Refractor Madness

[John]

I just could not resist

It's an Istar Perseus 150mm F/12. I must be nuts ......

[southernman]

WOW!! :-)

[wxsatuser]

Seems a sane thing to do. :icon_salut:

[nightfisher]

John,

that looks a really nice refractor, i looked at the same model at Peak star party (and nearly bought one!) would that be a Crawmach focuser on it?

I wish you some superb views with it, and await your first light reports

[chiltonstar]

A nice looking scope...........time will tell how it performs when faced with a difficult split!

Chris

[Mark at Beaufort]

John it was interesting to discuss this telescope when we met a few weeks back and the likely mount that you were going to use. It looks very good on the mount with the extension pillar and SkyTee 2. As Chris (chiltonstar) stated above it is going to be interesting how it performs on tight doubles but I guess it will wonderful on Jupiter over the coming winter months.

You realise that you now have to bring both this frac and your Orion 12" to SGL9 next year.

Mark

[JamesF]

What a monster! Looks lovely though

James

[YKSE]

Great scope! John.

Have you got a new agreement with your better half or some scope in your sig will move to loft?

[Naemeth]

Lovely scope, quite long though .

I suppose you couldn't really get away with saying it's a finder .

[Rustysplit]

Nice one John. Does this satisfy your itch for a long focus 'frac?? Bet you can't wait for Jupiter to climb up a bit at a reasonable hour?

[JamesF]

Lovely scope, quite long though .

I suppose you couldn't really get away with saying it's a finder .

Quite a few other telescopes would look quite appropriate as a finder for it, however

James

[John]

Thanks for the feedback and questions folks

@ Jules: It's the USA made Istar Crayford. Not quite in the Moonlite league but very solidly made.

@ Chris: First light saw Pi Aquillae split quite easily. Second light and I managed Lambda Cygni. The lens seems good

@ Mark: The Skytee II may not be the final mounting solution - it needs / deserves something stouter still. Possibly a Bray Tablet on a big ash tripod. I may have to flip a coin over what comes to SGL9, or make 2 trips !

@ Yong: Sort of - I've convinced her it's an investment plus it will get me fitter

@ Alan: It's definitely more than enough scope. I decided against an F/15 as it simply would not fit in my Volvo Estate

@ James: I had my 4" Vixen as the finder (on the other Skytee saddle) during 1st light:

[Stargazer_00]

Awesome looking scope Can't wait to see how it performs, I assume you'll do a review?

With regards to using carrying the scope being classed as exercise to the other half, I used that one on my wife when I upgraded my dob! I said, it's much heavier so I'll get good exercise moving it around!

[John]

I will post reviews of the scope as my experience with it grows, assuming I don't get a hernia

The scope is built to a standard that is very reminiscent of the Intes MN61 Mak-Newtonian that I used to have but with a bit more polished CNC here and there. Rather like the Intes, Intes Micro and TAL scopes, it's if anything, slightly over-engineered.

It's going to be a challenge as well as (hopefully) a pleasure to use but the initial optical performance on binary stars and a brief session on the Moon have been very promising, albeit that a scope this length is not immune from vibrations mounted as it currently is.

The OTA weighs just a bit less than my 12" F/5.3 Orion Optics tube does so it's manageable. The difference being that hitting the OO on something results in a dent in the scope whereas the Istar would dent / damage anything that it contacts, including me !

[Stargazer_00]

Being matt black sure will make it an obstacle on a dark night

[John]

Being matt black sure will make it an obstacle on a dark night

Yep - "Duck or Grouse !"

[paulastro]

Lovely scope. I couldn't resist it either, and bought the f10 version, used from Peak2Valley at a bargain price. I knew the size of the scope and thought it would be a tight fit inside the observatory before I bought it. Alas I was right! I couldn't manouvre it inside the observatory and it's too big for me to carry it out and up the steep steps to observe from outside my observatory. I'm having withdrawal symptoms knowing that I have to part with it, Even worse though, I now realise that I need an f8, and as I wouldn't want a 6" f8 achromat it will have to probably be an apo, with all the additional expense! Where will this refractor madness end?!

[ollypenrice]

Anyone with a heart would find that irresistible. Such a shedload of character as well as performance. A six inch refractor is ... a telescope!

Olly

[Moonshane]

even I have to admit that looks a cracking buy John. if it weighs the same as the dob, that surely must give you an idea for balancing the mount? :0))

if I can manage to bring my 6" f11 dob to SGL9 we could have a compare? I am always interested in such comparisons but they don't often present themselves.

[John]

even I have to admit that looks a cracking buy John. if it weighs the same as the dob, that surely must give you an idea for balancing the mount? :0))

if I can manage to bring my 6" f11 dob to SGL9 we could have a compare? I am always interested in such comparisons but they don't often present themselves.

A Kriege & Berry type DIY alt-azimuth is a possibility Shane. A comparison sounds fun too

[estwing]

what a lovely lookin Frac John...congrats and hoping it gives years of great views

[steppenwolf]

I had one of these in my possession for a month for review and I was very sorry to see it go - too big for my observatory but what a fabulous instrument. Lovely contrasty views and I recall that Albireo was one of the finest sights I saw through it.

I don't think you will be disappointed, John!

[John]

Lovely scope. I couldn't resist it either, and bought the f10 version, used from Peak2Valley at a bargain price. I knew the size of the scope and thought it would be a tight fit inside the observatory before I bought it. Alas I was right! I couldn't manouvre it inside the observatory and it's too big for me to carry it out and up the steep steps to observe from outside my observatory. I'm having withdrawal symptoms knowing that I have to part with it, Even worse though, I now realise that I need an f8, and as I wouldn't want a 6" f8 achromat it will have to probably be an apo, with all the additional expense! Where will this refractor madness end?!

I saw that the F/10 was back up for sale Paul - bad luck that it didn't fit

There was a 150mm F/8 R30 anastigmatic as part of the same sale and that would have made sense for you, having CA levels of somewhere around an F/10.5. That got snapped up really quickly though. I wonder who bought the P2V 150 F/15 ?

[John]

I had one of these in my possession for a month for review and I was very sorry to see it go - too big for my observatory but what a fabulous instrument. Lovely contrasty views and I recall that Albireo was one of the finest sights I saw through it.

I don't think you will be disappointed, John!

Thanks Steve - I've read your review and it helped confirm my interest as well as ensure that I've gone into the project with my "eyes open"

As it happens I did get a view of Albireo through mine on it's 2nd light and what a fabulous sight it was. The star colours were superbly strong and contrasty against really black space. Just how you want a refractor to deliver it

[nightfisher]

If i ever win the lotto, i would have an obsy with a big Istar frac on a custom mount, i keep dreaming, till then i will make do with my 180 mak. Having owned the "spirit" Antares f15, my days of super long under mounted fracs are over