Long Perng 60mm f7 triplet . Might just be the first one here ?

[Brian Nordstrom]

Hi all , I am not sure if anyone has reviewed one of these scopes yet , its a Long Perng 60mm f7 triplet .

This is the same scope that Altair Astro's and TS house sell except I got mine from the local LP suppliers here in OZ for $499 delivered , it arrived in 6 days not to bad .

Ok the scope (as pictured) is  black anodized alloy , very nice but it shows finger prints easily , but it came with a cleaning rag thankfully .  , not the white of AA's or TS , same optics and hardware .

On that it is very , very well made , fit and finish is top rate from the 360* rotating 11/1 Crayford focuser thru the tube and finially the beautiful triplet FPL53 optics , very nice solid little scope ( see photos on how small it really is , My SKY 90 dwarfs it ! ) that screams 'Quality' !!! , very nice I just want to cuddle it   .

It is a bit strange in is that it has a M50x1mm threaded visual back , like a SCT , its not a problem as I suppose the scope is aimed at the AP crowd , I think it would make a great telephoto for prime focal AP ( see photos )

One more thing , the dew shield cover is solid alloy , just like the sky90;s a nice touch of class ( see photo ).

Some here may remember I had a Takahashi FS60C and Zeiss 62mm Telementor ll , the best 60mm scopes on the planet , I would say and missing the ease of use the Tak especially I have been craving another quality small 60mm class refractor , so grabbed this one . I am not disappointed one bit with the build , world class , nice .

How does it perform ? , I had it out last night for 1st light on my Vixen SP mount mounted side by side with my Takahashi SKY90 , (see photos) so it had a bit of a disadvantage straight up   .

Ok 1st target using my 24mm TV Panoptic giving 17.5 x was the moon , WOAW!! so bright and sharp ! huge field with plenty of stars seen close to the moon , a testament to the well placed and executed baffles .

On to a star test , using my 3mm TV Radian giving 140x ( 54 x per inch) using Beta Centarui at 1st Mag as the star I was greeted with a perfectly white ( ZERO CA ) perfect aeiry disc with one faint diffraction ring around ,, very beautiful as I had forgotten how well a quality 60mm scope shows stars .

Turning the focus out about 8 rings and in the same I was shown perfectly symmetrical rings with a slightly wider outer ring on the in focus side , showing very slight 'Over ' correction at about 1/5-1/6th wave going by Sutier's book nice optics , I could not detect any zones , all in all a very nice well corrected triplet , I am impressed .  .

Saturn at 100x was super sharp and bright , but at 120-140x the image was still sharp but notably dimmer ,, only 60mm don't forget , cassine;s division was easy at these magnifications as well as the darker markings on the globe , all in all a very good image , I would ( from Memory) say it has at least 95%of the Takahashi FS60C's performance , not bad for under 1/4 the price , good stuff and the Chinese have come a long way in the last 5-10 years , good for us .  .

On to Mars , it was small Rugby ball shaped and showed a polar cap , one thing was is that it did not dim at 140x like Saturn did ? but stayed bright with ZERO CA seen , and Mars is a hard planet on any scope as it shows CA easily , but this little beauty is clean , Impressive .

I tried Alpha Centauri ( a nice 1st mag = double ) and at 140x was a beautiful sight , 2 perfect aeiry discs with dark sky between  surrounded by 2 touching faint rings , beautiful , as was Alpha Crux a 2nd magnitude unequal triple , at 140x was very good as well .

Also attached is the best moon shot and Mars , both taken hi-tech ? using my Nokia 1020 phone hand held over the eyepieces ..   note the lack of CA .

The one negative so far is this ,,, all tho I like the really nice gloss black anodised finish ,,, its a wicked 'FINGER PRINT MAGNET !!! , they show up so easily ,, at least there is a cleaning rag in the case .   .

So first light went very well , I like this little scope and would not hesitate telling a friend to grab one , enjoy the photos and please ask as many questions as you want  , I will try and answer them truthfully .

Brian.

[Brian Nordstrom]

A few more photos , I really like this little scope , 2nd light tonight I think .

Its kinda like reverse 'Aperture Fever' , quite strange actually .

Brian.

[Stu]

Very nice looking scope Brian. Have just scan read your post at the moment, will have a proper read through later.

I know all about reverse aperture fever, small fracs are great, aren't they :-)

Stu

[Brian Nordstrom]

Sure are Stu , they are real scopes .

Brian.

[Brian Nordstrom]

Here is the set up taken 5 minutes ago 2nd light tonight , out side ready for a nights viewing , and a couple of shots of the moon taken just now , as always my Nokia 1020 phone , hand held over a TV Radian 10mm giving 42x its still daylight.

Brian.

[Brian Nordstrom]

waiting for the dew to evaporate , man this is s nice little refractor .

I have been reading my starting posts and see I mentioned the Moon at 17x being BRIGHT ! well here it is 17X

Brian.

[Stu_2011]

Hi

I have the Altair one, very nice indeed and it seems well made. Had for about a year now.

Picture side by side with the Altair 6" RC, also a lovely scope.

.

I have noticed that over the summer one of the glass elements (I think it's the central ED one) that the coating has gone very slightly hazy, just at the edge and only about 5 mm into the lens. It was kept in a desiccated peli case so it has been kept dry. It's not a problem and I'm sure I'm being over picky but will keep watching it and see if it gets any worse. I might contact Altair and see what they think.

Great wide field crisp image scope.

Thanks

[teleskopjo]

Had the impression (afaik) that LP only make doublets.. not triplets

[nicoscy]

The Altair 60mm is a FPL-51 triplet. Still is colour free but just clarifying the glass type.

[Brian Nordstrom]

Thanks guys , I have checked with Long Perng and they say this is a FPL53 triplet .

By the way the Altair 60mm is s nice looking scope.

I seem to have posted this in triplicate , Mods please delete the next 2 replies , thanks.

Brian.

[Brian Nordstrom]

Thanks guys , I have checked with Long Perng and they say this is a FPL53 triplet .

Brian.

[Brian Nordstrom]

Thanks guys , I have checked with Long Perng and they say this is a FPL53 triplet .

Brian.

[Brian Nordstrom]

Update ,

I have since grabbed a WO red dot finder , a simply put very solid and well made 4 rectule finder , a sweet finder and I grabbed a cheap 70mm refractor on this strange alt/az mount that I made the counter weight system so it balances out better , and is very easy to use , I am impressed with this set up .

Here it is in white light solar mode with my Lunt Hershell wedge attached , this works excellently as a solar scope .

Remarks most welcome and enjoy .

Brian.