Ikharus 102mm thoughts?

[jnc71106]

I'm considering changing my setup and have been looking at the above telescope on the Ian king website. It looks a very nice piece of kit. It's main use for me would be imaging with a dslr with a bit of visual every now and then

I have found the unboxing thread by ribuck on here but this is the only thread I seem to be able to find

Has anyone else got this scope that has had it long enough to give a good report on how it has performed for them

Thank you

Jake

[Martin-Devon]

I've talked at length recently to Ian King about this scope he markets and he rates it very highly - a very accomplished scope for the price (£575)and giving F ratio of 5.6 with the included reducer/flattener. I've just ordered one with an upgraded 3" Baader steeltrack focusser that Ian installed. Apparently it's excellent for astrophotography and visual use. Ian King has several DSO images taken with the Ikharus 102mm as an illustration of what it can do on his website. There is a waiting list though for new orders due to demand, I gather around 4-6 weeks. Have a look also at the Astronomy Shed forum, where there are also some folks on there with the scope.

[ollypenrice]

I only know the SGL thread you mention and found that very convincing. Since I started imaging I have also dealt with Ian King and have absolutely never known him over-egg the pudding. Rather the reverse.

Olly

[jnc71106]

I only know the SGL thread you mention and found that very convincing. Since I started imaging I have also dealt with Ian King and have absolutely never known him over-egg the pudding. Rather the reverse.

Olly

Not sure if you could answer this but in terms of imaging what scope would give me the better results the ikharus or the oo 200 spx f/4.5 I currently own. Or is that a hard comparison

Jake

[ollypenrice]

Well personally I couldn't really answer since I have used neither.

Why not try with what you have, first? Or have you done so? How did it work out?

In general refractors are easy for a number of reasons but when it comes to a head to head between two scopes the detail dominates.

If it were me, based on educated hunch and knowing which problems I'm good at dealing with and which I'm not, I'd go for the refractor. Others might quite reasonably disagree.

Olly

[NickK]

Not sure if you could answer this but in terms of imaging what scope would give me the better results the ikharus or the oo 200 spx f/4.5 I currently own. Or is that a hard comparison

Jake

What is making you think is there something better?

The 200 with 4.5 will be 900mm fl.

The Ikharus' native focal length is 714mm therefore f/7.0 but F5.6 with Reducer/Flattener (which also reduces the fl to 571mm).

There's going to be quite a widening field of view with the Ikharus but I'd have thought a slight loss in detail putting that wider field onto the same CCD chip.

[Coco]

If your imaging with that EQ5 maybe you might want to consider a smaller scope

I know why your looking at the Ikarus, its outstanding value for money..

[jnc71106]

If your imaging with that EQ5 maybe you might want to consider a smaller scope

I know why your looking at the Ikarus, its outstanding value for money..

Eq5 is getting upgraded to a heq5 in the week or so

[steppenwolf]

The two 'scopes (the one you have and the one you are considering) are very different beasts but if you are using your EQ5 as the platform for imaging, I'd have thought that the Ikharus would be the better bet - less weight and a wider field of view to put less demands on the tracking capabilities of the mount.

Factor in the lack of collimation at the start of each session and the fact that Ian King is involved and I'd be sorely tempted. Like Olly, I've never known Ian to over-egg a product so I would buy with a lot of confidence.

[jnc71106]

Very much in 2 minds with this once the heq5 has turned up I might be able to better judge the scope I have at the moment

[steppenwolf]

Sorry, due to a technical hitch (anyone else getting slow response from SGL tonight?) my reply missed your comment about the HEQ5!!

[johnrt]

I'd love to see the Ikharus in a shoot out against the TS 80/480 triplet.

[jnc71106]

ease of setup is a plus for me. i do struggle with the oo when the eyepiece is in awkward positions because i broke my back a few yrs ago and rotating the tube isnt always the easiest thing to do for me

would the rotatable focuser on the ikharus solve that issue ???