Posts Made By: Floyd Blue

Hi Rolando,
I have a TV102 and was just curious what glass they might have used. All they say is a alternative to Fluorite type, which sounds like maybe FPL53.
Do you have any idea, I know they keep this secret so you may not know or can not say.

OK, I think I am now set. I got the CFW-9 filter wheel with an extra Carousel. I have one loaded with RGBL and HA and the other HA, OIII, SII and Luminance. I will use the extra HA filter with the RGBL if I just want a little HA to add to the photo and the other for Narrow Band Images. I can change them in just a couple of minutes if needed.

I have the TV102 all set up with nice Rings and Dovetail and a RDF for a finder, just for alignment purposes. It comes to focus no problem! So that is all ready. I even made a new mounting plate for the ST80 so that it will work with any of the scopes that I have as a guide scope, with the same set of hand bolts, making it easy to switch it from scope to scope.

Now I have to set up the MN66 and see if the added 3/8" or so of in focus that I gained with the new filter wheel (it mounts directly to the camera face) will let me get focus there too! I had one fellow tell me that it should have about 1/16" extra now and will focus, so my fingers are crossed on that one. If it were just a little shy, I can lift the mirror with the screws some and still it might work. 8)
I did not sell the MN66 until I now, so that I can be certain that it will or will not work. Then I can find it a new home if needed.

This next New Moon should give me a real chance to try this all out and see how it goes. I need some luck!

You know, the Chinese have not always been the most truthful when it comes to their products. Chemicals in food products and other items. Less than satisfactory materials used in many things, so they do not last long.
But, I would say that there are others that also choose to deceive with marketing claims so their products sell at a good profit.
Recently there have been ads for scopes saying they are using Fluorite and of course the scopes are very reasonable in price, which makes one wonder if this is really true. But if you buy from well respected makers of optics, then you will likely get what you pay for and though it may be more it will be fair.

Well, I found this one lost in a parking lot. Brought her home and advertised that I had found her, but no one called claiming her. So now she is my Dachshund's playmate and he likes her.
She appears to be a Silky Terrier, but I had her clipped because it was so hot. So her fur is not so long in the picture.

Well, tonight I took the MN66 out to the back and set it up with the new focuser (JMI DX3 1.6" low profile) which is what the scope had originally.

I also installed the new CFW-9 color filter wheel on the SBig ST200xm. This filter wheel added 3/8" to the in focus alone over the manual Atik filter wheel. Total additional in focus travel was 7/8" compared to the way it came to me used with a replacement focuser.

Well, even with all this the scope was shy at least another 1/4" of achieving focus. So, I believe that there is no way to gain any more in focus without modifying the scope and with it using a corrector plate, I am not sure that you can actually shorten the tube without some problems with the optics.

So, I have to report that it is my opinion that the MN66 is not acceptable for imaging unless you are using a camera without a filter wheel, like a one shot color or a mono shooting with filters mounted to the nose of the camera, requiring you to remove the camera and replace the filter for each filter change. Needless to say, this is not my idea of a good time.

I will now try to find a buyer for it as a [COLOR="Red"]VISUAL INSTRUMENT[/COLOR] and not an imaging scope. I would assume that it is a very competent scope for this purpose as I have read many good reviews stating how it is excellent for this.

Now I will just concentrate on refractors from now on I guess. If I buy another reflector, it will be one that is guaranteed to come to focus with normal cameras and equipment.

I write this so that others can learn from my experience. Though I was assured that the scope would work and that this model has been used for imaging (not the seller, he said that he did not know), I can only assume that the people who did use it used mono or one shot color cameras for their images.

This has been an expensive and trying experience for me. Cost me over $1600 to find this out, so I really feel that this information is important enough that I decided to post it.

I had a very hard time finding any information regarding the MN66 and imaging. No real photos that I could find and even less data about setting one up for imaging.

If you decide to try this yourself, just remember that I did tell you what the limitations were with this scope.

Just curious if anyone has any experience with the focal reducer for the TV102. I have the one for the TV85 and it is great, but I have no idea of how well the one for the TV102 works.

Here is a shot of the TV102 on the G-11 and the ST2000xm mounted. Worked well on the mount with good tracking and guiding at 900mm instead of my normal 384mm f/l.

Wow, I just saw the DSI III C cameras on sale at Anacortes for $699!!!! They were $1399, so that is a drop of $700! 8O
Boy, that will make a few people mad I bet, having paid twice as much just in the last few months.
That is a good price and if I wanted a One Shot Color I might be tempted.
Wonder if the DSI III Pro is also going to drop?

Hi all,
Well, I took this last night with the TV102 and the ST2kxm. I had a bit of light pollution that caused a gradient so it did not come out great, but the camera and auto filter wheel worked great. The TV102 did give a bit of blue halo which I had to remove, I figured as much.
But here it is anyway, hope next time I can do better with a darker site.

Well, last night I went out and setup the WO 80mm APO and did a little imaging with the ST2000xm.
This is the first time that I used the 80mm with the ST2k, so I did not know what to expect.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised with the image, the 80mm just takes good data.
This was taken from 7:30pm util 12:15am for a total of 4.5 hours
L = 9 x 10min
R = 6 x 10min
G = 6 x 10min
B = 6 x 10min
CS2 and AIP4Win were used to process and stack the subs.
What do you think? I am pretty pleased with the outcome myself.