WO 1.25" erecting prism diagonal.

[cotterless45]

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/diagonals/william-optics-125-90-degree-erecting-prism.html

Just wonderfully engineered and first class quality. The helical focuser gives plenty of focussing range . It is very smooth, turn it by the rubberised knurl or use the ep to turn , secured in the compression ring.

I had been tinkering with the stock r&p focusers on my Vixens. Very much loathe to replace them as these scopes are of the age.

It is quite difficult to get ultra focussing on binaries and planets without a find Crayford or dual speed. This is not such an issue on deep sky targets. F10 is pretty easy to focus, but much easier to delicately rweK in the final details. This is especially so with faint binary companions.

The prism has hardly any effect on observing. We found the delicate B of Wasat probably easier with the prism. Similarly the challenging 39 Draconis, a real delicate little companion making this a neat triple.

With seeing varying so much , if can be a struggle to keep Jupiter focussed. The diagonal made this quite simple.

If you're stuck with a rough r&p or need a reasonable upgrade to keep a nice frac original, then I can really recommend this handy big of gear. Unlike fitting a whole new focuser, this diagonal can be moved to another scope .

Delivery and service from FLO , just excellent ,

Clear skies,

Nick.

[John]

Thats an interesting review Nick.

I've tried a few lower quality erecting prism diagonals in the past but found that they produced unwanted effects when used on astro targets. It sounds like the WO unit is of much higher quality than those.

I've recently put a (pre-owned) Moonlite 2-speed focuser on my Vixen ED102SS but I still have the original focuser and tube rings in their pale green livery in case I want to put the scope back to it's original look. At F/6.5 there is some advantage in having the dual speed focuser though.

[Moonshane]

Looks great Nick. How are eyepieces help secure?

[cotterless45]

Brass compression ring. Definitely worth getting if you're either stuck with a single speed r&p,

Nick.

[Mak the Night]

I find the helical focuser very useful on my Mak.

[ronl]

I have had mine for around 6 months, it is a well made and very precise piece of kit,

makes focusing my frac a doddle, I also use it for white light observing, it's a pleasure

to use.

[Peter Drew]

Just bought a couple myself for a 8" binoscope project, very nice quality.

[Stridor]

I followed your recommendation Nick and bought what looks like FLOs last one of these (for the moment anyway!); as you say, very nicely made.  I tried it out last night very briefly between clouds on the 22% moon ; my target was the small pair of impact craters Messier A & B;  the erecting prism was a joy to use........love it!

[jabeoo1]

I too just picked up one of these based on your review Nick, looking forward to seeing some normal orientation lunar views.  May confuse me to be honest.

[Mak the Night]

I had a second one imported from the States but it arrived with a loose and rattling prism. I couldn't fix the problem. I discovered that the thread holding the nosepiece and helical fitted standard Synta resin bodied Amici prisms.

[25585]

I have one on order with FLO. The helical focuser fine adjustment feature sold me.

[F15Rules]

On 09/02/2018 at 19:44, 25585 said:

I have one on order with FLO. The helical focuser fine adjustment feature sold me.

I tried to order one from FLO but got the "incoming" message. I'm hoping this means there will be some in stock again soon.

I use a Baader T2 prism with helical focusing eyepiece e holder set (about £105 from 365 Astronomy) on my Tak, but this isn't a RACI image of course, the view is "standard" upright but reversed. So I 'd like to compare the optical quality of the WO versus the known excellence of the Baader.

But if Nick says it's a good quality unit,I'm inclined to believe his extensive experience with doubles!??

Dave

[Paz]

I got one of these recently to upgrade from the sky watcher 90 degree raci diagonal. The Williams Optics diagonal is solidly built and I'm confident with it holding heavier eyepieces.  The helical focuser is smooth and solid and the compression ring is an upgrade from set screws that are on the sky watcher.

Indoor testing on a bright artificial star shows a thinner sharper line from the prism compared to the sky watcher and cleaner tighter image.

In the field my notes say it showed crisper views and there was no sign of the spike on polsris which is magnitude 2.

