849 replies to this topic

[MT4]

 Or this one:

https://www.stellarv...em-accessories/

[dmorrow]

 Or this one:

https://www.stellarv...em-accessories/

Fully agree  

[Jon Isaacs]

 Or this one:

https://www.stellarv...em-accessories/

Weight:

 

The optical tube assembly weighs about 16.6 pounds. Weight with mounting rings: 19.4 pounds.

 

Not so easily deployed.  

 

For double stars, an FPL-53 doublet is a fine scope.  I had an Orion Eon, it had the Skywatcher FPL-53 120mm F/7.5 objective housed in a Long Perng OTA.  With the rings and a TeleVue Everbrite diagonal, it weighed 15.0 lbs and was "grab and go"  

 

It was a fine double star scope but with the seeing around here supporting larger apertures, it just never got used.  It was a better double star scope than the NP-101 but my 10 inch and 13.1 inch Dobs are both much more capable on difficult doubles. 

 

 

For me, using a refractor is a gamble. If the seeing turns out to be on the good side and splitting doubles closer than an arc-second is doable, then valuable time has been lost in cooling the larger scopes and getting them ready.  When the seeing allows for splitting doubles near the Dawes limit of the refractor, the larger scope still has a real advantage as long as it is close to thermal equilibrium.  

 

Jon

 

P.S.:  The 31 mm Nagler has a 42mm Field Stop.  In the TV-101, it provides a 4.46 TFoV.

[therealdmt]

I may have misunderstood this comment. 

Or I did!

 

There is a shade of doubt on my part 

[dmorrow]

Excellent point Jon!  I forgot to add this essential accessory 

 

https://www.amazon.c...T1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Edited by dmorrow, 27 November 2023 - 07:37 AM.

[Jon Isaacs]

Excellent point Jon!  I forgot to add this essential accessory 

 

https://www.amazon.c...T1zcF9hdGY&th=1

 

Of course you can always do this to lighten things,   

 

 

Jon

[Fiske]

Or I did!

 

There is a shade of doubt on my part 

Right there with you. 

[Fiske]

Weight:

 

The optical tube assembly weighs about 16.6 pounds. Weight with mounting rings: 19.4 pounds.

 

Not so easily deployed.  

 

For double stars, an FPL-53 doublet is a fine scope.  I had an Orion Eon, it had the Skywatcher FPL-53 120mm F/7.5 objective housed in a Long Perng OTA.  With the rings and a TeleVue Everbrite diagonal, it weighed 15.0 lbs and was "grab and go"  

 

. . .

 

The 31 mm Nagler has a 42mm Field Stop.  In the TV-101, it provides a 4.46 TFoV.

Yeah, too heavy for an ideal support telescope in my view. YMMV on that, of course, but light and easily deployed is a key factor for me. 

 

Thanks for the correction on the TV-101/31mmT5 FOV. 

[Bill Barlow]

Fiske, I have a C6 OTA that I recently got and have used it several times in the past few weeks.  It has excellent optics once I got the collimation adjusted and puts up excellent views of double stars at magnifications of 125X to 250X.  I bought it for a light grab and go option that would give me brighter images and better resolution that my 92 Stowaway.  Obviously the views in the Stowaway are sharper but the C6 is no slouch.  I hope you get one with better than average optical quality.  It will be lighter than your TV 101 and go a bit deeper.  It will be much lighter than the CC8.

 

Bill

Edited by Bill Barlow, 27 November 2023 - 11:10 AM.

[Echolight]

Is our new 6SE here yet!!??

[mogur]

I don’t have any trouble with the focuser on my EvoStar 100ED either (same focuser the 120ED uses).

But, like mogur above, I don’t use any heavy 2" eyepieces with it either (my heaviest is an APM 30 UFF at 20 oz [556g]).

