I was able to pick up a recent Tak FC100DF at a decent price from a member here and now comes the hard (but fun) part while I await the Big Brown Truck. Since I'm disabled (blind in right eye / semi-paralyzed on right side), I wanted to put the lion's share of $$$ into a premium OTA for a lightweight rig. My previous opportunity at getting an AT102EDL fell through due to a miscommunication. The FC100DF will be mounted on a vintage Vixen Polaris EQ with alsastro.com finished oak legs. I need advice on the following:
- tube rings (lightweight ones that can be used with a handle).
- A quick-release bracket for a RDF finder
- I already have a good set of Astronomics Paradigm EPs (with a lonely 19mm Panoptic) and find myself wondering if TV Delites would provide all that much of a bump in image quality.
- Would I be better off with a Baader Mark IV zoom for this one-eyed-Jack to avoid the "where-did-I-put-that-EP" factor?
- The same holds true for a barlow / TV Powermate. Am I better off with a Tak Ext-Q (not aware of one specifically dedicated to the FC100 series scopes) or TV 1.25" PowerMate? I know Tak designs their Extenders to integrate seamlessly into their optical system path
- I also need advice on a premium 1.25" diagonal, as 2" hand grenades are not in the cards (visual only). I know there's a big debate re: prism vs. mirror and how much of this is influenced by f ratio? Native the FC100DF is f/7.4, but with a Tak 1.6 Ext-Q, it becomes an f/11.8, and with a TV 2.5x PowerMate, the f ratio is f/18.5
I'm in Central NJ where 95% of use will be visual on planets & Moon, and perhaps solar H-alpha down the road.
Many thanks in advance. All comments and advice are welcomed.
Rob
Edited by RobM, 22 February 2021 - 02:44 PM.