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@@darkskygeek And now I watched the video - all great tips, especially the one about spending more to keep the CFO happy :p And it was a blast "randomly" bumping into you like that ;) To anyone reading, Julien is as nice as he comes across on the channel!
I used to live not far from Starbase and would cycle past all the time, but never went in. Now that I've moved and am actually doing AP I've never been to the shop! I have visited Kyoei but their hours tend to be erratic and one time they were "closed" even though it was technically open hours! Congratulations on your purchase and taking advantage of the great forex rates. Come visit again!!
I travel to Japan 2 to 3 times a year. Although I visited the Starbase shop I never purchased there yet. So far all my purchases (including today) 😊 were at the Kyoei shop - amazing service!. ZWO equipment especially are so much cheaper than in Europe. I travel to many countries for work but Japan is my favourite.
Hi Julian! Will you do a video about the FSQ? There are not many videos about the scope out there wich are showing the scope or do a review. Im thinking of buying the scope too as an upgrade for my FRA300 by Askar but for the normal price here in Germany. I like to use it with my IMX571 by Touptek and the reducer. Later maybe also with an fullframe cam. Maybe you can tell me a bit about the scope. Greetings from Germany Brian
Fun video! Used to travel to Tokyo for business quite a bit but before getting into the hobby. I noticed on your CEM70 that you have what looks to be a nice 3D balance set-up on the counterweight bar (@ 11:05). Mine is a more basic approach using washers on a threaded rod. Appreciate any details on the components you used as it is much nicer!
Thank you for the kind words! Regarding my 3D balance system, if you look closely, I have a homemade counterweight made with washers attached to the side of the dovetail saddle. And on the counterweight bar, I have a little gizmo I purchased on AliExpress. I think it’s called “Star Pal” or something like that. Clear skies!
Nice thing about the CEM70 is that you dont need such an adaption. The counterweight bar has two allen screws either side of the attachment point that shift the bar slightly left or right, much like azimuth adjustment, that allows balancing. Works very well. I get 0.18-0.35 rms with the CEM70 all the time now in B7 skies.
You spent 1500 on airfare to save 700 lol. But you got a trip to Japan out of the deal which is super cool. I've lived here for about a three years now. I love JAPAN! FJB! Great Video Love your content!!! Keep up the good work.
This was a business trip, so I certainly did not pay airfare, except for the flight between Seoul and Tokyo, which cost me $300. I saved about $2,400 on the telescope.
I placed an order for the new Takahashi FCT-65D thinking it was a good price. Ever since I watched this video, though, I felt I definitely wasn't getting the best price available, especially if it's selling for almost 1/2 price compared to the United States. Trying to put that feeling aside I priced out cost of the necessary spacers, rings, and reducer (just took a guess at the prices) to use with an astro camera and realized that the $1600 was now going to be closer to $2500 - $3000 after tax. That's quite a bit to pay. Maybe that's the Takahashi norm but it's definitely not something I'm going to jump into at the moment, so I canceled my order.
Yes, definitely pricey! I would have NEVER bought a FSQ85, had I not traveled to Japan. All included, in the US, I would have paid over $5,000! Instead, I paid $2,400. I feel good about that 😁 Unfortunately, the yen has strengthened recently, so the prices are not quite as good compared to when I went (early June)
There is a review on RUclips of this scope and comparison with Esprit 80. Tak FSQ85 is supposed to be worse Tak ever produced. By the way, you are not set as yet. Missing 12-14” RC or DK with more serious FL.
Great video, but would not touch an FSQ85 with a barge pole, awful scopes when used with modern small pixel cameras….so good luck with it, and I hope you have not got a lemon there….because if you have, the only option is to go back to Japan with it…👍🏻
@@darkskygeek I hope so, I had a nightmare with mine, and how many scopes do you know of that have to use 2 flatteners, it’s a joke TBH, it’s a petzval design scope with built in flat field yet they had to ad another flattener in the package to correct the issues with modern small pixel cameras, I have a video about mine on my Chanel…
It is true that it is an older design. Once I have more practical experience with this scope, I may do a quick review of it on the channel. I’ll check out your video! CS!