Nevertheless, be aware that heavy eyepiece users, binoviewers and astrophotographers do not like the focuser. It’s a Crayford, which works best with eyepieces at around 20 ounces and under. Positives to a Crayford include no grease (so no temperature restrictions), light weight, no image shift [such as with a cheap rack and pinion] and low cost. Negatives include slippage under the type of loads many users these days expect to be able to put on their focuser. Also, the Skywatcher’s iteration of the Crayford isn’t as super simple to adjust as GSO’s iteration (with the Skywatcher’s, there’s a push-pull arrangement of screws to get one’s head around, unlike the ‘just one screw to turn to loosen or tighten tension’ of a GSO)

OK, I have to come clean. My focuser was "tuned" by an experienced astronomer (and tool & die maker) before he sold it to me. I imagine it does make a difference. 

[aznuge]

As a binocular and BT supporting refractor I am thinking 20lbs or less loaded as potential grab and go - to be deployed with a mount like the Manfrotto 612 video head, or the HAZ31 goto mount.

 

In the 120 to 127mm range these two are grabbing my attention - both are in the 14lb range OTA only.  Price wise the TSA would be a little cheaper, even after shipping from Kyoei.  Any thoughts?

 

ES 127 CF

 

TSA 120

Edited by aznuge, 27 November 2023 - 01:27 PM.

[MT4]

As a binocular and BT supporting refractor I am thinking 20lbs or less loaded as potential grab and go - to be deployed with a mount like the Manfrotto 612 video head, or the HAZ31 goto mount.

 

In the 120 to 127mm range these two are grabbing my attention - both are in the 14lb range OTA only.  Price wise the TSA would be a little cheaper, even after shipping from Kyoei.  Any thoughts?

 

ES 127 CF

 

TSA 120

 

The TSA-120 is a marvelous scope.   I had it for a year and a half and loved its quality of optics.  Sold it this past summer because of my poor local seeing.   

 

Fully loaded, even with a Baader 2" BBHS amici diagonal, it was still under 20lbs.

 

That being said, I am loving my Tak FC-100DZ.   It's the perfect supporting scope for me and my poor local seeing.   It's a featherweight that can be easily carried on one hand.

[aznuge]

The TSA-120 is a marvelous scope.   I had it for a year and a half and loved its quality of optics.  Sold it this past summer because of my poor local seeing.   

 

Fully loaded, even with a Baader 2" BBHS amici diagonal, it was still under 20lbs.

 

That being said, I am loving my Tak FC-100DZ.   It's the perfect supporting scope for me and my poor local seeing.   It's a featherweight that can be easily carried on one hand.

Thanks for the feedback, MT4.  The 100-DZ could be a possibility too, and it would be cheaper. 

 

What do you think of the Explore Scientific one.  CF reduces the weight but at a cost.  Also, ES does not exactly have an unblemished record with users.  But for this model, the 127 CF, I would still be intrigued if I could expect to receive a good sample.

Edited by aznuge, 27 November 2023 - 05:12 PM.

[MT4]

Thanks for the feedback, MT4.  The 100-DZ could be a possibility too, and it would be cheaper. 

 

What do you think of the Explore Scientific one.  CF reduces the weight but at a cost.  Also, ES does not exactly have an unblemished record with users.  But for this model, the 127 CF, I would still be intrigued if I could expect to receive a good sample.

 

Between those two options, I'd take the TSA-120 shipped from Japan.   900mm feels like the right FL for a supporting scope.   

[jrazz]

It's not supporting, it's complementing.

 

Sometimes you feel like a dob

 

Sometimes you feel like a TOA

 

Sometimes it's a BT

 

But always a MMC

 

 

[aznuge]

That TOA is definitely VERY nice     But, yes, way beyond a supporting role for me.

 

I am struggling a little bit with the MMC - maybe just off on the wrong foot.  First lights are plagued with kidney beaning, and views through the right eyepiece that are just "off" for some reason.  Need more time with it  I think.  Or perhaps I have a bad sample.  Either way I want it to work, but will pick up the MMC discussion, if any developments, on the Team 10x thread...

 

[jrazz]

It seems to be a very polarizing binocular. Some like it a lot, others can't seem to get along with it.

 

I think the design is a bit "on the edge". Performant for some but too far for others.

[therealdmt]

OK, I have to come clean. My focuser was "tuned" by an experienced astronomer (and tool & die maker) before he sold it to me. I imagine it does make a difference.

