67 replies to this topic

[Dave Trott]

It’s Springtime and we are enjoying our telescopes out in the yard. A classic telescope looks great in any scene, but particularly when set off against a lovely backdrop. Your scope does not have to be a Porter Garden Telescope like the one pictured to look attractive in a garden. Show us one of your most appealing telescopes in an alluring setting. It has to be your telescope but it doesn’t have to be your garden. Please clearly identify your scope. Extra credit if you can also name any flowers or other plants in the picture!

 

 

Edited by Dave Trott, 12 June 2022 - 10:12 AM.

[Dave Trott]

Ok, I'll start.

 

Here is my beautiful Takahashi TS65 V-1 that inspired this thread. Unlike most Takahashi telescopes which appear to be born of the “Brutalist School of Pragmatic Overkill”, the V-1 mount head is elegant and sculptured. It looks great in the garden; there is just a hint of something reminiscent of the elegant flowing lines of the Porter Garden telescope. Geraniums and Speedwell in the background of the long shot with roses in the closeup.

 

 

Edited by Dave Trott, 12 June 2022 - 10:20 AM.

[Spikey131]

I think this one looks pretty sharp.

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[Dave Mitsky]

The Porter Garden Telescope is back, after a fashion.

http://www.gardentel....com/index.html

[steve t]

I don't know about beautiful, but below is my 100mm x 1000mm Newtonian I built during the Covid lock down using a NOS mirror I bought off of CN classifieds. The mount it an ATM built in 1973 per Allyn Thompson's book "Making Your Own Telescope."

 

For me, telescopes and gardening go hand in hand.

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[VNA]

Hello, absolutely, but when I observe I hear so much wrestling in the flower beds making me nervous, never know if it is a mad coyote or an opossum? I got the scope out last night, but of course the clouds came out as well, so I covered the scope and I also use a garden umbrella so I don't have to bring it back in, being a CGX mount with a Meade 10" SCT tube.

 

Although here in Northern California we won't see rain for a while, unfortunately!

[Dave Trott]

I don't know about beautiful, but below is my 100mm x 1000mm Newtonian I built during the Covid lock down using a NOS mirror I bought off of CN classifieds. The mount it an ATM built in 1973 per Allyn Thompson's book "Making Your Own Telescope."

 

For me, telescopes and gardening go hand in hand.

I agree wholeheartedly, Steve! And I think your scope is breathtaking!!

[LukaszLu]

Combining a passion for astronomy with a passion for gardening can be difficult - especially in the case of large trees. On the one hand, I am happy with their growth - on the other hand, they take more and more of the sky above my head ...

 

Towa "Viking" 60/700:

 

 

 

Kenko "Prinz 660" 76.2/1250:

 

 

 

Polarex 114 mount:

 

[Terra Nova]

I don't know about beautiful, but below is my 100mm x 1000mm Newtonian I built during the Covid lock down using a NOS mirror I bought off of CN classifieds. The mount it an ATM built in 1973 per Allyn Thompson's book "Making Your Own Telescope."

 

For me, telescopes and gardening go hand in hand.

I love this picture. Steve, both your garden and your scope are fabulous! I want to play but I’m on vacay with fam in Asheville NC this week. When I get home I will set something up. Right now, just a picture of my garden will have to do:

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[Piggyback]

This is a great thread. Placed my custom ETX 90 in front of the Hortensias in our driveway.

 

 

[Lentini]

This is a great thread. Placed my custom ETX 90 in front of the Hortensias in our driveway.

 

 

Meade ETX 90 auf Giro-Montierung_07red.jpg

That's a pretty mount... What kind is it?

[Piggyback]

That's a pretty mount... What kind is it?

Company Tele Optic Nordhorn was selling the Giro altazimuth mount. I find it to be a very sturdy setup for my ETX 90.

[Piggyback]

Entire setup on height adjustable Slik tripod.

 

[LukaszLu]

A very cool and handsome little telescope. I got rid of one like this once too quickly and now I regret it. Fortunately, it is easier with hydrangeas - you just need to find a good place and give them a minimum of attention to enjoy beautiful flowers :-)

 

I grow several species of hydrangeas, including climbing varieties. Although they are inferior in color intensity to many other species, I have a strong sentiment towards them. Especially in autumn, when the colors of the flowers slowly give way to the colors of discoloring leaves, hydrangeas remain one of the last floral color accents of the garden.

[tony_spina]

The Tele Vue Ranger doing some birding in the backyard followed by some lunar viewing at night

 

 

 

 

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[luxo II]

My garden scope, from long ago... 6" f/8 Newtonian (white) and a 6" f/19 folded newtonian (square wooden OTA) on an old equatorial mount with a home-made worm drive on the RA axis. The metal was from chunks of old alloy engine blocks (smashed them with a sledgehammer) melted in a DIY furnace, poured into moulds and machined with the help of a friend with a backyard workshop. The alloy was a little porous but machined quite nicely, much better stuff than using recycled aluminium cans.

 

Tripod was glued & screwed hardwood floorboards, wheels from a kids tricycle.

 

Quite dangerous stuff, looking back on it now.

 

... in front of an old satsuma plum tree, and the vines on the back fence were white and red gooseberries, thorny but very tasty...

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Edited by luxo II, 13 June 2022 - 11:36 PM.

[R Botero]

Nice thread!  A couple of shots of long refractors in my back garden. Both I refurbished; one I don’t have anymore (sadly), a 3” Polarex (Unitron Model 142):

 

 

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[R Botero]

And one I still have, another 3”. This time a Dollond:

 

 

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Edited by R Botero, 14 June 2022 - 02:27 AM.

[luxo II]

My, such long legs you have !

[R Botero]

My, such long legs you have !

  And not wearing anything but a chain! 

[LukaszLu]

so called "Black Magic Tripod" :-)

[steve t]

I love this picture. Steve, both your garden and your scope are fabulous! I want to play but I’m on vacay with fam in Asheville NC this week. When I get home I will set something up. Right now, just a picture of my garden will have to do:

Terra - Thanks for the complement.

You have a fabulous garden yourself

Steve T

[Terra Nova]

Thank you Steve! Here’s my observing pad in my garden the day before I left for my vacation.

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[NinePlanets]

OK, Folks. I thought a "Garden Scope" was one that is set up ALL the time - for years on end - like a sundial - not a portable on a tripod.

 

Let's see the true "Garden Fixture Telescopes"! 

[NinePlanets]

In the vein of my previous post, though I love them, I don't really have a garden scope; but this 8" f/20 DK would probably qualify as it was set up through about 5 Mars oppositions until I moved to a different town. The base was turnbuckled with a heavy chain into an large eyelet set in 3-foot deep reinforced concrete, and the scope was simply covered with a canvas cover.

 

The beast then languished in the corner of a garage for about 30 years. It now resides in my backyard again as a base for other scopes, possibly seen in a following post.

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Edited by NinePlanets, 15 June 2022 - 08:33 AM.