160 replies to this topic

[waso29]

congrats!!

 

120mm is new goldilocks fract: not too small, not too big.

the 120mm in the lighter fixed tube works well with smaller more manageable mounts like em-10/11 and gp.

the fixed dew shield has advantage of not having inner liner of sliding dewshield deterioate in time.

i use the handy clamshell for ease of balancing when switching from bino-viewing to cyclops-viewing to imaging.

looking forward to thawing out next week.

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[GoodAsh]

Congratulations on the TSA-120, GoodAsh - looks great with the Prima Luce rings and Vixen mount with wood tripod. I concur with your choices! I went to the hardware store and bought a drawer handle and some flat aluminum stock to make a handle. Your rings have a 6mm bolt hole that'll work for that and it costs under $10 ...

Enjoy the setup when you get some clear skies.

I may do the same. Thanks for the tip!

[Oyaji]

First Light!

 

Finally, some clear skies, even if it is only 20 degrees and even if the target is only the moon.  But I wanted to make sure I could get focus both visually and with a camera.  Mission accomplished.      

 

Looking at the moon with diagonal and 36 mm eyepiece:  

 

Connecting up the ASI294 MC Pro with OAG:

 

Focus achieved thru camera!  

 

Now, if only the doggone moon would go away, and things would warm up, so I could get down to some serious business!  

 

 

(BTW, that "AUTOSTRETCH" is a reminder to myself to turn on Autostretch in NINA--a couple of times I forgot to do that, and ended up wasting hours trying to figure out why I wasn't getting any images!)

Edited by Oyaji, 20 February 2021 - 04:40 PM.

[GoodAsh]

First light today! Unfortunately, no sunspots to view. Bummer. But, I installed an RA drive from Celestron on my Vixen GP and it now tracks!

[GoodAsh]

Ok, setup for a quickie observing session. Let the scope cool for 45 minutes, needed a bit more but it’s just too **** cold.

The moon was spectacular, but only for very brief moments when the seeing was ok, maybe a second or two here and there.

Star test: when seeing allowed, prefect airy disks both in and out of focus. Five or six rings perfectly spaced and centered. Textbook.

Really happy and looking forward to a bit warmer weather!!

Al

[HoloTheWolf]

 

First Light!

 

Finally, some clear skies, even if it is only 20 degrees and even if the target is only the moon.  But I wanted to make sure I could get focus both visually and with a camera.  Mission accomplished.      

 

Looking at the moon with diagonal and 36 mm eyepiece:  

 

 

Connecting up the ASI294 MC Pro with OAG:

 

 

Focus achieved thru camera!  

 

 

Now, if only the doggone moon would go away, and things would warm up, so I could get down to some serious business!  

 

 

(BTW, that "AUTOSTRETCH" is a reminder to myself to turn on Autostretch in NINA--a couple of times I forgot to do that, and ended up wasting hours trying to figure out why I wasn't getting any images!)

 

 

Nice! Does your TSA-120N also have MEF-3 focuser? Does it play along with ZWO EAF?

 

Some news: I finally purchased the TOA-35 reducer from Land Sea and Sky. It will be shipped on Monday.

The last component for my TSA-120N  imaging train is an adapter that fits the back focus.

Tak's adapters are out of stock everywhere (why am I not surprised at all), but it looks like I can use Precise Parts to custom-build the adapter. I'm gonna to give it a shot.

Edited by HoloTheWolf, 21 February 2021 - 10:21 PM.

[Oyaji]

Nice! Does your TSA-120N also have MEF-3 focuser? Does it play along with ZWO EAF?

 

 

 

The 120N did come with the MEF-3.  But you can't manually focus at all with the EAF attached--unless, that is, you back off the two little set screws that attach the EAF flexible coupler to the focuser shaft.

 

If I ever take the 120N to an outreach star party, I'll back off the set screws so the public can work the manual focuser.  

 

I'm looking forward to a warm enough night (anything over 40 will do) that I can test the 120N/EAF combo with NINA's autofocus routine.  Not that I have any doubts on that score, of course. But as Ronald Reagan used to say, "Trust, but verify!"

Edited by Oyaji, 21 February 2021 - 10:08 PM.

[HoloTheWolf]

I'm been searching for a solution to mount WO 50mm guide scope on TSA-120N.

 

Following Oyaji, I ordered Prima Luce 125mm rings, 240mm Losmandy, Vixen dovetail plates, and use the Vixen plate as handle bar.

Now with this combo, I have two options to attach the guide scope:

1. Screw mount the guider directly onto the Vixen bar.
2. Get a Vixen-style dovetail base.

Neither approach is satisfactory: With #1, I can't use the Vixen plate as handlebar since the guider is screw-mounted.

Solution #2 is aesthetically not pleasing because of the extra dovetail base.

 

While researching for better approaches, I came across the WO 243mm saddle handlebar. Its dimension is 3mm longer than the 240mm

Vixen plate. But the biggest bonus, for my purpose, is its built-in Vixen dovetail mount which works seamlessly with the WO guide scope.

 

The photos sort of give you an idea how the WO handle bar fits (using M6 screws) the Prima Luce rings. Dimension-wise it is not perfect

(243mm vs. 240mm), but the difference in length is negligible to me (~1mm on each end). I'm pretty happy with the result.

 

What? The color does not match? Sure enough a matching red WO bar would be perfect, but red seems no longer available from WO.

Personally I think black + red is a pretty nice color combo. I won't complain 

 

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[25585]

Very neat. I use an extra ring to mount my finder scope on.

[Oyaji]

First two images using my brand new 120N (well, not really the first; there were a couple of practice pics that I'd rather not have anybody see).  From last night.

 

These pics were with NO flattener.  There's a tiny bit of star elongation around the edges.  I have an ASI294 MC Pro camera; I believe that I'd need the TOA35 flattener should I get a camera with a larger sensor. 

I wish I'd had a little more time on both pics but I'll take what I can get.  Horsehead/Flame was getting lower in the west and getting harder to track and focus when I stopped its sequence.  M13 was rising but I stopped its sequence because the temp had fallen to 30 degrees and I decided to call it a night.

 

What can I say?  I LOVE this scope.  And my other Taks, too--I definitely have a case of Takitis.  

 

Horsehead and Flame Nebulas, 134 minutes time on target:  

 

 

 

M13, 54 minutes time on target:

 

 

Edited by Oyaji, 08 March 2021 - 02:57 AM.

[SteveG]

When I saw a Traveller for sale, that review killed my desire to buy it.

I had a nice ED scope with a similar focal length, around 600 mm. That is how I learned about field curvature, and my inability to deal with it.