Bresser (Meade) AR-152L (AR6) 1200mm f7.9 Review (part1)

[sbooder]

I will start by informing you that this is my first refractor that has not been a birding scope so I have no other experience to compare it to other than my knowledge of reflectors.

I bought this scope for three reasons, 1, I have wanted a 6" frac since I was a young boy that first looked through my Uncle's one and saw Saturn. 2, I want to spend more time on the Moon, not that a Newt can't deal with the Moon because of course it can but like many of us we have heard that a frac is better for Luna and Planetary observing, which is why my third reason seemed a good time to test this theory...3, it was going very cheap!

It arrived in good time and well packaged in a double box and supporting foam half supports both top & bottom. It comes supplied with an 8x50 finder scope, hinged one piece scope ring with Vixen style dovetail, 1.25" star diagonal, and a 26mm Plossl.  In addition you get a Planisphere, a CD (with Stellarium and User Guide) and a printed User Guide.

The optics were sparklingly clean and from what I can tell so far well aligned, although trying to do a star test in either Southern England or Northern France has yet to yield the sort of out of focus concentric ringed image all the tutorials show.

I am sure at some point I will have to collimate this scope which again will be a completely new experience for me, but the objective on the scope come provided with a very extensive set of collimating screws and hex bolts and can be adjusted in both angle and up & down directions. The only weak point in the train of collimation I can see is the all too familiar focuser flop as this scope comes with a R&P focuser, the ability to change is limited (I will get to this later).

After humping the SW 10" Newt onto the mount every session, the AR-152L is light by comparison, at 11.1kg it comes in at a good 3kg lighter than the 254mm PDS which is 14.7kg, which makes mounting it a much less huff & puff affair, which is a good thing when you consider the differences in setup.

Talking of setup.  Having to use the full extent of my EQ6's legs has been a first for me and the tripod, which up until now have never shown more than an immodest ankle while levelling the mount.  Having used the frac twice I am now wishing that the tripod had further to hoist its outer garments and give me some more height, it is a new experience for me having to sit at the EP.  And the scope being much lighter than the newt is very welcome when having to lift that high up.

Now to performance.  My first object during both sessions has been the Moon, the first session being armed only with my poor EP selection the second introducing my new Baader Hyperion 8mm (Mmm!..Hyperion), and the second session also having the flocked dew shield and blocking ring I made to hide the big shiny collimating bolts Meade in their wisdom decided would look good placed right next to and above the objective lens.

I will forget the first session really as it was no more that a test and the seeing was poor.  But the Moon on the second session was sensational, probably the best views of the moon I have had and I still could have pushed it further but for the fact I am still waiting for my new 2" diagonal to arrive and was unable to use my 2" ED 2x Barlow so 8mm it was.  I did however rig up my new 2" Semi-Apo filter to the Hyperion by putting it between the first and second set of elements of the EP.  On the Moon this worked wonderfully, I was expecting to see an overall cast from the filter that some reviews had mentioned, but not a bit of it, and as I want to get to grips with the Moon over the next couple of years I am going to enjoy this combination quite a bit.

As there is no terminator on the moon at the moment (it being 98% of full: 14/02/2014) I spent my time on the edge and went all the way round...boy it was good, if not a little bright, but when my variable filters arrive along with the diagonal I will see if they can be used in combination with the Semi-Apo.

Next Jupiter. Despite Jupiter being high at the moment the seeing has not been all that good. But last night was better than the first session so I was happyish with it.  But this is where I really wanted to go back to the Newt!  Not because of the image, that was pretty good, but for the Crayford.  The R&P on this is OK but is hard to bring to fine focus and has convinced me that a Crayford dual speed will be my next purchase (when funds will allow).