Haha, that’ll work. Fortunately for me, mine came perfect out of the box.

I’ve read that others haven’t been so fortunate, however, and then they had to get into figuring out how to adjust the tension which, depending on one’s mechanical aptitude and/or ability to find (and then understand the answer) on the interwebs, could leave one starting off with a bad taste regarding it. Or just giving up and declaring the focuser as "bad". But it’s not really anything that hard, just have to turn some opposing screws, somewhat akin to the collimation process (which for some is easy, while for others collimation is an impenetrable barrier to reflector ownership). Heck, one has to balance turning some opposing screws to adjust a Rigel QuikFinder (a kind of fancy red dot finder).

Fortunately, it’s not something one has to regularly mess with

[Echolight]

Haha, that’ll work. Fortunately for me, mine came perfect out of the box.

I’ve read that others haven’t been so fortunate, however, and then they had to get into figuring out how to adjust the tension which, depending on one’s mechanical aptitude and/or ability to find (and then understand the answer) on the interwebs, could leave one starting off with a bad taste regarding it. Or just giving up and declaring the focuser as "bad". But it’s not really anything that hard, just have to turn some opposing screws, somewhat akin to the collimation process (which for some is easy, while for others collimation is an impenetrable barrier to reflector ownership). Heck, one has to balance turning some opposing screws to adjust a Rigel QuikFinder (a kind of fancy red dot finder).

Fortunately, it’s not something one has to regularly mess with

I had to take mine apart and flatten the flat. It was only contacting on the outer edges.

 

Since then, the low speed quit working. 

I could probably fix it if I wanted to.

 

But it is lightweight.

[therealdmt]

I had to take mine apart and flatten the flat. It was only contacting on the outer edges.

 

Since then, the low speed quit working. 

I could probably fix it if I wanted to.

 

But it is lightweight.

Okay, well, that’s not good. I’ve been lucky with mine as well as the smaller Synta Crayford on my 72ED — both came perfectly adjusted and have worked without issue. But, yeah, if the low speed weren’t working on mine (a pretty significant issue), I wouldn’t be happy or give it good reports either…

[Fiske]

Is our new 6SE here yet!!??

 

Yes. It arrived this morning, and I am delighted with it. The weather isn't promising near term, plus I have my neighbor's Christmas Vacation lighting to contend with, but stay tuned. 

[Fiske]

Fiske, I have a C6 OTA that I recently got and have used it several times in the past few weeks.  It has excellent optics once I got the collimation adjusted and puts up excellent views of double stars at magnifications of 125X to 250X.  I bought it for a light grab and go option that would give me brighter images and better resolution that my 92 Stowaway.  Obviously the views in the Stowaway are sharper but the C6 is no slouch.  I hope you get one with better than average optical quality.  It will be lighter than your TV 101 and go a bit deeper.  It will be much lighter than the CC8.

 

Bill

Thank you, Bill. Views of double stars at higher magnification is what I am looking for and the 6SE seems like it will be well suited for that. The scope, mount, and all is easily hand carried, plus the OTA is easily removed and re-attached, so it's highly portable. 

[Fiske]

That TOA is definitely VERY nice     But, yes, way beyond a supporting role for me.

 

I am struggling a little bit with the MMC - maybe just off on the wrong foot.  First lights are plagued with kidney beaning, and views through the right eyepiece that are just "off" for some reason.  Need more time with it  I think.  Or perhaps I have a bad sample.  Either way I want it to work, but will pick up the MMC discussion, if any developments, on the Team 10x thread...

 

I did return the first sample I got, Nuge, for the same problem. The two sides didn't sync up somehow. The second one was fine. My advice is to get a replacement. Orion will replace it at no charge with a return label for the defective binocular.

Edited by Fiske, 27 November 2023 - 10:31 PM.

[Fiske]

In addition to the Celestron 6SE, a Stellarvue M002C alt-az head arrived today and is now configured on my 161MK2B tripod, ready for action. So, if a 120-127mm refractor somehow does show up, it will have a ride in my optical stable.