849 replies to this topic

[Echolight]

PS, my AT80EDT is mounted on my vintage Bogen 3040 mount and tripod. The 3040 head, allows a 90° flip to the side, and with the small Vixen clamping saddle the I’ve installed on its mounting plate, it’s easy to attach the scope firmly, and achieve good balance.

Ah hah! A clamping saddle! Excellent idea!

[aznuge]

Acquired this support telescope late last year.  It's been getting a lot of sky time in recent days.  Using mostly on a HAZ31 mount - top loading, but also works well on a 612 video head / Gitzo tripod combo.  In bottom photo it is shown with a Baader amici 2" click lock diagonal.  90 degree zenith no problem

 

 

 

[Fiske]

The Bogen 3040 will also tilt in altitude to 90° so the scope can be pointed to the Zenith if need be, (outside of course ).

Where did you get the handle for you 80EDT, Terra?

 

[hallelujah]

Thanks, I'm exhausted just reading your answer.

 

Stan

[Fiske]

Thanks, I'm exhausted just reading your answer.

 

Stan

It was just going to be a quick peek, right?

 

[PatientObserver]

Do you wear a mask, or do you stop breathing, when you are near the eyepiece?

Stan

I hold my breath as I approach my eyepieces. Otherwise, I breathe normally.

[Fiske]

I hold my breath as I approach my eyepieces. Otherwise, I breathe normally.

But does reducing the oxygen flow to your brain reduce your ability to resolve closer doubles?

 

 

(I guess probably not as much as fogged eyepieces.  )

[PatientObserver]

But does reducing the oxygen flow to your brain reduce your ability to resolve closer doubles?



(I guess probably not as much as fogged eyepieces. )

I breathe once I am there. I just try to avoid blasting the eyepiece directly with moist air.

[Fiske]

I breathe once I am there. I just try to avoid blasting the eyepiece directly with moist air.

[Terra Nova]

Where did you get the handle for you 80EDT, Terra?

 

I made it. Aluminum plate stock and an aluminum drawer/cabinet handle from Lowes.

[Fiske]

I made it. Aluminum plate stock and an aluminum drawer/cabinet handle from Lowes.

  

[Safetyman]

Acquired this support telescope late last year.  It's been getting a lot of sky time in recent days.  Using mostly on a HAZ31 mount - top loading, but also works well on a 612 video head / Gitzo tripod combo.  In bottom photo it is shown with a Baader amici 2" click lock diagonal.  90 degree zenith no problem

aznuge…how are you liking that  Amici prism? Is it the 1.25” or 2” version? Some people have no problems navigating charts with mirrored diagonals…I’m not one of those people. Wish I was.

[Bill Barlow]

  

 

Both good calls, Dale! 

 

I observed way longer than I meant to, of course, until I realized I was struggling to do even simple stuff and decided that was maybe a clue to stop.  Did have some gorgeous views, and the sky was rock steady. Went up to 140x easily. Just figures -- perfect sky conditions combined with dangerous wind-chills...

Fiske, glad your determination to observe with your new scope was greater than thinking about the extreme cold.  About as crazy as when I went out in my boxers at 15F last winter to see a comet in my 10x50 binoculars.  Last night will likely be the last clear evening for about a week, so good you got to see what your 80 ED is capable of.  

 

Hopefully by next week the snow will be gone and will start thinking about heading down to Lewis-Young park again when the moon is absent from the evening sky.
 

Bill

Edited by Bill Barlow, 21 January 2024 - 12:17 PM.

[Terra Nova]

Fiske, glad your determination to observe with your new scope was greater than thinking about the extreme cold.  About as crazy as when I went out in my boxers at 15F last winter to see a comet in my 10x50 binoculars.  Last night will likely be the last clear evening for about a week, so good you got to see what your 80 ED is capable of.  

 

Hopefully by next week the snow will be gone and will start thinking about heading down to Lewis-Young park again when the moon is absent from the evening sky.
 

Bill

The big warmup begins here tomorrow!

[Fiske]

aznuge…how are you liking that  Amici prism? Is it the 1.25” or 2” version? Some people have no problems navigating charts with mirrored diagonals…I’m not one of those people. Wish I was.

I used to be fooled by people claiming they could navigate with a RAMI (right angle mirror image) finder. 

 

But after a few years I realized it is almost entirely BS. Other than the simplest objects to locate (near some distinct and bright guide asterism) the vast majority of those making this claim, working from printed charts, are lost in space. I've seen them floundering too many times not to know better.  Oh, you can locate M 57 with your RAMI finder? Good work! 

