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Lyra Optic 150mm f8 Achromat - Arrived

iwatkins

By iwatkins
in Members Equipment Gallery

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iwatkins

iwatkins

Posted
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Hi All,

As some of you know/have read (see: http://stargazerslounge.com/discussions-scopes-whole-setups/171779-lyra-optics-150mm-f8-achromat-pretty-but-any-good.html), I've ummed and aahed over this OTA for the best part of a 1/3 of a year. Couple of weeks ago I made the decision to go ahead. Mainly due to the reviews of other OTAs by members here saying how good Glen's workmanship was.

Well, she arrived this morning very well packaged. Wife immediately christened her "Bertha". :)

With lots of careful unpacking, I got her into her scope rings, tightened everything up and she is good to go. I hope to get first light this afternoon using a solar Herschel wedge or through any cloud gaps this evening. But forecast looks bad so it may be a few days before that first light happens. To be expected really. :confused:

Anyway, if you have thought about having something special as a telescope, I can heartily recommend Lyra Optic. Glen has been very patient answering all my questions and is a real gent as well. To say he has old school values when it comes to making telescopes would be to sell him short.

Cheers

Ian

P.s. Obligatory pictures below :(

Spec is as follows:

LIMITED EDITION 150mm F/8 Achromat OTA.

Istar Optics 150mm F/8 lens in Fully Collimatable Countercell.

High Quality Aluminium used throughout the OTA with Stainless Steel Fittings.

Polished Tube for Excellent Emissivity.

The OTA is lined with Protostar Flockboard.

CNC Machined 2" 360° Rotatable Crayford Focuser with 10:1 Dual Speed

2"- 1.25" Adapter.

CNC Tube Rings.

13" Dovetail.

50mm Finder Bracket with Shoe.

Tube Length 44"

Tube weight with Ring,Dovetail and Finder Bracket 22lbs.

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iwatkins-albums-equipment-picture16999-img-1772.jpg

iwatkins-albums-equipment-picture17000-img-1773.jpg

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hobbesy

hobbesy

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Heh. At first glance I thought the autosol was a packet of a well know pile cream that begins with A and finished in SOL, whose first syllable will almost certainly be blocked on here.

Threw me for a second what you'd need it for, to be honest.

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johninderby

johninderby

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I wondered who would eventually succumb to this lovely scope. Definitely one of those special scopes. :)

100% agree with you about Glen. Good old fashioned service and any scope he sells is properly tested and adjusted before shipping it out.

John

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John

John

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Nice scope Ian - I looked longingly at that one for ages as well :confused:

Looking forward to your 1st light report.

What are you going to mount it on ?.

I wonder if Glen would put a tube like that around some owner supplied optics :)

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DaveGibbons

DaveGibbons

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Welcome to the Istar club Ian! That's one beautiful scope Glen put together. I have both an Istar 5" f8 refractor and Lyra optics 4" f11 scope they are both magnificent achromats. Bet the 6 incher blows your socks off.

cheers

Dave

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iwatkins

iwatkins

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Thanks everyone, I'm really happy with it. :)

Johninderby,

I couldn't resist any longer. I haven't had a "special" telescope in a very long time, so thought the time was right. It really is very special, workmanship is outstanding. And for the same money as my Skywatcher 180Mak. So it's a bargain. Even the wife likes it :confused:

John,

Ran it today on a SkyTee2 for some white light solar, but normally will be on the NEQ6. It's actually quite well balanced, a little front heavy, so easy to balance. Worked well on the SkyTee2 today.

DaveGibbons,

Thanks Dave. It really is a nice optic. It was actually your report on your f/11 that swung me from "erm, ah" to "I'll have that". So it's your fault. :( but thank you.

Phill,

Covered in prints now. But Glen included the polish so I could go OCD on it. I'll also seal it once polished next time.

------------

I actually got first light ths afternoon doing a bit of white light solar. More over here but I'm super happy with this OTA: http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-solar/185784-wl-17-04-2012-my-first-new-scope-wedge.html

Cheers

Ian

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hunterknox

hunterknox

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Nice scope Ian - I looked longingly at that one for ages as well :confused:

Looking forward to your 1st light report.

What are you going to mount it on ?.

I wonder if Glen would put a tube like that around some owner supplied optics :)

I went to his place to ask about that for a Tal. The Tal's a weird size so it would be too costly, but I did convince myself I needed an 80mm f15 while I was there!

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hunterknox

hunterknox

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Covered in prints now. But Glen included the polish so I could go OCD on it. I'll also seal it once polished next time.

Meguirs NTX polish leaves a super shiny finish if you don't get on with the Autosol. Smells nicer too.

Out of interest how are you going to seal it? Mine's been print free since I got a Berlebach handle for it.

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iwatkins

iwatkins

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Yep, Glen also recommended the NTX polish after a bit of Autosol.

When I say seal, I mean a coat of AutoGlym SuperGloss Protection. It's a very light liquid polish that once buffed off gives a fingerprint protection for a month or so. I won't get into a permanent seal though, too much.

I asked Glen to include a second, top, dovetail to act as a handle plus somewhere to hang a camera. But Johninderby has put me onto a proper handle so I don't need to handle the OTA so much.

Cheers

Ian

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John

John

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A handle is very useful on a long, heavy OTA such as a 6" F/8 refractor. I find one useful on my smaller, lighter ED120 too.

I'll be interested to know whether the chrome finish has a practical impact on the time it takes for the scope to cool down. Unless you are keeping the scope at / close to outside temperature when cooling is not an issue.

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iwatkins

iwatkins

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John,

Cooling wise, I'm already ahead of you on that. As it will be mainly used for white light solar work, it was a concern. But it is unpainted and not chromed, just a thick, polished, tube. So it should radiate very well. And to help any cooling issues, there is a split ring behind the counter cell. You just slide this back and it lets air in behind the objective. If you uncap the focus tube you then have a free flow of air. Even so, being so reflective, I don't think it getting much warmer than ambient is going to be a problem.

Even so, I'm going to keep an eye on it, and to this end I've got three iButtons to go in, so I can keep an eye on temps (and humidities even).

Steve,

The imagers can go.... :)

Cheers

Ian

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