TS Individual 152/900mm Refractor

[emadmoussa]

Hey there...

It's not a first light report, rather a description of the build and quality of the item.

I had my eye on this scope for a while now. Having sold some astro stuff, I ended up with some cash in hand and went ahead and bought the Teleskop Service Individual 152/900 Refractor.

It's a 6" improved achromatic refractor, and honestly built like a tank...

First impression...

Wow, this thing is big...but not as big as a standard 6" refractor. Still shorter. Attached is an image showing the size in comparison with the SW 80ED.

Second impression...

Wow, this thing is heavy

Third impression

Despite all, it's a such a beautiful piece of gear

OK, the TS 152mm telescope comes with the tube (of course, imagine if it doesn't come with the tube...invisible telescope), 3" inch...really solid yet smooth focuser (it can be reduced to 2" and 1.25"), red dot finder and very solid tube rings attached to a standard Skywatcher-like dovetail. There's s CNC holder on top of the rings, making easier to handle even with the weight of 11.2Kg. I have to admit that despite being heavier than my Skywatcher 200P, it's still easier to handle, thanks to the to way it's designed.

I also got a TS 2" diagonal. Very solid and sharp piece indeed.

I have to say, the telescope exceeded my expectations. First time I fiddled with it I was thinking, man, this gear is really built for war...as solid as a tank.

The retractable dew shield is a very neat feature, allowing you to reduce the total width of the tube by loosening the screw on the side of the shield and simply slide backwards. It won't fit in the bag if the dew shield is extended. One thing worth mentioning here, the dust cap on the front is surprisingly made of heavy metal. For me personally, all the telescope I owned had plastic ones. This one begs to differ. You need to screw/unscrew the cap onto the front. I'm not sure whether this is a good or a bad feature. On the plus side it provides an unquestionable protection. But at the same time, it's not the easiest and simplest thing to put on and off...especially in the bitter cold.

I haven't had my first light, but I can say briefly that the lenses seem of high quality and barely produce any reflection. I'm hoping to put it to the test tonight.

All in all, I'm a happy bunny...

Have a look at the images and judge for yourself

[John]

Congratulations- nice looking scope

I've read quite a lot about those scopes, especially on the Cloudynights forum. I guess it's the same model that Lyra Optics carry but they are out of stock at the moment.

It's around as heavy as the Meade AR6 that I used to have. That was F/8 but not built so well as yours is.

I'll look forward to your first light report with it

[PARTY MARTY]

Congrats to your new scope! It's really good quality! I've just bought the TS 115mm Triplet APO F7 Refractor from TS!!!, cost a bomb and yet again build like a tank too weighing around 8Kg mark! Again you can't grumble with sheer German engineering quality. Bear in mind that your's is Achromat, so you'll get some hint of CA! so I seriously recommend you to invest on a Baader semi apo filter to the best performance for your refractor!

[emadmoussa]

Congratulations- nice looking scope

I've read quite a lot about those scopes, especially on the Cloudynights forum. I guess it's the same model that Lyra Optics carry but they are out of stock at the moment.

It's around as heavy as the Meade AR6 that I used to have. That was F/8 but not built so well as yours is.

I'll look forward to your first light report with it

Thanks, John.

Yes, It is actually the same as the Lyra. It's also the same as AstoTelescope 152mm and Astro Professional 152mm. It's the only one with 3" focuser though. When I told Thomas at Telekop Service that their scope looked almost identical the previous ones, his reaction was...''Are you serious, no way!". I guess probably the same, but a bit modified by TS.

[emadmoussa]

Congrats to your new scope! It's really good quality! I've just bought the TS 115mm Triplet APO F7 Refractor from TS!!!, cost a bomb and yet again build like a tank too weighing around 8Kg mark! Again you can't grumble with sheer German engineering quality. Bear in mind that your's is Achromat, so you'll get some hint of CA! so I seriously recommend you to invest on a Baader semi apo filter to the best performance for your refractor!

Thanks! Yes, I'm aware of that. I'll be using it almost exclusively for deep sky. I have the semi-apo filter on my list as well...I know I won't stick in one field for a long time

[PARTY MARTY]

You'll be fine mate! You'll get massive and fit with it buddy!!!

[emadmoussa]

just an idea about the size of this beast

[John]

6" fracs are big beasts

Just out of interest, what are you looking for from it that your Explorer 200P won't do ?

[emadmoussa]

6" fracs are big beasts

Just out of interest, what are you looking for from it that your Explorer 200P won't do ?

Comfort and crispier deep sky images.

I never got along with reflectors...I hate looking into the side of the scope...OK, go ahead an laugh

[Naemeth]

Comfort and crispier deep sky images.

I never got along with reflectors...I hate looking into the side of the scope...OK, go ahead an laugh

Just don't get a taste for more aperture. A 16" refractor is two three things: expensive and heavy (and huge)

[emadmoussa]

Just don't get a taste for more aperture. A 16" refractor is two three things: expensive and heavy (and huge)

16" refractor?!!

[John]

Comfort and crispier deep sky images.

I never got along with reflectors...I hate looking into the side of the scope...OK, go ahead an laugh

I'm not going to laugh. I felt the same for years until I managed to get a newtonian with really good optical quality.

I still love the views that refractors put up though and their, relatively, hassle free nature.

