Should I buy a 'frac?

[wavydavy]

I have a SCT several newts, and a refractor, the refractor gathers dust, id only use mine for a guide scope really.

[ollypenrice]

I have a SCT several newts, and a refractor, the refractor gathers dust, id only use mine for a guide scope really.

People have been banned for less!!!!!       

Olly

[harry page]

I have a SCT several newts, and a refractor, the refractor gathers dust, id only use mine for a guide scope really.

Well that makes 2 of us

Harry

[kerrylewis]

The answer to the original question is 'Yes - of course' Then you will have one more scope than you have now. What other reason do you need?!

[Chris]

Reasons for enhancing your collection by adding a frac:

1) portable grab and go

2) pin sharp stars

3) Really nice contrast! (I remember being wowed by the rich belts of Jupiter through a simple ED80 even)

4) FOV = BIG with a short Apo

5) They look great (well I think so at least)

6) You know you want to spend your money

Not that I'm anti Newtonian or SCT by any means, they all have there purpose and character

Chris

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Fracs are more easily adapted to solar (either with a Herschel wedge or with a Daystar Quark)

Well, that's one of my excuses

[mikeyscope]

I have a SCT several newts, and a refractor, the refractor gathers dust, id only use mine for a guide scope really.

[DRT]

The balance of opinion seems to be "yes".

Would I be completely stupid to start with a Skywatcher Startravel 102T (or 120T?) OTA piggy-backed on my CPC?

I'm not in any particular need for a grab-n-go and don't really want something I have to nudge instead of letting it follow what I am looking at. Another tripod would just take up space I don't have.

[Chris]

Theres a nice celestron ED80 for sale in the classified section ( no affiliation), I've owned one of these in the past and they punch well above there weight and have virtually no CA. Out of the two that your suggest I would go for the ST102 as it will have less CA and will be easier to piggy back.

Chris

[Stu]

The balance of opinion seems to be "yes".

Would I be completely stupid to start with a Skywatcher Startravel 102T (or 120T?) OTA piggy-backed on my CPC?

I'm not in any particular need for a grab-n-go and don't really want something I have to nudge instead of letting it follow what I am looking at. Another tripod would just take up space I don't have.

I would tend to go with a smallish apo. An achro may frustrate with CA, but a lovely little apo would show all of the benefits (and differences) a frac has to offer; pin sharp stars, lovely contrast, a wide field if you want, and also very nice double star performance.

The previously mentioned 80ED would be very nice.

Stu

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cutepetgroomer]

I own two refractors, different aperture sizes and focal lengths. I can say this. If you want a refractor scope, go for it. different scopes proved different views and I use my iphone for images. 

[YKSE]

How bad will CA affect the view when doing wide field?

I know in theory that a short achro will show lots of CA on bright planets and stars, how is it when using for wide field, e.g. Veil nebula? comparing an 80ED to a ST120.

I've never looked through an achro, hence the question.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

How bad will CA affect the view when doing wide field?

I know in theory that a short achro will show lots of CA on bright planets and stars, how is it when using for wide field, e.g. Veil nebula? comparing an 80ED to a ST120.

I've never looked through an achro, hence the question.

you answered your question yourself

there will be CA on bright objects in likes of planetary and stars,mainly planetary,but then again if CA is something you cant live with,there are numerous filters available what will do a good job of reducing the CA.There will be NO CA on nebulae or galaxies as these are not that bright.other option is to get a long focal length frac:F12-15 achro will show virtually no CA on anything or very minimal on very bright objects in likes of jupiter,moon etc.Or a well corrected APO even with short F ratio will show minimal CA.Obviously there is a price difference between achro and APO.

CA doesnt bother me in my F14.4  frack and it is primarily used on doubles,planets,solar and not for DSO`s.No filters are used.

[DRT]

I decided to jump in at the shallow end with a second hand Skywatcher Evostar 120 OTA that I found on Astro Buy & Sell.

I need to buy a proper mount but for now it is sitting on the Celestron AstroMaster tripod I bought for my 70mm Travel Scope. Not ideal, but it will at least allow me to point it at the sky until I find a suitable mount.

It is much larger than I thought it would be and looks like a serious piece of kit.

Sorry about the weather, buying two new scopes in a week seems to have angered the gods

[Jim Steele]

Nice looking scope, sure youll have some good views with it.

Welcome to the Frac club

[John]

The Evostar 120's are nice scopes 

It's definitely going to need a stronger and taller mount though. These longer tube achro refractors can be quite demanding with regard to mounting requirements, not so much because of their weight but because of the tube length and the position of the eyepiece at the bottom end of it. 

Hope you have some fun with it. Looking at your other scopes, you may find the views of binary stars through the 120 refractor more satisfying than the larger aperture ones can deliver.

[DRT]

It's definitely going to need a stronger and taller mount though.

I can also do this...

Again, not ideal, but gives me the option of comparing the view through both scopes and also gives me the advantage of being able to use the Goto and tracking of the CPC when using the Evostar.

I want to see how I get on with it before deciding which dedicated mount to buy. It looks like a bit of a minefield out there!