Anderscn

If the Skywatcher 120ED is so good, I can’t see why the 150ED shouldn’t be also. The problems with the two scopes should pretty straight forward to resolve by any optical/telescope company. The 150ED just seems to be rushed out on the market before it was finished. Best Regards, Anders

Very exciting! Looking forward to the report. I have never before owned a Skywatcher scope, still I am a bit surprised that the lens cell cannot be collimated. I think that the 188£ for the stronger rings and the Losmandy rail is a reasonable price. Best Regards, Anders

John, I suspect it actually is the very same scope. Judging from the lens number I recall from your thread. BR, Anders

Thank you. I was a bit concerned about CA when I bought it secondhand two years ago. But it seems not to bother me at the magnifications doable here in my area. I really love those 1’st generation black finished Istar scopes. I would also like to try the 150-15 and 204-9 - I think this mount can handle them. Too bad they don’t make these scopes any more. BR, Anders

Hi, Here my Istar 150-12 on Ayomaster ll and Berlebach Planet. Best Regards, Anders

Same considerations here regarding mount for the big Istar. The Sabre is just adequate, but not my long term solution if I keep the scope. I like the simplicity of the manual AZ-mounts, and as I see it, only the AOKswiss Ayomaster is up to the job. And I am 95% sure that I will get one at the end of the year. Then I could also have some fun using it with my two smaller Istars simultaneously The LZOS 130mm f/9 only weighs 10 kilos with rings (as far as I have found out) - I would think the AOK Ayodigi 2 would be fine for the job. That was their recommendation for my 127mm F/12 Istar based scope (the FRT127) that is 13 kilo´s with rings, diagonal, dovetail and Delos EP. Best Regards, Anders

Hi, An old friend finds a new home. The Istar 150mm F/12. Here on the fully extended Berlebach Planet, SW EQ5 Pillar extension and Sabre Mount. I´m only 178 cm, so I need this step ladder in order to safely hoist it up to 185cm and fix it. Obviously the Sabre Mount is stretched, yet mounted on the short arm leaving the longer arm for the counter weights, it actually works with tolerable vibrations. Very smooth movements actually. What I have seen so far on Saturn and the various doublestars in the Lyra, I actually like the views. I did expect more CA, but at 200-300x it is not too bad. Positively surpriced. So if I decide to keep it, I may go for an Ayomaster. Best Regards, Anders

Hi, Here are my guns: 4" and 5" Achromatic doublets, both F/12 optics from Istar. The 4 inch´er is here ready for the May 9´th Mercury passage. BR, Anders

Thank you gentlemen for the good comments. I already own 4" f12 and a 5" f12 achro's - both with Istar optics , and I struggled quite a lot in the beginning with vibrations from those long cannons. I think that I in the meantime have cracked the code of how to tame them without spending a fortune on a ton- heavy mount. And I think that my current setup may even be able to handle a long 6 inch'er. I am not too happy with Istars own scopes, though being fantastic craftmanship, they are a bit too heavy to my taste. So coming back to the Altair 152mm f5.9 - really like it from what I hear of build and optical quality. If they just could make similar one - in f10 in stead.. By the way - I am sorry if I somehow have stolen the thread? BR Anders

Not really. This thread is about the 152mm f/5.9 - so I was asking for a 152 mm f/10 or longer. BR, Anders

If they just would build an f/10 or longer for some decent planetary views around 200x, I would get one immediately. BR, Anders