar 3.5, Meade 2045, Goto Hy-Score 452, Sears 6336, Edmund 4" refractor, Jaegers 4" refractor, Edmund 6" F4 Newt, and RV-6.  (I don't count the Mogey and the Tinsley -- they're Display Scopes.)  Maybe 10, with the Edmund 4" F15 Cassegrain, and Dakin 4" F10 refractor.  Either way, it's still a refractor-majority collection.

IMO you could replace all of those achros with a 3-4" Tak and then have it down to 5 or 6 scopes. 

[Bomber Bob]

IMO you could replace all of those achros with a 3-4" Tak and then have it down to 5 or 6 scopes.

 

Yeah, but then I'd be just another Takahashi APO owner... How many folks have a Dakin scope?  Or, a Goto?  Or, a 6336?  Part of the fun for me is seeing how much these old scopes can show; and, I really enjoy rotating between scope types & apertures.  I just need to get the grand total down to something manageable.

[Chuck Hards]

I don't care who made it, a 4" scope will never cover all the bases that a high-quality 6" scope can.  Too much label worship going on here, methinks...

[Bomber Bob]

a 4" scope will never cover all the bases that a high-quality 6" scope can

 

That's what I've seen, but I don't own a Takahashi APO.  My RV-6 is much more versatile -- and MUCH MORE portable (on the Polaris mounts).

[Chuck Hards]

My home-made 6"f/8 can go on either a Dob base or the CGEM.  1/12th wave custom mirror, 98% enhanced coating, 1" enhanced secondary, Wyorock 2" focuser.  Primary fan, baffled and flocked interior.   It's tough to beat by anything of similar aperture.  Lots of bang for the buck.  There isn't a 4" lens made that can keep up with it.  I like Taks too, but they can't change the laws of physics.

[BigC]

My home-made 6"f/8 can go on either a Dob base or the CGEM.  1/12th wave custom mirror, 98% enhanced coating, 1" enhanced secondary, Wyorock 2" focuser.  Primary fan, baffled and flocked interior.   It's tough to beat by anything of similar aperture.  Lots of bang for the buck.  There isn't a 4" lens made that can keep up with it.  I like Taks too, but they can't change the laws of physics.

Among my hoard is a Bushnell Ares 6 set up the same way;rings and dovetail  placed so they don't interfere with the Dob base.Scope can be moved from GEM to Dob or vice-versa in a minute.

 

My 12" Zhumell  shows a lot more but is going to BE a classic before I have time to use it if my work situation doesn't change.

 

The classic 60mm are LOTS quicker and easier to put into action ;it becomes a dilemma  :"the Carton,..the Monolux...,the Sears, the Tasco, the Celestron, the Meade, the........"

 

Or the Vixen 144E,the other classic 4.5",

 

Or the ATM 6"f8

 

the 8"f6 Dob is maximum size for easy setup.

[Bomber Bob]

Before the Polaris mounts, my 6" reflectors sat idle during the summer.  When the heat is on, and the bugs are biting, I wouldn't haul out anything but my small refractors.  Now, I can chase cloud gaps with these "big" scopes about as easily as my fracs.

[Augustus]

My home-made 6"f/8 can go on either a Dob base or the CGEM.  1/12th wave custom mirror, 98% enhanced coating, 1" enhanced secondary, Wyorock 2" focuser.  Primary fan, baffled and flocked interior.   It's tough to beat by anything of similar aperture.  Lots of bang for the buck.  There isn't a 4" lens made that can keep up with it.  I like Taks too, but they can't change the laws of physics.

With that small of a secondary you are losing edge-of-field illumination.