@@Astro_Shed Your scope was miscollimated, and brutally astigmatic to be fair. Not everyone will have your problem. We get perfect correction out to full frame with the 1.01x flattener, with without it on 1 inch to micro 4/3 chips, for 3.76 um pixels and up. There is nothing better for spherical and chromatic aberration correction in a scope less than 100 mm aperture. Issue I have is the aperture vignetting issues with dark wedges on bright stars that affects broadband more than narrowband, and that is inherent in a true petzval (front long focal length doublet and back correcting doublet). The inbuilt flattener can flatten small chips, but that is not what it is for. It corrects spherical and chromatic aberration to a level that a triplet + flattener so-called modern petzval cannot do. Any mirror will best it though! The flat field is a bonus out to 28 mm, but not its main strength. Horses for courses, though, and a PITA for those who have issues with sensitive lens arrangements such as these - I can see how that will hurt if it happens.
Yep, I actually returned mine. There is a chance it was a lemon, and it was built right during the pandemic, so maybe they aren't all like that... but there seem to be enough stories to indicate it's been problematic for a decent amount of people. It was easily beaten by the Askar Fra400 I replaced it with, with the only issue being less aperture. (At least as far as imaging goes, I've never looked through either of them visually).
Wow, you found I favorite telescope store in Japan. I use to live & work in Japan. I bought two Takahashi telescopes from Starbase, a big thank you to Matsumoto san who is retired by now! TOA130F and a Mewlon250 Special tube ring version. Still have them and will never sell either. Since then my Takahashi telescope collection has grown. You are right the warn people about the waranty, however, its a Takahashi, what can go wrong?
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CLICK ON THESE AFFILIATE LINKS TO SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:
* Agena Astro: bit.ly/487tmnj
* High Point Scientific: bit.ly/49z9qdv
* Amazon: bit.ly/darkskygeek-amazon-affiliate-link
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL:
* Send a donation via PayPal: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=49UXY8F6VVYFA
* Click on the "Thanks" button in the toolbar located underneath this video.
* Join the Dark Sky Geek Community Discord server: discord.gg/Rg7JYF8nHw
* Like, subscribe, comment on this video, tell your friends about it, etc.
First! Also that's a nice t-shirt :p
Damn! You’re good! 😁 Take care, buddy!
@@darkskygeek And now I watched the video - all great tips, especially the one about spending more to keep the CFO happy :p And it was a blast "randomly" bumping into you like that ;) To anyone reading, Julien is as nice as he comes across on the channel!
Very cool Julien! Giving me some ideas 😁
Come over! ;) We have a guest room if you need :p
Thanks Julian !
I just happened to be in Japan and followed your advice to the letter. Great shop. Great price. Great scope.
Fantastic! Glad I could help!
Fun video! What a great idea to bring a souvenir.
Great video, thanks!
I used to live not far from Starbase and would cycle past all the time, but never went in. Now that I've moved and am actually doing AP I've never been to the shop! I have visited Kyoei but their hours tend to be erratic and one time they were "closed" even though it was technically open hours! Congratulations on your purchase and taking advantage of the great forex rates. Come visit again!!
Nice! My brother lives in Japan.. this is very tempting, lol.
It’s always great to visit the family 😁
I travel to Japan 2 to 3 times a year. Although I visited the Starbase shop I never purchased there yet. So far all my purchases (including today) 😊 were at the Kyoei shop - amazing service!.
ZWO equipment especially are so much cheaper than in Europe. I travel to many countries for work but Japan is my favourite.
Good grab..
Hi Julian!
Will you do a video about the FSQ?
There are not many videos about the scope out there wich are showing the scope or do a review.
Im thinking of buying the scope too as an upgrade for my FRA300 by Askar but for the normal price here in Germany.
I like to use it with my IMX571 by Touptek and the reducer.
Later maybe also with an fullframe cam.
Maybe you can tell me a bit about the scope.
Greetings from Germany
Brian
I will do one, yes, maybe early next year.
Unbelievable you bumped into The Lazy Geek!!!!
Yes, unbelievable, huh?!
Fun video! Used to travel to Tokyo for business quite a bit but before getting into the hobby.
I noticed on your CEM70 that you have what looks to be a nice 3D balance set-up on the counterweight bar (@ 11:05). Mine is a more basic approach using washers on a threaded rod. Appreciate any details on the components you used as it is much nicer!
Thank you for the kind words! Regarding my 3D balance system, if you look closely, I have a homemade counterweight made with washers attached to the side of the dovetail saddle. And on the counterweight bar, I have a little gizmo I purchased on AliExpress. I think it’s called “Star Pal” or something like that. Clear skies!
