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Antares F15 test.


Graham

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Well I went down to Eastbourne this morning to collect my new scope.

 

I could have spent all day down there talking to the guy I bought it from.

 

He worked for the Royal Observatory and INT group when it was based in Cambridge.

 

He was a chief technician when they moved the INT to La Palma.

After the commissioning he stayed on there for 4 years running it along with the William Herschel telescope.   

 

Lovely guy and full of so much information on the INT.

 

Anyway I digress.

 

After playing a game of car Tetris to get it inside my motor I got it home and set it up on an old HEQ5 I have kicking around.

 

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After playing around with an EP I stuck my normal Canon on the back of it to get a shot of the traditional TV ariel set on a house several hundred meters away from mine.

Even with my dodgy eyes it was a breeze to focus it. 

Just waiting for a shot of Venus tonight ( W word permitting.)

 

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It has a sliding counter balance weight Ron for when you change EP's or go from an EP to a camera.

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Nice one Graham, lovely scopes those. When you get bored with it give me the nod 😀

 

The HEQ5 will take it but due to the length its a bit bouncy, Ive had 2 105mm F15 scopes on mine and its OK for visual. Focusing is really nice on F15 scopes because the light cone is so long you have bags of adjustment to get the fine focus, non of this snapping into focus of your short scopes, thats what makes these ideal for planetary and lunar observing.

 

The rod is a balance weight bar Ron. The mod I did for nightfishers Antares was to put a heavy extension tube on the focuser to bring the balance point more central without the use of a rod and weight.

 

Look forward to first light Graham and dont be afraid to put an eyepiece in it and look through it😀 You never know it could make a visual observer out of you 😀

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Wow, taht's a beast Graham, have fun with it!

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On 01/03/2020 at 16:43, philjay said:

Nice one Graham, lovely scopes those. When you get bored with it give me the nod 😀

 

The HEQ5 will take it but due to the length its a bit bouncy, Ive had 2 105mm F15 scopes on mine and its OK for visual. Focusing is really nice on F15 scopes because the light cone is so long you have bags of adjustment to get the fine focus, non of this snapping into focus of your short scopes, thats what makes these ideal for planetary and lunar observing.

 

The rod is a balance weight bar Ron. The mod I did for nightfishers Antares was to put a heavy extension tube on the focuser to bring the balance point more central without the use of a rod and weight.

 

Look forward to first light Graham and dont be afraid to put an eyepiece in it and look through it😀 You never know it could make a visual observer out of you 😀

 

Phil 

I have been offered an 8 inch F12 if I want it.

I was tempted but could not really justify the £4,500 price tag.

If I had somewhere to put it let alone get it home I might have gone for it.

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3 hours ago, Clive said:

That's a monster,  would need a high pier to use that.

 

Not only a tall pier but a bloody crane to put it on top of it. 😄

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That one Graham has been up for sale for a long time. I would imagine a very limited market.

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On 01/03/2020 at 17:54, Graham said:

Just had a quick blast at the moon with it.

Not easy trying to focus whilst crawling about on your hands and knees 😄

 

Normal Canon on auto exposure

 

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Thats one of the reasons I use Olympus for lunar, tilting screen, I can sit in comfort, zoom the live view in to focus.

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Normally if I use my canon I would use BYE and do everything from the comfort of the computer screen. 

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