Next scope

[+Stu]

Hi folks. After many hours of overtime I think I've actually got to a point where I've got (almost) everything I need to keep me going for a while. Next year's plan is to save for an apo refractor. Primarily for imaging but still with satisfying visual performance. 

Does anyone have any mileage on any of these that they would recommend or avoid?

SW Esprit 100 ED Pro

WO FLT 91

ES FCD 100 Carbon Fibre 

[Bottletopburly]

William optics 

[+Glafnazur]

I've got the Esprit 100 and can't fault it

[philjay]

Imho, Esprit, ES, WO.

 

Wo last due to my past experiences with them, zs80, dt clamps and especially the flt91, older model I hasten to add, so they may have improved.

 

 

[+Bino-viewer]

And there are these.......

 

StellaMira from FLO

The 90 F6 looks interesting.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellamira-telescopes/stellamira-90mm-ed-triplet-f6-refractor-telescope.htmlO

 

Or.....they have 2 new scopes

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellamira-telescopes/stellamira-90mm-ed-triplet-f6-refractor-telescope.html

Baby brother :

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/starfield-telescopes/starfield-gear80-80mm-f6-triplet-apo-refractor.html

 

Lots of choice in this sized scope. But are they all built in the same place anyway ??

Do you want a doublet or a triplet ?

 

+  Better colour correction generally in a triplet for imaging.

+ The optics on these Chinese scopes are pretty good nowadays as are the mechanics, focusers etc

 

-  Triplets are expensive in bigger apertures

-  And they can take some time to cooldown. Depends on size and design though...

 

+ Final point. Refractors are great. I think they are the best scopes and do everything well.

For visual though, i'd prefer a 5" sized scope to a 4".

 

 

 

[+Stu]

There is a dizzying amount of choice! Triplet looked like the one to aim for. A 5" or 6" would be great but a bit over my budget I think, plus I'd have to get a beefier mount 😄 The 90-100mm range weigh about the same as my newt. 

Still a fair few weekends and night shifts to go so plenty of time to do some digging. 

[Bob Dobber]

I had an Explore Scientific 102CF if that's what you mean? It was a beautiful item, and with a Starizona 0.65x reducer/flattner it really sang. Nice and fast, and wide enough for most nebular targets. Not much cop for galaxies, but it was the right tool for the job at the time.

[+Stu]

16 minutes ago, Bob Dobber said:

I had an Explore Scientific 102CF if that's what you mean? It was a beautiful item, and with a Starizona 0.65x reducer/flattner it really sang. Nice and fast, and wide enough for most nebular targets. Not much cop for galaxies, but it was the right tool for the job at the time.

That's the one. What makes it not good for galaxies, is it just that size/focal length of scope?

[Bob Dobber]

15 minutes ago, Stu said:

That's the one. What makes it not good for galaxies, is it just that size/focal length of scope?

 

Well other than the biggies (M31, M33 etc) you're going to need 1000mm plus to get in close to most of them you'd have thought without some major cropping? Depends what you want doesn't it? I'd be putting the scope and sensor details into Stellarium and seeing how it frames up the sorts of things you want to image.

[+Stu]

19 minutes ago, Bob Dobber said:

Depends what you want doesn't it?

I see what you mean. Being a bit more compact than my 150PDS is one of the criteria so might have to miss out on galaxies for the most part.

[Bob Dobber]

17 minutes ago, Stu said:

I see what you mean. Being a bit more compact than my 150PDS is one of the criteria so might have to miss out on galaxies for the most part.

Are you happy with the 150PDS? I've only been doing this hobby for three years or so but one thing I've learned is that once I'm happy with a scope (eg. the 102CF or the 200PDS after that) I should stick with that flippin thing for a bit and not think "ooh I've had a decent run with this scope, maybe I should try levelling up", because I really haven't had much luck on that front 😔. Almost always seem to land myself in a situation where I'm chasing my tail when I could've just been using the one I've probably just sold. The 150PDS and 102CF are going to be very similar focal lengths right? The simplicity of a refractor is wonderful though...

Edited December 14, 2022 by Bob Dobber

[+Stu]

1 hour ago, Bob Dobber said:

Are you happy with the 150PDS

I am pretty happy with it. I picked it as a good scope to start imaging with as it gets good write ups and didn't break the bank. But smaller and simpler are definitely big plus points for the refractor. It's still a long way off, I'll probably change my mind 1000 times by the time I can save up.