Nice thing about the CEM70 is that you dont need such an adaption. The counterweight bar has two allen screws either side of the attachment point that shift the bar slightly left or right, much like azimuth adjustment, that allows balancing. Works very well. I get 0.18-0.35 rms with the CEM70 all the time now in B7 skies.
Great tip!
You spent 1500 on airfare to save 700 lol. But you got a trip to Japan out of the deal which is super cool. I've lived here for about a three years now. I love JAPAN! FJB! Great Video Love your content!!! Keep up the good work.
This was a business trip, so I certainly did not pay airfare, except for the flight between Seoul and Tokyo, which cost me $300. I saved about $2,400 on the telescope.
Bonnes vacances !
Merci !
How about buying used telescopes or accesories in japan? Is it reliable? Is there any reliable shop for this items? Thanx from Spain!
I placed an order for the new Takahashi FCT-65D thinking it was a good price. Ever since I watched this video, though, I felt I definitely wasn't getting the best price available, especially if it's selling for almost 1/2 price compared to the United States. Trying to put that feeling aside I priced out cost of the necessary spacers, rings, and reducer (just took a guess at the prices) to use with an astro camera and realized that the $1600 was now going to be closer to $2500 - $3000 after tax. That's quite a bit to pay. Maybe that's the Takahashi norm but it's definitely not something I'm going to jump into at the moment, so I canceled my order.
Yes, definitely pricey! I would have NEVER bought a FSQ85, had I not traveled to Japan. All included, in the US, I would have paid over $5,000! Instead, I paid $2,400. I feel good about that 😁 Unfortunately, the yen has strengthened recently, so the prices are not quite as good compared to when I went (early June)
There is a review on RUclips of this scope and comparison with Esprit 80. Tak FSQ85 is supposed to be worse Tak ever produced.
By the way, you are not set as yet. Missing 12-14” RC or DK with more serious FL.
Hehe, don’t give me more equipment ideas 😁 I should have said that I am set FOR NOW 😂 Clear skies!
@@darkskygeek Are you planning to put some of your rigs in a remote location?
Not planning on it, at least not right now. But this would be the perfect rig for remote imaging 😁
Great video, but would not touch an FSQ85 with a barge pole, awful scopes when used with modern small pixel cameras….so good luck with it, and I hope you have not got a lemon there….because if you have, the only option is to go back to Japan with it…👍🏻
Early tests seem to indicate that it is very very good, so I am optimistic 😁
@@darkskygeek I hope so, I had a nightmare with mine, and how many scopes do you know of that have to use 2 flatteners, it’s a joke TBH, it’s a petzval design scope with built in flat field yet they had to ad another flattener in the package to correct the issues with modern small pixel cameras, I have a video about mine on my Chanel…
It is true that it is an older design. Once I have more practical experience with this scope, I may do a quick review of it on the channel. I’ll check out your video! CS!
@@Astro_Shed Your scope was miscollimated, and brutally astigmatic to be fair. Not everyone will have your problem. We get perfect correction out to full frame with the 1.01x flattener, with without it on 1 inch to micro 4/3 chips, for 3.76 um pixels and up. There is nothing better for spherical and chromatic aberration correction in a scope less than 100 mm aperture. Issue I have is the aperture vignetting issues with dark wedges on bright stars that affects broadband more than narrowband, and that is inherent in a true petzval (front long focal length doublet and back correcting doublet). The inbuilt flattener can flatten small chips, but that is not what it is for. It corrects spherical and chromatic aberration to a level that a triplet + flattener so-called modern petzval cannot do. Any mirror will best it though! The flat field is a bonus out to 28 mm, but not its main strength. Horses for courses, though, and a PITA for those who have issues with sensitive lens arrangements such as these - I can see how that will hurt if it happens.
Yep, I actually returned mine. There is a chance it was a lemon, and it was built right during the pandemic, so maybe they aren't all like that... but there seem to be enough stories to indicate it's been problematic for a decent amount of people.
It was easily beaten by the Askar Fra400 I replaced it with, with the only issue being less aperture. (At least as far as imaging goes, I've never looked through either of them visually).
Wow, you found I favorite telescope store in Japan. I use to live & work in Japan. I bought two Takahashi telescopes from Starbase, a big thank you to Matsumoto san who is retired by now! TOA130F and a Mewlon250 Special tube ring version. Still have them and will never sell either. Since then my Takahashi telescope collection has grown. You are right the warn people about the waranty, however, its a Takahashi, what can go wrong?