The overall image of Jupiter was good but there is a lot of colour fringing, pretty much a mauve halo, but the funny thing was I got used to it very quickly and did not IMO prove to be a hindrance, I did not bother with the Semi-Apo at this point as I was not convinced that with such poor seeing it would have improved the view and if not diminished it. But there were moments of clarity as on any night and when I got them the detail was stunning, I definitely (in those moments) got more surface contrast and colour than I get from the Newt.

Last object of the night M45 (Pleiades).  All the stars in the Pleiades were pin sharp and a sight to behold but as ever I am plagued by magnification, I long for them to be in their entirety in the EP but I can never go low enough (a question to you all here, is it possible with this size of scope and what is the realistic bottom end of mag?).

Overall I like this scope and once the focuser is replace it will be a remarkable scope for the price, which was £295, on special offer from Amazon France.  Would I recommend it? Without hesitation.

In part two of the review I hope to bring you its performance on DSOs...When skies allow!

[emadmoussa]

Good write up, Simon. And as expected you went ahead and flocked something

These are becoming popular refractors. LIke you say, one down side is the single speed focuser.

[sbooder]

Good write up, Simon. And as expected you went ahead and flocked something

These are becoming popular refractors. LIke you say, one down side is the single speed focuser.

Yes the focuser is a concern.  I will have two options when it comes time to upgrade, 1 is the Baader SteelTrack or the MooNlite CF 2" as both can be bought with a flange adapter to fit this scope.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Glad you like the new scope. I note you do have a 2" focuser, but what looks like a 1.25" diagonal. Adding a 2" diagonal opens up the possibility of using 2" EPs, which should give very nice wide field views. A 40mm Aero (clone of the 40mm TMB Paragon I had) would give an exit pupil of about 5mm, and a magnification of just 30x, thus a true field of view of 2.27 deg, which should be AWESOME on objects like M31, M33, the Pleiades, and similar large objects. On many of those object, chromatic aberration is hardly a concern

[sbooder]

Glad you like the new scope. I note you do have a 2" focuser, but what looks like a 1.25" diagonal. Adding a 2" diagonal opens up the possibility of using 2" EPs, which should give very nice wide field views. A 40mm Aero (clone of the 40mm TMB Paragon I had) would give an exit pupil of about 5mm, and a magnification of just 30x, thus a true field of view of 2.27 deg, which should be AWESOME on objects like M31, M33, the Pleiades, and similar large objects. On many of those object, chromatic aberration is hardly a concern

Yes, I can't wait for my 2" diagonal to arrive!

[emadmoussa]

Yes, I can't wait for my 2" diagonal to arrive!

I don't understand why bother with the 1.25" diagonal anyway! Only downside of 2" diagonal is the extra weight...but hey, it's not a light telescope anyway and won't make much difference.

[sbooder]

I don't understand why bother with the 1.25" diagonal anyway! Only downside of 2" diagonal is the extra weight...but hey, it's not a light telescope anyway and won't make much difference.

I think it is down to cost and the fact that at this price they consider the people who will buy it will only have 1.2" EPs anyway, if you have a lot of money you are going to buy an Apo, but with the 2" focuser it gives the buyer the option to upgrade when affordable?

[John]

Nice review SImon 

Apart from the colour scheme, the scope looks just like my old Meade AR6 LXD75, focuser included. 

Those nuts they hold the objective cell to the main tube with are annoying as they project into the light path. I reversed the ones on mine so that the nut was on the outside of the tube and that reduced the intrusion inside the tube significantly.

You can check the collimation of these with i) a laser for the focuser tilt and ii) a cheshire for the objective tilt. It needs to be done in that order though.

If it star tests OK though then it's probably fine. 

To see the whole of the Pleiades cluster I think you will need to bit the bullet and get a 2" eyepiece and diagonal. Fortunately the focal ratio of the scope is not too hard on eyepieces so something like a Panaview 38mm would be great 

[sbooder]

To see the whole of the Pleiades cluster I think you will need to bit the bullet and get a 2" eyepiece and diagonal. Fortunately the focal ratio of the scope is not too hard on eyepieces so something like a Panaview 38mm would be great 

Yep, the 2" diagonal is on order from FLO.  I will have to get a 40mm 2" at some point.  I have a 40mm 1.25" but it is chap and nasty.