[PARTY MARTY]

I was once a Newtonian lover! But now I'm imaging with APO refractors, I just love those razor sharp views! And imaging is so much easier and quicker! My 8" Quattro reflector is a excellent imaging scope, but the images are not as sharp compared to the 115mm Triplet! Ok imaging with the Quattro, collecting data is ultra fast, but the APO despite being slower, even with a focal reducer to reduce it down to a decent speed of F5.5 to resonable light photon gathering! However apeture is not as important for imaging, it's the F-ratio which counts!!!

[Naemeth]

16" refractor?!!

Can't find a 16". But here's a 14":

http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/Telescopes-/Refracting-Telescopes-OTA-/Apochromates/Apo-356/4270-CNC-II-862.html

Here's a 20":

http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/Telescopes-/Refracting-Telescopes-OTA/Apochromates/APM-LZOS-Apo-Refraktoren-Apo-510/6500-CNC.html

[emadmoussa]

Well, I don't remember I ever looked into my 80ED with my naked eye unless I wanted to center the object. It's almost always for imaging. This one, however, will be sweep the sky visually...at least for now.

[emadmoussa]

Can't find a 16". But here's a 14":

http://www.apm-teles...CNC-II-862.html

Here's a 20":

http://www.apm-teles...0/6500-CNC.html

Gosh, who buys these things?? NASA?

[Macavity]

It's almost always for imaging. This one, however, will be sweep the sky visually...at least for now.

If you didn't follow the link from the TS site, before you bought it, some of these images were done with the 152/900 Achromat. You'd hardy complain, would you?

http://www.skytoa.it/galassie_m31.html

Plan to renovate my much-drilled ST102 OTA - "Carbon-Fibre" sticky back? New focusser, even?

But, given the price of APO refractors, getting the most out of Achromats seems interesting...

[emadmoussa]

If you didn't follow the link from the TS site, before you bought it, some of these images were done with the 152/900 Achromat. You'd hardy complain, would you?

http://www.skytoa.it/galassie_m31.html

Plan to renovate my much-drilled ST102 OTA - "Carbon-Fibre" sticky back? New focusser, even?

But, given the price of APO refractors, getting the most out of Achromats seems interesting...

I know I wouldn't complain...and I know I'm saying I got it for visual, but before you know there will be a camera attached to it.

[emadmoussa]

*** FIRST LIGHT REPORT***

Last night I had the chance to try the TS 152/900mm and in nutshell it did better than I expected.

I just mounted on the NEQ6 without any finder scopes. I wanted to sweep the sky randomly and check what this telescope was capable of. Despite the fact the sky wasn't really dark around 9pm, kind of blue-ish twilight, the scope was still able to bring out many of the faint stars. I was using the Skywatcher 2" 28mm eyepiece that came with the 80ED, which is by the way a comfortable eyepiece to look into, but not the best. It gave me seagulls on the AFOV edges. I have to admit I've always been a 1.25" EPs guy, and this is my first time with extensive use of a 2" one. I'm afraid it did it for me, and now I'm thinking why on earth have I ever used the 1.25" EPs at all.? Anyway, I'm receiving 2 wide filed fat eyepieces this week..knock wood!

So, my first test was CA. I had to hold my breath. Pointed the telescope at Jupiter and was blown away. No visible CA at all. Well, it's low magnification, but with normal f/5 achros CA shows even at this level of magnification. Moved to the Gemini stars...sharp and crisp, and no hint of CA.

I don't have many other scopes to compare with, but I can compare it with my late SW 200P. While the 200P was an excellent telescope for planetary and even to some extent deep sky, the TS Individual beat it in deep sky observation. The TS showed very crisp CLEAN, sharp stars and brought out little details I couldn't see in the 200P. Image quality is superb by all means.

Even though the TS Individual is at least 3kg heavier than the 200P, it was easier to handle and mount. And by all means, way more comfortable to use for visual. You just sit down, rotate the eyepiece in your direction, relax and space walk!

It was a short night, and I'm pleased with the results. Will keep you updated once I've done a proper extended session with defined objectives.

[Naemeth]

Nice first light report, but do remember the scope is actually F/5.92, so that will have helped control CA somewhat . A very good test of CA control is the Moon, even better than Jupiter to test the capabilities of the scope, but it sounds like you had fun .

[emadmoussa]

Nice first light report, but do remember the scope is actually F/5.92, so that will have helped control CA somewhat . A very good test of CA control is the Moon, even better than Jupiter to test the capabilities of the scope, but it sounds like you had fun .

True, I'm holding my breath till I can view the moon in a couple of week maybe. And yes, it's designed to put CA under control...f/5.9

[Naemeth]

True, I'm holding my breath till I can view the moon in a couple of week maybe. And yes, it's designed to put CA under control...f/5.9

I guess the real test will be imaging, but I'm sure you can get good results from an achromat, they just might need a bit more processing time.

[emadmoussa]

I guess the real test will be imaging, but I'm sure you can get good results from an achromat, they just might need a bit more processing time.

I usually use the 80ED for imaging, but I'm very interested to use the TS Individual for very high magnification imaging of the moon

[Naemeth]

There's nothing wrong with trying out the TS152 for DS imaging too, as it has a slightly longer FL you'll get a slightly closer view, and at F/5.92 native it's slow but not that slow. The FL probably isn't quite long enough for Planets, but you could give that a go too, along with the Moon.

[emadmoussa]

There's nothing wrong with trying out the TS152 for DS imaging too, as it has a slightly longer FL you'll get a slightly closer view, and at F/5.92 native it's slow but not that slow. The FL probably isn't quite long enough for Planets, but you could give that a go too, along with the Moon.

Yep, indeed, why not?!