It's not quite as clean images as my dielectric mirror diagonal or tak prism but it still beats them for getting mist time in the eyepiece because I still struggle with flipped images.

 

[F15Rules]

10 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I tried to order one from FLO but got the "incoming" message. I'm hoping this means there will be some in stock again soon.

I think I've got one from RVO☺..

They seem to have it in stock, my order was accepted and payment processed, saying I should get it by Tuesday, in which case it will be a nice little birthday present to myself!

Unlike most corrected prisms, these do seem to get excellent reviews. I'm really looking forward to testing it?

Dave

 

[Alan White]

20 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I think I've got one from RVO☺..

They seem to have it in stock, my order was accepted and payment processed, saying I should get it by Tuesday, in which case it will be a nice little birthday present to myself!

Unlike most corrected prisms, these do seem to get excellent reviews. I'm really looking forward to testing it?

Dave

 

 

Good luck with that order Dave and Happy Birthday For tomorrow.

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Good luck with that order Dave and Happy Birthday For tomorrow.

Thanks Alan☺.

Sadly, I received an email from RVO just 30minutes ago stating:

"I'm afraid we had a stock discrepancy on our system and these prisms are not actually in stock. I can order them but it may take a few weeks now to arrive"..

This, after 3 emails confirming my order, receipt of payment and confirmation of delivery tomorrow (13th).

I am not impressed and have asked for a full refund.

I will await a notice from FLO when they have stock available and give them my business. At least with FLO it is clear at the point of ordering whether they have stock available or not!

Dave

[25585]

@FLO have some incoming, mine among them. They have a lead time of 10-15 days.

[iPeace]

2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I will await a notice from FLO when they have stock available and give them my business.

Can't imagine you regretting that course of action.

[25585]

RVO is a shop. I think their sales staff have to do online orders too. When I bought my ep from them last week, they replied to both phone call & email promptly & got the ep day after my call.

[iPeace]

9 minutes ago, 25585 said:

When I bought my ep from them last week, they replied to both phone call & email promptly & got the ep day after my call.

That's as it should be.

2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

"I'm afraid we had a stock discrepancy on our system and these prisms are not actually in stock. I can order them but it may take a few weeks now to arrive"..

This, after 3 emails confirming my order, receipt of payment and confirmation of delivery tomorrow (13th).

That's not.

2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I am not impressed

Nor would I be.

[25585]

Sadly its fairly common for web sites to not be updated, by any company. Especially during & after sales & promotions. No names mentioned

[Mak the Night]

I find RVO very good, but I've learnt from experience to check first to see if they have what I want in stock. 

[iPeace]

Mistakes will be made - that's fine. But certain things get further up my nose than others, so to speak.

I'm not questioning anyone's good faith here; it would seem, however, that this vendor's process is such that confirmation of delivery tomorrow can be sent for an item that is not in stock, let alone ready for shipment. Confirmation should't be a "maybe".

You cannot properly confirm delivery tomorrow of an item until you've packaged and addressed it - and you can't do that if you don't have the item. It's easy to imagine that an automated system has been set up to work based on certain assumptions - but if those assumptions turn out to be false in a given case, stuff like this happens.

As for what is "fairly common", it's up to (potential) customers - hey, that's us - to determine how far the bar may be lowered.

I've strayed off topic, with apologies. I myself have had my eye on this correct-image diagonal and look forward to more reports on its performance. I enjoy using correct-image diagonals and would't mind a spare at this price point - albeit that things may be turning decidedly newtonian over in my corner...

[Mak the Night]

When they say generally in stock I doubt they have more than two of these in at any time. The times I've enquired they've been waiting for these to come in.

I always email them first or sometimes even phone. 

[25585]

When buying the Erfle, the guy went and looked at it, on my request, to make sure it was the one I wanted. It was so I paid over the phone, it was posted same day.

The Erfle was the last one of a discontinued range (I seem to pick 'em). Belt & braces approach helps if in doubt,  which I am over imported merchandise usually. It is nice to speak to a person over the wire, rather than just by typed message, more reassuring etc......