 

RAMI finders are in reality a shill to sell go-to telescopes. 

 

With apps like Sky Safari, Stellarium, and etc., charts are easily mirror-reversed and following those is somewhat more doable, though still challenging because naked eye and binocular supports do not agree with the mirror-reversed charts.

Edited by Fiske, 22 January 2024 - 08:51 AM.

[aznuge]

aznuge…how are you liking that  Amici prism? Is it the 1.25” or 2” version? Some people have no problems navigating charts with mirrored diagonals…I’m not one of those people. Wish I was.

I am liking it!  It's the 2" version.  Coming from the binocular, BT and spotting scope perspective, I find it nice to have the FOV in a support telescope consistent with the natural orientation.  But I also have the "non-amici" prism version as well, and plan to compare the two for any differences in visual clarity to my eyes, when I get a "round tuit"

 

 

PS: I had received really good advice from CN member MT4 before purchasing these    He is also an owner/user of the Baader 2" BBHS amici.

Edited by aznuge, 21 January 2024 - 05:34 PM.

[Fiske]

I am liking it!  It's the 2" version.  Coming from the binocular, BT and spotting scope perspective, I find it nice to have the FOV in a support telescope consistent with the natural orientation.  But I also have the "non-amici" prism version as well, and plan to compare the two for any differences in visual clarity to my eyes, when I get a "round tuit"

 

 

PS: I had received really good advice from CN member MT4 before purchasing these    He is also an owner/user of the Baader 2" BBHS amici.

What is the clear aperture of this diagonal? 

 

 

The clear aperture of the Baader 2-inch Amici I went with is 1.49 inches, which is large enough not to vignette with any EP in my collection, other than the Nagler 31mm Type 5 (which I wouldn't use on the 80ED anyway).

Edited by Fiske, 21 January 2024 - 07:37 PM.

[Fiske]

Oh. 44mm or 1.73 inches according to High Point Scientific.

[Fiske]

Fiske, glad your determination to observe with your new scope was greater than thinking about the extreme cold.  About as crazy as when I went out in my boxers at 15F last winter to see a comet in my 10x50 binoculars.  Last night will likely be the last clear evening for about a week, so good you got to see what your 80 ED is capable of.  

 

Hopefully by next week the snow will be gone and will start thinking about heading down to Lewis-Young park again when the moon is absent from the evening sky.
 

Bill

The comet story with you out in your boxers in 15 degree temps is just never getting old, Bill. 

 

And yeah, I was looking at the 10 day forecast on Weather Underground and realizing that Friday and Saturday nights would likely be the last clear skies for a week. 

 

Friday night I did some lunar observations, some double stars, and the Trapezium in M 42 in Orion with the AT80ED.

 

The lunar views were crisp and sharp without a hint of false color up to 112x (5mm Pentax XW), but at 140x (TeleVue 4mm Delite) some hints of purple were visible. Nothing objectionable for an ED doublet. Clavius, one of my favorite lunar features, was gorgeous. At 112x I noted two craterlets near Plato, just on the shore of Mare Imbrium, clearly depicted on Chart 3 in the Rukl Lunar atlas (red arrow).

 

 

In my innocence I imagined looking them up in one or other of my lunar references, but not even Robert Garfinkle's 3-volume Luna Cognita had anything specific about them. And seeing them is highly dependent on light angles -- in most images they look like a single elongated crater, though distinctly two craterlets visually on Friday night (as depicted by Rukl).

 

What got me out Saturday (still ridiculously cold) was to have a quick look at Plato with the Kowa Highlander 82 at 50x (gorgeous), in which I could just see a hint of something in the position of the two craters. This pair of observations captures the purpose of a support telescope to me -- at lower magnifications the 80ED views are sharp, crisp, and pleasing, but pale in comparison to BT views, which are nothing short of breathtaking. Binocular vision makes that much difference. BUT, seeing a hint of something in the BT, having the 80ED on hand for a quick closer look (at higher magnification) is a wonderful, support plus.

 

One of my all time favorite BT doubles is 14 Aurigae / STF 653 (5.0/7.3 sep 14.2"), a companion to the often viewed Leaping Minnow asterism. It is detectable with a 20x80 binocular but far more of a visual treat at 32x with a 70 or 80mm BT (like the Oberwerk 70XL or 80XL). But that is not all. STF 666 (7.61/7.89 sep 3.0") is in the same field (adjacent to 16 Aurigae). It can be observed with a BT at higher magnification, but is much simpler to view at 112x with, say, an 80ED support telescope. 

