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Anyone know about Astronomica's 152mm Maksutov


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Hello All!,

I've recently been given a 90mm Skywatcher Maksutov (for my 55th birthday!), and I've been so impressed with the views that I'm thinking of upgrading to the 127mm version. (at £275 from FLO), but I've just seen a 152mm (6") Maksutov (unknown make) advertised on the "Astronomica" site in this forum, priced at £289 for the tube only (without any lenses or eyepieces).

I've e-mailed one of the directors (Mr.Richard Davis) of "astronomica" who says the scope compares favourably (and due to it's increased size will give better views) to the Skywatcher.

Has anyone had any experience (or knows of any reviews) of this scope?

You can see it here:- http://www.astronomica.co.uk/ under the section "OTA" only.

Look forward to any help or advice from anyone.

Regards,

philsail1

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Thanks for your reply John (Jahmanson). I too saw that Maksutov on e-bay for £275 "buy-it-now" price. I could not believe anyone could sell a top quality instrument for that price!

It does look similar to the scope "Astronomica" sells. - I'll ask "Astronomica" what the make of their scope is?

If they are able to tell me, I'll let you know.

Regards,

philsail1

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Hm, I'd be interested in what sort of actual quality the optics are and if the focuser has any image shift. I'm looking around for a 5" or a 6" Mak myself and I think these are probably the two biggest issues when buying one.

Tony..

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Here's a link to the Sky @ Night magazine review:

http://tinyurl.com/2jarye

It's written by Ad Ashford who knows his stuff. Without having owned or tried one, my guess is that they are decent scopesfor the price but not as well engineered as something like the Intes Mak-Cass's.

Another scope in this niche is the Skywatcher 6 inch Mak-Cass of course which I think some SGL members own / have owned.

John

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"Let us know eh? I'm still hankering after an Intes, but secondhand they seem to be a bit scarce so I may be looking at alternative options..."

That's because you'd have to rip them from their owners cold , bloodied, hands.

Zero mirror shift on mine. Yum.

Andy.

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Hi All!

I've just spoken at length to Ian Latus (the Manager of Astronomica's shop in Hull) and he says the source of the 6" Maksutov they are selling is a company called "View Shop" based in XIANSHI in China. I've been on the web and this company seems to be a new one, made up of astronomers and optical engineers who specialise in securing the best optics from various optical manufactures in China (from around the optical specialist areas in China) for export to the west.

He told me that the optics are comparable if not better than the Skywatcher 127mm - purely due to the scope being that much bigger. I've e-mailed a customer who bought one of these scopes from Astronomica, and as soon as I receive some feedback I will post it on here.

On balance I think I will go for the Astronomica's 152mm Mak - even though it does not come with anything other than the bare optical tube. (£289.00 + £15 P+P against £289.00 for the Skywatcher 127 Mak with "SupaTrack" and mount (that's from a company called "Stockport Binocular & Telescope Centre" near Manchester).

Regards,

philsail1

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Hello all,

Well I've taken the plunge an ordered the 152mm Maksutov from "Astronomica" @ £289 for the OTA only. (They are giving a 1.25 star diagonal with the scope). They've allowed 50% off the price of a 8x50 finderscope, so I took the plunge and bought one!

As soon as I receive the scope, I will do a test and put the result on here!

Regards,

philsail1

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Thanks for reply Hugh. The white "TS" Mak looks something like the model I have ordered from "Astronomica" at Hull. I'm awaiting delivery of the scope, and will give it a good testing - on terrestrial subjects if the nights aren't clear enough! I must say that I am apprehensive about ordering, a scope from an unknown manufacturer (I had originally planned to buy the Skywatcher 127 Mak, or perhaps the 127 on the "Supatrak"). However, Richard and Ian (from Astronomica) have assured me that I will be pleased by the scope's quality and performance. and that being a 152 Mak, it will "out perform" a 127 scope on clarity and brightness of image. After such reassurance, and the fact that Astronomica is a "British" company, based in this country, and the scope would come direct from themselves, I decided to go for this one. The price (£289.00) wasn't really an issue, as the scope only comes with a 1.25 star diagonal and a front end cover cap. It does not come with any lenses, finder scope,or anything else, whereas the skywatcher 127 "Supatrak" at £285, comes complete! I went for the Astronomica 152 purely on its size (and hopefully, quality).

I have told Astronomica that after testing, I will post (hopefully) a positive review of the scope on SGL.

I hope that after testing the scope I will be able to do this!

I should receive the instrument sometime next week.

Regards,

philsail1

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Coel et Espace reviewed the 150 on an EQ5 as well as the 200 and have just put it on their website at http://www.cieletespace.fr/TestInstrument/pdf/BosmaMK18015.pdf . Their reviews are always much more searching than those in the UK mags and they liked the 150 a lot. As far as I know most or all Astronomica scopes come from China - their refractors appear to be the same as Bresser Messier. I'm sure your Mak will be a great success - especially at the price. They seem to need collimation far less than Newtonians and SCTs. I've had an Orion Optics 140m Mak for four years and it's never needed collimation - Hugh

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I have bought a number of items from Astronomica. Included in that list, is a 6" f8 refractor, and a 80ED Apo. I have bought a 2" Apo Barlow, and a illuminated guide eyepiece. I am more than satisfied with the quality and performance of the instruments I bought.

I can not speak for the Mak, but I am sure there will be no problems with it, if I use the instruments I bought as a yardstick.

Different optical design though, so you will make your own mind up on that one.

Ron. :D

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