[Seafury]

my Bresser 127L came with a 2 inch diagonal

[sbooder]

my Bresser 127L came with a 2 inch diagonal

I know, it's mad.  Even on Amazon France the 127 comes with a 2" diagonal.  But the 152 doesn't.

[sbooder]

Should have some photos soon of the flange my uncle is turning for me to fit a Duel Speed Crayford off of an SW Newt.  He has turned it out of an old dumbbell weight, which is good because I wanted more weight at the focuser end as this scope is so top heavy he thinks the weight will end up about 0.80kg.  I pick the scope up at xmas but should have some photos by the end of the week.

[nicoscy]

Yes the focuser is a concern.  I will have two options when it comes time to upgrade, 1 is the Baader SteelTrack or the MooNlite CF 2" as both can be bought with a flange adapter to fit this scope.

Nive review and one long telescope!!!

The Baader Steeltrack is not available any more. However Baader makes the steeltrack as as an OEM and it is rebranded by others. I use this version from Teleskop Service. Highly recommended.

[sbooder]

Thanks Nicos,

                           I am not worried now about buying an expensive focuser to replace the R&P that is on the scope as my flange to fit the SW focuser to the scope is now finished and just waiting to be picked up at xmas.

[nicoscy]

Thanks Nicos,

                           I am not worried now about buying an expensive focuser to replace the R&P that is on the scope as my flange to fit the SW focuser to the scope is now finished and just waiting to be picked up at xmas.

Simon,

If you work the existing focuser (use tiny hex keys to tweak it) and maybe change the lubricant it comes lathered in, it should be quite good actually. I do that with all my focusers and it does make a difference.

A little TLC will get you a long way with a focuser 

[sbooder]

Simon,

If you work the existing focuser (use tiny hex keys to tweak it) and maybe change the lubricant it comes lathered in, it should be quite good actually. I do that with all my focusers and it does make a difference.

A little TLC will get you a long way with a focuser 

Done all that.  But with so few viewing nights, one has to live in the land of mods!

[sbooder]

As promised (although a little late) here are some photos of the finished flange.  Just need to spray it with some hammerite black to keep it in good nick.

[spaceboy]

That's an awful lot of focus travel your going to loose there Simon. I like the idea of using a dumbbell though as it sure will save wearing out the knees in your jeans.

[sbooder]

That's an awful lot of focus travel your going to loose there Simon. I like the idea of using a dumbbell though as it sure will save wearing out the knees in your jeans.

Yep. it should give the extra weight I wanted to push the scope up the rings a bit more, it really was objective heavy.  I have heard that the Mead ones have weights in the R&P focuser but the Bresser one does not.

Regarding the travel, we have managed to modernise the tube from the R&P focuser.  The rack has been replaced with a plain metal strip about 2mm deep, this is because the tube is a little narrower than the Crayford tube.

I will report on when my Uncle tests it.

[Tris707]

This is the scope I am looking for but how did you get it so cheap??? Every time I look for one now they are more like £600! 

Any suggestions on where to buy one? I would consider second hand. 

Thanks! 

[John]

This is the scope I am looking for but how did you get it so cheap??? Every time I look for one now they are more like £600! 

Any suggestions on where to buy one? I would consider second hand. 

Thanks! 

Keep an eye on the UK Astro Buy & Sell website:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

You can place a "wanted" advert there for nothing.

Bear in mind that the scope reported on here was purchased as just an optical tube (ie: no mount).

[Ju Piter]

This is the scope I am looking for but how did you get it so cheap??? Every time I look for one now they are more like £600! 

Any suggestions on where to buy one? I would consider second hand. 

Thanks! =

£419 at telescope house which is bresser uk

sold out lol