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My new Ikharus 102mm

spanky

By spanky
in Member Equipment Reviews

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spanky

spanky

Posted
Posted

So after almost a year with the 150p I decided I wanted to go down the refractor route, and the Ikharus 102 from Ian King Imaging was the one that ticked all the right boxes for me.

First impressions:

When I opened the box I was pleasantly surprised to see a decent amount of polystyrene surrounding the scope. Perhaps not as much as I would have preferred, but certainly better than some people had on another thread.

Having never seen on of these in the flesh before it seemed a lot chunkier than I imagined and when I picked it up out of the box it felt much heavier than I imagined it would do.

I'm very impressed with the build quality. It's a good weight, very sturdy and the MASSIVE 3" dual-speed focuser is smooth and seems solid enough to swing off.

The lens cap is made of metal, which screws on and off. Not a big fan of that, I'd prefer one that slides, but at least you know it's never going to fall off. I think the safest way of putting it back on is to do it with the dew shield extended, that way if the thread doesn't bite and it slips a bit, there's no danger of it touching the lens.

Again, referring back to another thread, there was no signs of any dust on or between the lenses, so if that had been a problem it seems (as with the packaging) to have been sorted.

So I'm a very happy chappy and looking forward to testing it out once the wind and rain stop. I shall report back as to how it performs with the (included) x0.8 reducer/flattener and my QHY8L camera. Fingers crossed for round stars all over the chip! ;)

Anyway, here's a couple of pictures. I put a 30cm ruler on the one where the dew shield is extended so you can get a better idea of the size.

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LongJohn54

LongJohn54

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Did you add the dew shield locking screw? My scope does not have one. However, the shield is quite tight fitting and will not move on its own.

This is Jupiter from my first imaging session using a spc900, SharpCap and Registax.

Overall I'm really pleased with it and I'm sure you will be too.

John

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Martin-Devon

Martin-Devon

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Snap! I have exactly the same, Ikharus 102ED also from Ian King which I bought in April this year. It's performed flawlessly and as a beginner to imaging, has been very easy to use/set-up and provided me with some cracking images. I had mine upgraded with a Baader steeltrack focusser and this has been great to fine focus with. I'd thoroughly recommend this scope.

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LongJohn54

LongJohn54

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@LongJohn - good job with the Jupiter pic, I really should get myself one of those webcams and have a go a the planets!

Morgans do a bundle deal with the SPC880 flashed to 900, adapter, usb lead, and IR filter included.

Buy Philips Pre flashed SPC880 CCD webcam bundle at Morgan Computers

Get SharpCap SharpCap (better than the Phillips SPC900 VLounge software) and you're good to go.

John

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LongJohn54

LongJohn54

Posted
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Yes, it's identical spec to the Megrez 102.

Ian's now selling these under his Starwave* brand for £599 or £669 inc focal reducer/flattener. Apart from the name change and a logo painted on the dew shield it's the same. Refractors from Ian King Imaging

You now also get a foam lined box to keep it in.

*The name change is good as Ian's site has had it listed variously as IKHORUS, IKHARUS and IKHAROS.

John

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ItIsOnlyMe

ItIsOnlyMe

Posted
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Just "invested" in this scope with flattener and a NEQ6 to sit it on. Can't wait to see this baby in the flesh!! Due for delivery by Friday.

Looks to be a good buy at this price and I will be a very happy bunny if a get pictures half as good as I have seen produced with this setup.

Did ask Ian about the previous dust issues and he assured me they are a thing of the past and only affected a couple of scopes.

Pictures to follow - hopefully of me smiling a lot.

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ItIsOnlyMe

ItIsOnlyMe

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This is the doublet? Olly

Yes Olly, you commented on someones picture taken with one of these that it clearly wasn't just a good scope for the price, it was just a good scope full stop.

Which was part of the reason I went for it, as you clearly know more about it than I do :icon_salut:

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Excuse me,has anyone actually LOOKED through this telescope?

