Picked up a case, focal reducer, and micro-focuser for the FS-102 at Land, Sea, and Sky. I'm always mind boggled by how much they charge for the stuff...almost $900.00 for the lot.

I'm also mind boggled by the way a company like Takahashi can design beautiful optics, focusers that work like a dream, versatile scopes, but hang a tiny finder on the thing that has to be removed every time you want to store it in the case.

The focal reducer is a real piece of work. Beautifully made, it screws in place of an extension tube on the back of the scope. It's designed for imaging but I tried it for visual and it looked good to me. The standard reduction is from f/8 to f/5.9, giving it a focal length of 602 mm. There's an extension ring on the front that, if removed reduces to if to f/6. I'm not sure what purpose that could serve since the focal length is only a few mm longer.

Anyway, it looks like a few stars might poke through the clouds tonight. The rain moved further east into Louisiana so maybe I'll get a chance to take a look.