GazOC

Surely different glass in the 2 scopes at those prices? IIRC the Equinox range was the same

IIRC the way to get longer focal lengths out of the Hyperions is to remove the second set of lenses completely from the 21mm/ 17mm etc eyepieces rather than use the tuning rings I've got Hyperions but never tried it though, sorry

I don't think the 24mm Hyperion is compatible with the fine tuning rings. The rings "work" by increasing the distance between 2 sets of lenses to give higher magnifications. The 24mm doesn't have the second set of lenses

I've got an 80mm Equinox, my regret is not buying a 120mm when they were available. I got an Evostar ED120 instead to save a few quid

Bears more than a passing resemblance to a Skywatcher Equinox 66

Totally agree, John. They are very good scopes at a great price.

So the Evostar range is under no threat at those prices

Has anyone got this scope mounted on a HEQ5 for visual? Asking for a friend...

I'd be inclined to play it safe and unscrew the lens cell

They certainly look stunning, I know telescopes are "for looking through, not looking at" but I much prefer a bit of colour over the plain white that most scopes seem to sport

I've got a PST that I've not used for over a decade but I'm still torn over selling it just in case I'd want to use it at some point in the future

Ignore that John, I didn't see the subsequent posts. Apologies

As you say Paul, in an ideal world we would be able to test our purchases before buying and then decide but, at least for me, it's just not an option most cases Pretty much all my astro purchases have had to be made on a spec sheet and word of mouth (which is notoriously risky where refractors are concerned, everyone seems to love THEIR refractor )

The limited info I've seen on it is that 53 corrects CA slightly better than 55 has but that 55 has slightly better "polishing properties" whatever exactly that means I could be wrong though...

I've never looked through a FPL 55 refractor but if the numbers tell the full tale I'd be surprised if you could tell the difference, at least visually, in between that and FPL 53 scope (with the usual caveat of all other things being equal)