Posts Made By: Hans Tucker

Hi All,

A little while ago I purchased a FS-78 Refractor from a reputable Astromarter in the US. The scope was to be delivered to Melbourne Australia but whilst in transit all six of the Lens Cell screws came loose with one actually fully coming completely loose and floating unrestrained around near the exposed front lens element possibly all the time during transit. I took a real close look at the condition of the front lens element for signs of damage and whilst appearing ok there was one questionable area. Anyway I decided for piece of mind to send the whole scope back to Takahashi for cleaning, inspection and re-collimation...my choice. I was going to wait until the scope got returned from Takahashi before I rate the member but I notice that opportunity has expired (the prompt has disappeared). The odd thing I noted was that the member whom sold me the FS-78 has made a consideration for trade for another FS-78 + Accessories in one of his other advertisements in the classifieds so soon after selling me the FS-78 he just sold me. Was there something wrong with the FS-78 he was selling me??? This seems a bit odd and maybe I am looking too much into this. Takahashi are adamant that it is rare for all or any of it's collimation screws to come loose during transit. The FS-78 sold to me was fairly well packed for the trip (although I would have chosen different internal packaging like loose peanut style foam) and showed no signs of external damage prior to opening the package but even my work mates were astounded when they saw this screw rolling around. How many of you other Astromarters would check things like the security of collimating screws prior to sending a scope off after just making a sale? And if you did purchase a scope that this occurred to would you hold the seller responsible or accept this as just a risk that we must all accept when dealing in second hand gear.

Cheers,

Hans

Dors anyone know if the Blue type of Certificates (Authenticity??) can be reissued by Takahashi. If you are the second or third owner of a Takahashi scope the previous owner may not have kept or bothered to forward the document on. Do these certificates even hold any weight in regards to resale of a Takahashi Telescope?

If I really had a reportable gripe with Denkmeier it would be that they don't mark the accessories that come with their Binoviewers. I purchased as Denkmeier Binoviewer refractor package and it came with it's custom aluminium transit case, Binoviewer, 1.25" adapter and another item which appears to be a 2" optical device. I am assuming that this might be the 2" OCS Cell but I thought the OCS wasn't as long as this item and when I try and screw it into the Takahashi 2" Diagonal it only screws in 1 or 2 threads. The device in question doesn't match up with the illustrations in the Denkmeier instructions in the section pertaining to the Denkmeier Binoviewer Refractor package.

Well I decided to do a James Edwards and install a Takahashi Cassegrain Focuser onto my Mewlon 250. In addition I decided to install a MEF-1 to this focuser following the English Instruction Herb York was so kind to provide to link for. I'm quite sure I installed the MEF-1 correctly as per the instructions but when trying to cycle the draw tube in and out using the 10:1 Fine focuser knob I notice the tube only draws in and out a few mm before the whole mechnism slips. Using the coarse focusing the tube draws in and out without any slipage. I'm thinking there might be too much load on the Cassegrain Focuser gear train for the Fine Focus on the MEF. Is there any way of adjusting the Cassegrain Focuser.

Last year a member pointed other Astromart members to his website and also posted a link. This website had an excellent explanation, illustration and practice for Drift Alignment. I had saved this link as a favorite but my Hard Drive died unexpectedly and I haven't been able to recover data let alone the link. Could anyone point me back to the website.

One thing I have noted whilst owning a Mewlon is that it favours steady skies if it is to perform at it's best. I guess this is something all larger scope owners have to deal with. Consequently, I am looking for a refractor to complement my Mewlon 250S and to my possible luck a FS-128 has come up for sale. Any opinions on whether the size of a FS-128 is ideal for when conditions don't suit the Mewlon. I had thought about a 6" APO refractor but the price and location of the FS-128 is too good to pass up.

I have been contemplating, for a while, placing an ad in the classifieds for an FSQ-106N to replace the one I had and really liked but have been holding off until the release of the new FSQ-106ED. Is there really going to be any difference in the performance between the two? I still have the tube clam shell and Extender-Q from when I owned a FSQ-106N so I don't know how much good these accessories would be for the FSQ-106ED.

Last year I tried to purchase, via Anacortes, the PWT 2" DDCAPS. I waited a few months without much success. It wasn't Anacortes fault, just no detail when these items would ever be available so I ended up cancelling the order.

I am still interested in finding this type of DDCAP to use to keep the optics dry whilst in storage. Does anyone know if there are other manufacturers of Desiccant Plugs/Caps other than PWT.

Don't get me wrong the PWT DDCAP are an excellent items but they are so hard to get hold of.

Well after Herb York confirmed that the new FSQ-106ED's had started shipping to Anacortes customers I knew that my order (regretfully not from Anacortes)would soon follow. Today my new toy arrived. On first impressions this puppy is shorter larger (can easily confuse it for a 5" scope)and heavier, confirming the spec's from Takahashi although it is different actually seeing this scope for real. I did notice that the boys from Takahashi have been taking note from the boys at PWT. Takahashi have their own version of the Quick Release Bracket which is referred as the FQR-1 available for this scope. Don't know if this was introduced earlier on the TOA refractors. Unfortunately the weather has been very poor of late down-under so road testing will be a while off.

Seems all is very quiet on the Takahashi front, no new posts for over a week. On a side note does anyone think that Takahashi will add larger aperture scopes to their Epsilon range. I remember Herb was auctioning a no longer available E-250 (NIB) quite a few months ago (maybe a year now) and I also noticed that the bids were below the reserve price, the last I remember being about $20K. Does anyone know if Herb ever sold that scope.