Telescopes are first and foremost for looking through.

QUOTE]

:):icon_eek: Scandalous! An outrage!!! Besides, it's not true! No professional telescope has been looked through (to any significant extent) in the last 100 years.

Many amateurs use their scopes entirely for imaging. I have a 14 inch Orion Optics ODK in residence that has never been looked through and you'd be mad to buy a Tak FSQ to look through because a good doublet will be no different and half or a third of the price.

Joking aside, imaging is more exacting of optics, in the main, than visual. I found that in visual use my Meade 127 was not far behind the TEC 140 that replaced it. But image a hot blue star and the difference, alas, is considerable.

I have star tested the triplet version of the 102 and it was simply excellent. Fear not - with an eyepiece!!

Olly

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andrew63

andrew63

Posted
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Excuse me,has anyone actually LOOKED through this telescope?

Telescopes are first and foremost for looking through.

QUOTE]

:):icon_eek: Scandalous! An outrage!!! Besides, it's not true! No professional telescope has been looked through (to any significant extent) in the last 100 years.

Many amateurs use their scopes entirely for imaging. I have a 14 inch Orion Optics ODK in residence that has never been looked through and you'd be mad to buy a Tak FSQ to look through because a good doublet will be no different and half or a third of the price.

I guess it depends on how much of a discerning observer you are. I have this Ikha equivialant telescope for only visual use and it is very good - but would jump at the chance for a 4" Tak - ok it may be only for that extra 10% - but sometimes it's makes the difference. Some people are willing to pay a hugh surplus for eyepiece for that very same reason!

andrew

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Mr Onions

Mr Onions

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Thanks for your thoughts.

I look through a telescope,I could buy books or look at photos on internet.

I go to see orchestra's but I could listen to radio or CD.

I must be old fashioned.

I don't see the point of thousands of people taking the same photo of the same object when they can be looking at it.

I bet I could tell the difference visually between a Tak and a cheap doublet,bet I could tell in less than 2 seconds at the eyepiece.

Looking through a telescope is an art in itself.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

Posted
Posted
Thanks for your thoughts.

I look through a telescope,I could buy books or look at photos on internet.

I go to see orchestra's but I could listen to radio or CD.

I must be old fashioned.

I don't see the point of thousands of people taking the same photo of the same object when they can be looking at it.

I bet I could tell the difference visually between a Tak and a cheap doublet,bet I could tell in less than 2 seconds at the eyepiece.

Looking through a telescope is an art in itself.

With apologies to the OP I'd like to respond although we are off topic. To take your music example I'd say that a better analogy would be between playing an instrument (creating an image) and listening to a performance, whether live or recorded (looking at a photo.) Remember, you don't really 'take' an astrophoto, you 'make it.' So one might say (but one surely wouldn't!) 'Why play the violin badly yourself when you can listen to a virtuoso play it better.' The doing is everything. It's the same with creating your own astrophoto.

I can tell the difference between a cheap doublet and my TEC but the cheap doublets are getting very good and the cheap triplets really are getting good. No kidding, and it isn't in my interest to say it, but in focus you might find it harder than you think to tell the difference between the TEC and some of the (relatively) cheap triplets now available. There's a big difference in mechanical quality and longevity, too, of course. I was testing a semi-budget triplet with a professional optical engineer and telescope maker last year and he felt the scope was outstanding.

I entirely agree that looking through a telescope is an art. By the way, I hope it was clear that my earlier post was meant to be humorous.

Olly

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Mr Onions

Mr Onions

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I agree that the Chinese scopes are getting very good indeed.

Amazing value for the money,although people new to astronomy still think they're very expensive,they should go back 25 years to findout what expensive was :)

As a visual observer Im getting a bit sick of magazine reviews as they're 99% image based view point.

I appreciate how difficult imaging is.

Steve.

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