 

Based on its first outing, I believe the AT80ED sweet spot for magnification is in the 110-20x range. STF 666 was nicely separated at 112x. It's an evenly matched double, so it will be interesting to see how well the 80ED handles closer doubles with a larger magnitude difference. At any rate, if the magnitudes are not too dissimilar, doubles in the 2-arcsecond range should be observable. It is capable of higher magnification, given steady skies like we had Friday night, but I'm not confident how much additional detail would be discernable. Time will tell.

 

Oh. The Baader Hyperion zoom is an admirable performer with the 80ED. I also have the Baader barlow designed to work with it, but the aperture of that is fairly restricted (darker views?) so I am planning to try it out with a Celestron 1.25 inch barlow I have had for years (excellent quality), and also with a Televue 2x Powermate that has a full 2-inch aperture.

Edited by Fiske, 22 January 2024 - 08:53 AM.

[mountain monk]

Way to hang in there, Fiske!

 

Dark skies.

 

Jack

[Fiske]

Thanks, Jack!

 

I was wearing WAY more than boxer shorts, I'll tell you that! 

 

My attire included Baffin Technologies ice pack boots that are supposedly good to -150 degrees Fahrenheit. I probably should have deployed my hand warmers too. I just didn't think I would get that cold taking frequent breaks in the front hall. But it got pretty miserable. 

 

[mountain monk]

Yep, Baffin’s are said to be the world’s warmest boot. Just don’t try running a marathon in them.

 

Dark skies.

 

Jack

[Safetyman]

I used to be fooled by people claiming they could navigate with a RAMI (right angle mirror image) finder. 

 

But after a few years I realized it is almost entirely BS. Other than the simplest objects to locate (near some distinct and bright guide asterism) the vast majority of those making this claim, working from printed charts, are lost in space. I've seen them floundering too many times not to know better.  Oh, you can locate M 57 with your RAMI finder? Good work! 

 

RAMI finders are in reality a shill to sell go-to telescopes. 

 

With planetary software apps like Sky Safari, Stellarium, and etc., charts are easily mirror-reversed and following those is somewhat more doable, though still challenging because naked eye and binocular supports do not agree with the mirror-reversed charts.

 

I am liking it!  It's the 2" version.  Coming from the binocular, BT and spotting scope perspective, I find it nice to have the FOV in a support telescope consistent with the natural orientation.  But I also have the "non-amici" prism version as well, and plan to compare the two for any differences in visual clarity to my eyes, when I get a "round tuit"

 

PS: I had received really good advice from CN member MT4 before purchasing these    He is also an owner/user of the Baader 2" BBHS amici.

That’s the thing, I’ve been indoctrinated in the bino RACI view and trying to parlay that into observing with a scope has been a failure for me. Having a RACI diagonal in a scope would be awesome.

[Rich V.]

 At 112x I noted two craterlets near Plato, just on the shore of Mare Imbrium, clearly depicted on Chart 3 in the Rukl Lunar atlas (red arrow).

 

 

In my innocence I imagined looking them up in one or other of my lunar references, but not even Robert Garfinkle's 3-volume Luna Cognita had anything specific about them. And seeing them is highly dependent on light angles -- in most images they look like a single elongated crater, though distinctly two craterlets visually on Friday night (as depicted by Rukl).

 

What got me out Saturday (still ridiculously cold) was to have a quick look at Plato with the Kowa Highlander 82 at 50x (gorgeous), in which I could just see a hint of something in the position of the two craters. This pair of observations captures the purpose of a support telescope to me -- at lower magnifications the 80ED views are sharp, crisp, and pleasing, but pale in comparison to BT views, which are nothing short of breathtaking. Binocular vision makes that much difference. BUT, seeing a hint of something in the BT, having the 80ED on hand for a quick closer look (at higher magnification) is a wonderful, support plus.

 

 

Hi, Fiske, nice report.  Regarding the Plato crater, surely with good seeing you can pick out the "big four" craterlets on the floor of Plato with the 80mm scope at around 120x, I'd think.  Yes, light angle is really important.  

[Fiske]

Hi, Fiske, nice report.  Regarding the Plato crater, surely with good seeing you can pick out the "big four" craterlets on the floor of Plato with the 80mm scope at around 120x, I'd think.  Yes, light angle is really important.  

Thanks, Rich. 

 

In my research, I learned that picking out craterlets on the floor of Plato is quite the sport. 

 

I wonder how many Jordan could resolve with her 100XL-SD at 240x?

 

Edited by Fiske, 22 January 2024 - 04:16 PM.