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Which Refractor?


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Hi All,

I'm a newcomer both to this site and to astronomy in general and hope you can help out with some equipment selection. After a lifetime of gazing longingly at the stars wondering what was out there, some 12 months ago I bought my first telescope; a 6 inch Bushnell on a Dobsonian mount. This was relatively inexpensive and has managed to annoy the wife because she thinks it takes up to much room in the house(!) Despite my viewing time being severely limited over the past year, (and by ignoring comments on the ungainliness of the Bushnell), my first glimpse of the moon through the dob was enough to get me hooked. I have now decided to purchase a small refractor - one which I hope will be a keeper without breaking the bank. I have a budget of £400 and have shortlisted 3 telescopes: (1) Skywatcher Equinox 80, (2) William Optics Zenithstar II 80, (3) William Optics Megrez 72. I would like to use this as a grab and go scope and hopefully at some point attach my Nikon D70 to it for some astro photography. It is likely to be the only refractor I will be purchasing for a while. The Equinox seems to have had some very good reviews - particulary from the Sky at Night Magazine, but William Optics appear to have an excellent reputation. The only concern I have about the Megrez 72 is that it's aperture is 8mm less than the other two and this may restrict it's "application" - relatively speaking. I would really apprciate any advise on which of these scopes to go for. Cheers!

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Hi - welcome to SGL :D

I posted the following in response to a similar question on refractors recently - it might be of interest to you if you are interested in getting a ready mounted scope for your budget:

"In the Telescope House clearence section:

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/copy_of_Clearance.html

about 2/3 rds of the way down they have an Orion ED80 on a Skyview Pro mount for £399. That is a nice combination and would be pretty stable and give you the potential to add motor drives for astro photography later on. The Orion ED80 is the same scope as the Skywatcher ED80 but in dark gunmetal grey colour and the Skyview Pro mount is about the same as a Skywatcher EQ5 or a Celestron CG-5. Telescope House have a pretty good reputation."

The Orion ED80 will be optically the equal of the scopes that you list IMHO and on a decent eq mount to boot. :rolleyes:. Granted it might not be quite "grab and go" enough depending on your definition of that !

Aside from that suggestion, I would go for aperture every time - 72mm is to small for much useful visual stuff IMHO so it would have to be one of the 80mm's for me.

John

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All three of the scopes you have selected are great scopes.

But I have to ask a question, how are you going to mount the scope? None of the scopes you mention come with a mount.

Welcome to SGL :D

Ant

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Hi Tom

I think that either of the 80mm scopes would serve you very well indeed.

I think you'll you'' find that the WO and Skywatcher come from the same manufacturer, the Synta Optical Company in China, as do several other 80mm refractors, sold under different brand names.

I general the WO has had the better paint finish, and a better fucuser. However, the new Skywatcher Equinox is now in the 'same league.

An 80mm ED Refractor is a great wide-field scope, and if you ever venture in CCD imaging, its capable of producing some excellent results.

Dave

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Many thanks for the responses so far guys I appreciate them - especially as at the moment I am swaying towards the megrez 72. But as has been stated 'aperture appears to be king' - especially if the optical quality of the competition is on the same plane.

In relation to a mount I have already got that sorted would you believe? I have purchased a Giro Mini from Telescope Services which I have mounted on my manfrotto camera tripod. If this doesn't appear to be robust enough I will upgrade the tripod base.

I am only after an OTA at the moment because I have been busy on the 'accessories' front. A Moonfish 2" dialelectric has found it's way to me and a red dot finder is on the cards, (but that may be another post!). I have also acquried a 20mm Televu Plossl, and 40mm and 30mm, (or was it 32mm?) Meade Super Plossls - all from Ebay. I will also be hunting for a couple of planetary eyepieces as well at some point. Hmmm and the Moonfish 2" 30mm and 15mm ultrawides look very nice!

Unfortunately as you can no doubt guess the mass of shiny things available with the wonderful world of astronomy appears to have got me hooked! All I need now is the refractor! :D)

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Thanks Ian. As I was erring towards the Megrez with the Equinox in close second, the common denominator between us gives it to the Megrez. The Equinox does have some very good reviews though - but if I thought the optical quality of the Megrez, (and it's portability), could make up the additional 8mm of aperture then I think I would very likely go for it. I is particularly "nice and shiny!"

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..... ended up purchasing the Megrez 90. Can't wait!

Tom (a currently happy bunny!)

Excellent choice Tom - you will love that scope. I currently have a Megrez 90 on loan/for testing and its going to be very very hard to give it back to its owner, even though I have an ED100 of my own. :?

James

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just as an update I still haven't received the Megrez 90 from Steve yet as there was a delay in the shipment. However it is expected within the next couple of days. I have really truly dug myself a very deep hole with the wife now because even before the '90' has arrived, I've gone and ordered the Megrez 72 from Steve - to 'keep it company'. Still at least I'll save on the postage.

:D

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Don't worry - when my wife saw the Megrez 90 she was rather impressed and asked my why I hadn't bought a scope like that rather than my great big 10" Newt. The Megrez 90 does have an effect on anyone who sees one and I've no doubt the Megrez 72 will be the same.

James

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  • 3 years later...

Hi Tom,

Have just read your posts with interest as I had a similar dilemma to you in that I was looking for a small scope but of good quality. I bought the megrez 72 on saturday and have it attached on a very wobbly tripod that i had knocking around.

Im looking to get the giro mini mount aswell and wondered what manfrotto tripod you have as after 30minutes of viewing im frustrated with a wobbly scope.

many thanks and good luck with your two new scopes...

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