Saxon telescopes

[bish]

Hello all,

No doubt many of you have seen these, but I have only recently come across Saxon telescopes (sold by Optical Hardware). I'm not looking to buy one but am curious. There seems to be a similar range to skywatcher reflectors (4" to 10") on EQ mounts. Does anybody know much about them or used one?

Thanks.

[Scott]

when I was in Australia a couple of yrs ago they were quite widely advertised. In the aussie forums (the name escapes me) the general concensus is that they are skywatchers poorer brother in terms of quality and quality control. That said, they are somewhat cheaper so worth thinking about if money's tight I suppose?

[John]

Synta (who make Skywatcher) seem to market some of their scopes under the Saxon brand as they did the Konus brand a few years back. Saxon tend to have a dark blue colour scheme but then so did Skywatcher in Europe a few years back while the paler blue was favoured for the UK market at that time, for some reason.

I've owned Konus branded versions of the 150mm F/8 and 80mm F/5 refractors and their quality control seemed just the same as Skywatcher. They were bright orange / yellow though !

[bish]

Thanks John. Seems to be quite a few scopes around from the same stable but different paint job then. I thought the options and prices looked very similar to SW.

[alan potts]

Nothing what so ever to do with a telescope but Saxon had a lead sing named Biff.

I much prefer the black and white colour of SW now, I have seen both blues and always wondered why they were different, a friend has the darker one. There is a shop in Sofia that still has the bright yellow/orange Konus in the window, it's been there about 6 years, so not very popular here.

Alan

[bish]

Nothing what so ever to do with a telescope but Saxon had a lead sing named Biff.

 

I much prefer the black and white colour of SW now, I have seen both blues and always wondered why they were different, a friend has the darker one. There is a shop in Sofia that still has the bright yellow/orange Konus in the window, it's been there about 6 years, so not very popular here.

 

Alan

I saw Saxon at some musical festival a couple of years ago. Not sure if Biff was singing!

[bish]

when I was in Australia a couple of yrs ago they were quite widely advertised. In the aussie forums (the name escapes me) the general concensus is that they are skywatchers poorer brother in terms of quality and quality control. That said, they are somewhat cheaper so worth thinking about if money's tight I suppose?

Strange - I completely missed your post Scott when I looked earlier. Must be my age. The whole quality control issue can make buying cheap a real mine field.

[John]

I saw Saxon back in the early 1980's - "The Eagle Has Landed" tour. Great band and didn't take themselves too seriously

Biff Byford and Paul Quinn are still at it I think.

Back on the scopes, Synta have chosen some odd colour schemes for their brands over the years. My ED120 is one of the gold / off white ones which is not my favourite but they all look the same in the dark. If I had a preference I'd choose the traditional white tube with black fittings.

[bish]

I saw Saxon back in the early 1980's - "The Eagle Has Landed" tour. Great band and didn't take themselves too seriously

 

Biff Byford and Paul Quinn are still at it I think.

 

Back on the scopes, Synta have chosen some odd colour schemes for their brands over the years. My ED120 is one of the gold / off white ones which is not my favourite but they all look the same in the dark. If I had a preference I'd choose the traditional white tube with black fittings.

Yes they were good when I saw them. I'd never really listened to them before but really enjoyed it. As you say, they don't take themselves too seriously.

I agree that white does look the best - but when it goes dark the colour doesn't matter.

[hobbit]

For what it's worth I have the Saxon ED120 refractor and am quite happy with it. I did notice some blue fringing on the moon when photographing with my dslr but none at all with the ZWO.

Without having had any other telescopes to compare it against the build quality seems rather good. The focuser was a bit loose and couldn't support much weight at all but it was a second hand scope so maybe the previous owner and played around with it, in any case an allen key quickly tightened things up.

Usability is also good. Not too big or heavy. My only (minor) complaint would be that the attachment for the finderscope is a bit to far towards the end and can get in the way sometimes.

[John]

Interesting feedback hobbit

Sounds like the Saxon ED120 has just the same characterstics as it's Skywatcher badged bretheren. I really love my ED120

[alan potts]

John,

Is that the one that was called the Equinox pro 120 or something like? I have a friend with one, very nice scope indeed for the money.

Alan

[John]

The Equinox are the glossier range. The Pro range have a more basic fit and finish but, in the case of the 100mm and 120mm, have the same optics in them. The Equinox range have a similar finish to William Optics refractors. Funnily enough the WO Megrez 120 has the same objective lens as the ED120 and Equinox 120 so there is overlap there too.

The confusing world of chinese made astro gear !

[alan potts]

Well that is a supprise I always thought WO was a bit more up market scopes wise, they cost more money I believe. I am trying to get a WO diagonal at the moment off classified as you always speak highly of yours. with the scopes I have I am always hunting around for them even though I have 3, there is never one to hand, so it will be one in each scope now (even Newtonians ).

I like that sort of size in a scope 120-130 and the choice today is better than it ever has been. You and I can both think back to the 70's and 80's and then a similar scope would have cost about as much as new car. I intend to get a bigger one in the next 6 months or so in the 130mm range though the APM 150 doublet that you rather like is a big temptation. What did Oscar Wilde say about temptation, one must yeild to it.

Alan

[John]

I have had a couple of WO diagonals Alan and they were good. The Revelation one was pretty much the same. My current diagonals are a TV Everbright and an Istar and, again, both do the job well. The build quality of the Everbright is something else though

I think the next step up would be one of the Zeiss prism jobs I guess.