Posts Made By: Paul Gruener

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Cheers, Paul

Lukman,

I have been very pleased with the results I get with the two LE’s that I own. To me they produce very sharp images. I have not done any extensive back to back testing with other oculars, but they sure seem awful good to me.

I picked up the 5mm when I had my FS-102 a few years ago and recently found the 3.6mm here on AM. I wanted to have a higher power option for Saturn while using the refractor. I was worried the magnification would not work out, but it has every time I have used it, except one night (Astronomy Day), when the seeing was just a mess. The other nice surprise was the eye relief. I do not wear glasses. If I place my eyebrow so it just touches the rubber eye guard, I can easily and comfortably see the entire field.

What difference, if any do you see between the Tak and the Pentax 5mm. I have never used the Pentax?

Yes I have used the Mewlon on Saturn quite often this spring. The M250 is the scope I use most of the time. Earlier this spring I would set the scope up at dusk and spend the first part of the evening letting the sky settle and Saturn get nice and high in the sky. I would use this time to hunt down deep sky objects. Once I moved to Saturn, I knew I would be spending most of the rest of the night studying the rings and planet. I recall seeing a bit more color on the surface of the planet and more details in the cloud bands when using the Mewlon compared to the FS-128. If it clears tonigt the way it supposed to, I will take the Mewlon out and post a more definitive comparison.

Both scopes do a great job on Saturn, I am enjoying every minute I get to look at the planet.

Sincerely,
Paul

Hi,
I believe the first TOA130s shipped had the signatures.

Clear skies,
Paul

The second cluster, M11. PG

One more M13. Paul

PM sent. Paul

Jim,
The last I read David Gilmore said he was done with Pink Floyd. Bummer.

BTW, the Roger Waters concert this summer was a fantastic suprise. We have seen the "other" Pink Floyd with David Gilmore, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright three times. My wife thought the RW concert was better, that it had more, soul. After thinking about it for a while, I had to agree.

Gilmore is the best. It took a collection of musicians to re-create the PF sound at the Water's concert.

Now, where did I put that Echos CD...

Best,
Paul

Charlie,
I am the proud owner of GM-100 number 96. I use it all the time and I love it. If you PM me with your e-mail info I can send you some scans of the original sell sheets. One side of the sheet shows the mount and a model, the other has all the specs. I do not have a manual.

It would be nice to see some photos of this rare GEM. Please consider posting some images. Have fun with your new mount.

Sincerely,
Paul

Benjamin,
I have owned an FS-102 and it was a wonderful scope. The contrast and sharpness was excellent. At the same time I owned a 7” Maksutov. I enjoyed the refractor for quick looks, the Moon, M45, the Double Cluster, and planets, but the Mak just killed it on most every deep sky object. The difference was huge. Over time I sold the FS-102 because it was not seeing much use.

Years go by and so did a few more 7” Maksutovs including a very fine Russian I-M 715DX. Today the Maks have been replaced by a Takahashi 250 Mewlon. While I have not owned an M180, my 10” cools down very quickly. The open tube design also acts like a giant dew shield. Even on nights with fog in the air, the Mewlon keeps working (finderscope not withstanding). I would be very surprised if it took more than an hour to stabilize an M180 unless you were going out in the depths of winter.
I missed the wide field view of my old FS-102, so now I have a 6” Tak to complement the long focus Mewlon. Where am I going with all this…

A high quality 4” Apo refractor will do some amazing things with bright objects such as the planets and the moon. The FS-102 will deliver uncanny contrast and color. It will also make for a nice imaging platform in many applications. Double stars are to die for. However, the second you compare something like M13 in the 4” and the 7”, do not be surprised if your hart sinks. The cluster will go from a fuzzy patch to a sea of stars. Objects such as M42, M52, and M81 will take on a whole new dimension.

If you plan to stick to the Moon and planets, an FS-102 is beautiful scope that will deliver stunning images. Just be sure that you are not going to have an interest down the road to punch things up on M15.

Because all three are very fine scopes, if you have not considered it, a very high quality diagonal and oculars will be the key to maximizing your system’s performance. I had the chance to try some imported diagonals with a strong reputation against a 2” Zeiss prism and an AP diagonal with my refractor on Saturn during a night of very good seeing. When I replaced the ‘popular brand’ units with the AP or the Zeiss, it was like taking a thin layer of plastic wrap off the scopes lens. The extra detail and contrast was significant.

A few notes about the Mewlon.
My Mewlon delivers images that are quite sharp, with very high in contrast, and wonderful color. There is a secondary, so it is not quite what you get out of an APO refractor, but it is surprising close. This winter my M250 held up to 600x on Mars under Wisconsin skies. The surface detail and color was memorable.

The Mewlon image has a different character compared to the Maks I have owned and looked through (including some bigger TECs). I think this has something to do with having only 2 very high quality optical surfaces. To me a good Mak is a great instrument, but the view is a bit more clinical, where the Mewlon is a bit more “open. ” This is hard to put into words, so that is the best I can do.

Some have commented about coma in the Mewlons. This has not been an issue for me. Even with my 2” eyepieces, all I see is a little field curvature at the very edge of my 55mm TV Plossl.In practice this is never a problem.

Best of luck with your research and your decision.
Clear skies,
Paul

Greg,
I can help identify your parts.

Top right, as noted, it is a Tak 2" extension tube, but is has an adapter fitted on the top.
The item just below it with the red cap should screw into the above adapter and then all together it will hold a 1.25" diagonal.

Middle, a 2.7" to 2" compression ring visual back. This will fit on just any Tak refractor with the 2.7" focuser or on a 4" focuser with the proper step down rings.

Left bottom, this item will fit the back of the 4" camera angle adjuster or the back of the 4" focuser. There is a part missing from your collection here that would step down and accept the 2.7" to 2" compression ring visual back. The missing part would have been held in place by the three screws in the black ring.

In place of the missing part, it looks like the owner made an adapter to step down to a 1.25" diagonal holder.

I think the 4" focuser system charts are on the Anacortes web site. If you can find them let me know, I think it have them. Take a look at the chart for the FS-152, it should be the most helpful.

Best,
Paul