John

No problem Chris - I've owned quite a lot of scopes I found the AR152L decent but quite a bit heavier than the Synta / Skywatcher 150mm F/8's. I used a Chromacor with mine which removed most of the CA and corrected the SA that these scopes seem often to have. If I went for a low cost 6" achro again I think it would be a Synta / Skywatcher F/8 - I never really warmed to the AR6 for some reason. I prefer the Bresser 127L over both the AR6 and the Skywatcher Evostar 120 that I had around that time. I'd not go for an achro faster than F/8 even for deep sky observing because of the CA. All good fun though

I've owned a Bresser 127L and a Meade AR5 Chris. They are identical apart from the branding and I suspect the optics of the new Bresser 127L's are the same. The Bresser was very nice but the Meade had very mediocre optics I had a Meade AR6 for a while as well which I think is pretty much the same scope as the Bresser 152L.

I've been looking at those on the Telescope House website. Although this is a refractor thread, the new Bresser 8" dob looks interesting. The use of tube rings to attach the alt bearings makes it easy to switch to an EQ mount for the scope at a later date. Smart design. The 127L refractor with the new hex focuser looks decidedly good value at £250.

Gotta love the classic "volcano top" orthos

Quite a range of pieces there ! Nice to see the Speers-WALER's - very nice eyepieces but rather uncommon over here.

The Vixen is the best 4" refractor I've owned or used Stu. Despite being F/6.5 it's CA control matches the ED100 that preceeded it and it's overall optical figure is excellent. I'm going to put a Moonlite on it next week to smarten it up a little I guess I'd have to move to a Tak or TV 4" to get any improvement and even then I suspect it would be slight. Back on the Bresser 127 tack, look what someone in Germany did with a pair of them :

Thats the problem I have - I can't think of how to explain to my other half why I need a long 102mm refractor as well as my shorter Vixen ED102 !. I suspect the "but it looks really nice" excuse won't do the trick That said I've got a TAL 100R standing next to me at the moment .... gathering dust ....

Nice looking pair of fracs Derek I strongly suspect that the Moonlite will exceed the stock focuser of the Bresser by some margin, if the Bresser one is like the one I had on my Bresser 127L and Meade AR5 (which I believe are the same scope). They are functional and thats about it. I've not tried one of the 102mm F/11 achros as yet. They always look rather elegant in their proportions

I had a TAL 100 RT refractor delivered to my work address many years ago. Back then the TAL's came in large wooden crates and this one had come all the way from the TAL factory in Siberia - it still had it's factory seals intact. My colleages said they thought it was a small coffin when it was delivered ! I ought to add that I did this because myself and my family were on an extended holiday in the USA at the time, rather than any subterfuge

Good point. I've been able to find out with the Myriad 5mm and 3.5mm that FLO loaned me.

Alan, Interesting that you are selling your XW 5mm, have the 4.5mm Delos and are considering the 4.7mm E. As you know I have the 6mm E and the 5mm XW. Looking at it very critically I reckon the XW is probably very slightly better than the E on the sort of things I use that magnification for. I'm wonder if the 4.7 E, apart from the big FoV gain, would really deliver anything for me, other than satisfying curiosity ? I still might get a rush of blood to the head and go for the 4.7mm E at some point but I'm not convinced enough at present. Ask me another day and I might be thinking differently though !

4.7mm something or other ?

What a load of old rubbish Alan If you had invested in that Revelation eyepiece and filter set a couple of years back as I suggested you would have saved youself a lot of trouble and just need one small case !

Excellent review Bill - thanks for posting it What a choice we have in eyepieces today !

My observing kit comprises of scope, eyepieces + filters, a red torch and the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas. Thats enough to keep me busy for a few hours, clouds allowing. I sometimes pop indoors for a coffee to warm up or to consult a more detailed star atlas or my laptop,

The last two cases pictured have both been pretty neat and tidy and full of useful goodies

My set has actually not changed for a while now, which breaks the trend of the past decade I'm going to be playing with a set of the Vixen SSW's for a while though, thanks to First Light Optics

Not a "ramble" at all, very interesting stuff Dave

I think thats the 1st time I've seen your eyepiece case Dave Those ES boxes are massive !. I thought you might be an ortho type person but maybe not ? Nice set though

Thats a great set Dom

This is my favourite mak of the ones I've owned. It's an Intes (despite the Orion sticker !) MN61 an F/5.9 maksutov-newtonian. Lovely scope, great optics and very well put together by the Russians

Great looking scope David Here is the 6" F/12 Istar that I used to have - quite a handfull to mount and a challenge even for an EQ6 on the massive Meade Giant Field Tripod !

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Hi Dave, The conclusion I've come to over Unitron / Polarex refractors is that their quality, like many mass produced scope types, varies. You have had a couple good ones, others were not so lucky. I've had similar expriences with other refractors where I've had a good one followed by a mediocre one a while later. I reckon the Celestron and Meade SCT's are the same as are many scopes.

Hi and welcome to SGL The ED80 doublets are very nice scopes but I can't agree with you about a 12" dob. I've owned loads of lovely refractors including a number of the ED's and currently a Vixen ED102 and Skywatcher ED120 but my 12" dob out performs them in every way apart perhaps from the aesthetics of double stars. I can't compete with your 61 years of scope owning though - my own experience is just 35 years It's great to celebrate the scope designs in these threads but lets not loose sight of the high standards of performance and versatility that the wide range of scope designs available offer us - they all have their strengths and weaknesses