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Ikharos 80ED has arrived!

AstroMum

By AstroMum
in The Astro Lounge

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Catweazel

Catweazel

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I would certainly recommend this scope, but bear in mind that you'll probably need to buy the Starwave as Ian King only had a couple left in stock yesterday and he is not getting any more in.

Looks like he has sold them all, they are no longer on his site page :)

It's exactly the same scope though and you'll get the nice big 3" focuser instead. :p

True, although if you look at comments on SGL from those who have bought them, they seem to be having trouble getting the right adapter for them, and there is talk about needing to use tube extensions, so they are not ready to go straight from the box like the Ikharos, and for the money, I would definatley want that :)

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jfox61

jfox61

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Yep he's sold out. I was on the phone this morning to order my Flattener/Reducer he promised me. He still has a few of those left but they are not listed on his site anymore. A quick phone call to him will sort it for you though if anyone's interested in them.

Those screws will definitely work loose Becky. Either removal or a a smidge of threadlock on them will fix it though.

BTW although out of stock of the Ikharus he is replacing them all with the Starwave and they are due in stock imminently

Catweazel, you could give him a ring about the scope, if he still has field flatteners left but has taken them off the site, the same may be the case for the Ik 80. He does still have the 102 in stock though and that's also a cracking bit of kit.

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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The Equinox does have better optics, but as a newbie to astrophotography I really don't think I'd notice the difference. Not enough to justify spending £200 more anyway. Plus, from all the user feedback I've read, the Ikharos is a surprisingly good performer. I believe even Olly had nothing but praise for its larger brother, the 102ED.

If I get the AP bug, I'll probably treat myself to a triplet someday. :)

:p Thanks Becky. Was my curiosity more than anything.

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AstroMum

AstroMum

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Catweazel, Ian told me that he would be pulling the ED80 off the website even though he had a couple left. If you do want one, it's worth giving him a ring and seeing if he's still got them.

Regarding the whole business with the 3" Starwave focuser/adapter/extender, I emailed Altair Astro on Monday but have heard nothing back. It really would be in their best interest to clarify what extra parts are needed. Perhaps Ian King would be better to ask as he's already familiar with that focuser on the larger Ikharos replacements.

My camera didn't arrive this morning, but my copy of "Making Every Photon Count" did. At least I'll have something to read if the skies are cloudy is evening. The sun is currently showing its face, but you can guarantee the cloud will be back by the time night falls.

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Catweazel

Catweazel

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Catweazel, Ian told me that he would be pulling the ED80 off the website even though he had a couple left. If you do want one, it's worth giving him a ring and seeing if he's still got them.

Hi, I did speak to him and he has sold them all.

Regarding the whole business with the 3" Starwave focuser/adapter/extender, I emailed Altair Astro on Monday but have heard nothing back. It really would be in their best interest to clarify what extra parts are needed. Perhaps Ian King would be better to ask as he's already familiar with that focuser on the larger Ikharos replacements.

He said that the 3" focuser takes a T48, or something 48 anyway, and they are not as straightforward as the Ikharos. To be honest, I replaced the focuser on my 200P and am going to have a bash with that. In the meantime, I reckon a 2nd hand ED Apo will come up somewhere for sale eventually, and I will go down that route, and save myself some £££ :p

My camera didn't arrive this morning, but my copy of "Making Every Photon Count" did. At least I'll have something to read if the skies are cloudy is evening. The sun is currently showing its face, but you can guarantee the cloud will be back by the time night falls.

I will be investing in the book for sure. Weather forecast here is :)

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AstroMum

AstroMum

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Oh, that's a shame Catweazel. Hopefully something will come up second-hand for a decent price when the Brian Cox effect has died down.

If I ever win the lottery and can afford a triplet, I'll give you first dibs on the Ikharos. :p

John, yours is due to arrive tomorrow, yes? I've got my fingers crossed that the skies will be good this weekend, but seeing conflicting reports one day to the next.

Might just setup outside and point it at some birds. :)

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Stephen

Stephen

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Altair are attempting to move ALL their kit to M48 rather than T2 connections.

The theory being, 6mm extra aperture - it's a super wide T2.

M48 is also 2" filter size.

DSLR to M48 adaptors are readily available (for things such as the SW reducers that also are M48!!!) T2 to M48 seems to be harder to find though Earl got one from Bern @ Modern Astronomy.

Just thought, TS OAG is also natively M48 requiring an adaptor to use in a T2 chain ...

Dunno if this helps anyone with anything, but this is what I know :p

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AstroMum

AstroMum

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Fortunately I do have a very good quality erect prism diagonal that will work very nicely for wildlife observing.:)

John

Haven't got one myself, but at least with a refractor it's only back to front rather than upside down! ;)

Altair are attempting to move ALL their kit to M48 rather than T2 connections.

The theory being, 6mm extra aperture - it's a super wide T2.

M48 is also 2" filter size.

DSLR to M48 adaptors are readily available (for things such as the SW reducers that also are M48!!!) T2 to M48 seems to be harder to find though Earl got one from Bern @ Modern Astronomy.

Just thought, TS OAG is also natively M48 requiring an adaptor to use in a T2 chain ...

Dunno if this helps anyone with anything, but this is what I know :)

That's very handy to know, thank you! ;) Hopefully Altair will offer the adaptor themselves so that buying everything necessary is a little smoother.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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I think it'll be great. As far as the spend and AP goes, my priority order would always be mount-camera-scope. It will be a while before a new astrophotorapher needs to improve on these optis, I reckon. There are about three thousand things to learn first!

Olly

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Adz

Adz

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Congrats on the scope Becky, I was thinking of one. Ian told me that he wouldn't be keeping any more in stock though ;)

So others to choose from are the starwave with a 3" focuser and isn't ready to use for photography out of the box. Or the astro professional which has a tripod type mount...

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Chris

Chris

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Nice one Becky:) I've had my eye on these scopes, they are such great value with the reducer as well:) Also you'll love the 1100D its a lovely camera for the money, you've made some very clever purchases in my opinion:)

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peonic

peonic

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Whispy stuff all over the place here in sunny Suffolk. Wishful thinking tells me it's thinning out, and the gear is outside cooling as we speak. I'm getting so starved of scope time I'm happy to chance it and try and find something in the gaps between the clouds! ;)

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AstroMum

AstroMum

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I've had the scope out all afternoon getting used to hooking up and using the camera which arrived this morning.

Chuffed that we've got a bit of clear sky, especially as the forecast looks bleak for the weekend and beyond.

It's going to take me a while to get the hang of what I'm doing, but for now, I've attached my first official photo - the moon!

Gotta say, considering this scope is quite a bit smaller than my Evostar, objects don't look a great deal different. And no chromatic aberration, yay!

post-33263-133877739896_thumb.jpg

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