JP-Astro

Thanks to all of you for a bunch of thoughts so far. I'm in the Eastern Europe. German retailers have those scopes in different brands. Yes, I know of the mount requirements for a long frac. My EQ5 would be at the edge of its stability. While 5" F11 gets good reviews I know that the GSO CC alternatively has a following within the CATs camp!

Hello gentlemen, I've narrowed down my choice to one of the 2 telescopes and have hard time deciding between the two. They are both within my budget and I don't consider any other options. Only these two. Either one or another. None otherwise. (Would get them both but if I had money my choice of the scope would widen instead.) - One is a (relatively) long focus 4" ED refractor (~FPL51 equivalent) Starwave ASCENT 102ED F11 https://www.altairastro.com/starwave-ascent-102ed-f11-refractor-telescope-geared-focuser-467-p.asp Another is a 6" GSO Classic Cassegrain (with a F12 focal ratio); A kind of reflector telescope that is. https://agenaastro.com/gso-6in-f12-classical-cassegrian-reflector-ota-black.html My primary interest are planets hence the focal ratio choice. 6" CC will give me more light gathering ability but I find something fascinating in refractors. Please add any thoughts on the subject you might have. Of course think of it as if you were facing this dilemma.

Excuse me please if I ask a silly question. Why did you have to file that cross bar down if it can be easily removed? Won't it alone allow the tab to go past the bar that restricts the tab's movement further forward?

Does it make much sense to upgrade such an inexpensive device as SW ST-120 with rather expensive parts such as GSO DS focuser?

Looks like it's the same scope as the TS Optics F/5.9 only re-branded: TS F/5.9

Mike - Thanks for q quick reply and to be honest I had similar thoughts on the 4-element achro design which Bresser AR-152S is. However I was thinking more about extra glass of regular quality (not the ED) inserted in the light path. Sort of in a way it defeats the purpose of a simple 2-element achro design which despite its obvious limitations is a tried-and-true formula on its own. Sure the more elements there are the more precision should be applied in setting it up correctly.

Please comment on your experience with the short refractor from Bresser, the AR-152S model. The good, the bad, anything really. Here it is: Bresser AR-152S I know its most significant drawback, the CO which is a curse of any achro and particularly the short models. I'm not too sensitive to CO, to say the least. Being on a budget I'm going to use it as a general purpose scope, for everything. Once again, I'm fine with the CO. What I like about it is of course its light gathering power which no one can deny. I've seen many reports that 6" achro comes close to both 8" SCT and 8" Newt (of course with certain limitations). I know it's strength is wide field views but I've heard people used them as a high power instrument for planetary observations as well. That's of course again those people who like me are perfectly fine with the CO. What I'm also interested to know is how good the quality of this achro is. How durable is the focuser? What material is used for the lens cell - is it cheap pot metal or a little better aluminum? Both of these are not good for constant collimation screw adjustments and I wonder how the lens cell holds up in this respect.