Anyone used the Altair Astro Starwave 70 ed triplet?

[StargeezerTim]

Hi folks... I am trying to find some feedback/reviews on the Starwave 70 ed triplet. I will be using it mainly for imaging.

I am deciding between the Lightwave 72 ED R and the Starwave. I can find reviews on the Lightwave but not the triplet.

I have actually had three 80mm fracs this year and had to return them all for various reasons so am staying clear of WO and TS products, though I'm sure i have just been unlucky, very unlucky!

On the face of it, the Lightwave seems very good for for the price and has some good reviews. The triplet should offer better optics but I was wondering if anyone could bear that out from their own experience?

Cheers, Tim. 

 

 

Cheers,

[spaceman_spiff]

I am also looking at one of these as a quality travel scope and I am interested in comments from other loungers.

I tried it out at the Tring Astronomy Centre showroom and I was very impressed with the views. I focused on a distant building and I could see the particles of cement between the bricks! I can't remember the eyepiece though...sorry! If there was field curvature then I didn't notice it. 

Dan 

[The Admiral]

I haven't the Starwave 70 triplet, but do have the Wave 102 triplet, and it does pretty well. It seems to be pretty decently put together as well, a quality feel about it. You do get a test statement with each Wave 'scope, though I'm not sure the Starwave comes with one. It is a Chinese clone though, so one can never be sure it isn't going to be a rogue. Like Dan, I tried one out looking at a building on the Tring Astro industrial estate! I'm not sure what the difference between the Wave and Starwave triplets is though.

On the other hand, perhaps you could find a 'scope that meets your requirements from one of FLO's Es Reid checked instruments for peace of mind?

Ian

[StargeezerTim]

2 hours ago, spaceman_spiff said:

 

I tried it out at the Tring Astronomy Centre showroom and I was very impressed with the views. I focused on a distant building and I could see the particles of cement between the bricks! I can't remember the eyepiece though...sorry! If there was field curvature then I didn't notice it. 

Dan 

 

1 hour ago, The Admiral said:

 Like Dan, I tried one out looking at a building on the Tring Astro industrial estate!

Ian

Thanks Dan and Ian,

I'm going to Tring in the next day or two as well when they have both in stock. They must be doing well from us Stargazer lot!

I had a WO GT81 that I had to return to FLO which they sent to Es Reid for repair . I got a refund from that and had an 80mm triplet from TS, faulty and replaced with another faulty one... you can't make it up... 

I have even thought of forgetting fracs altogether and getting a 130mm Reflector and learning how to do mosaics... would certainly be cheaper... Fracs and I seem ill matched!

[spaceman_spiff]

1 hour ago, StargeezerTim said:

I had a WO GT81 that I had to return to FLO which they sent to Es Reid for repair . I got a refund from that and had an 80mm triplet from TS, faulty and replaced with another faulty one... you can't make it up... 

Wow! That's crazy unlucky, I would expect better from WO and TS. What was wrong with them, maybe a rough transit knocked them out of alignment? 

Regarding the 70ED Triplet, I was very tempted to get it there and then but I am a bit low on the money front! When you do go to Tring, check the field curvature and if a field flattener is available. I was also impressed by the focuser (very solid piece of kit!).

Dan 

[StargeezerTim]

12 hours ago, spaceman_spiff said:

Wow! That's crazy unlucky, I would expect better from WO and TS. What was wrong with them, maybe a rough transit knocked them out of alignment? 

Regarding the 70ED Triplet, I was very tempted to get it there and then but I am a bit low on the money front! When you do go to Tring, check the field curvature and if a field flattener is available. I was also impressed by the focuser (very solid piece of kit!).

Dan 

A combination of misaligned optics and focuser problems. The retailers have been good... it's not their fault they were provided with faulty stuff.

Hope to have a look at the scopes tomorrow. Its a bit worrying that there are no reviews of the triplet as yet.

 

[FLO]

18 hours ago, StargeezerTim said:

I had a WO GT81 that I had to return to FLO which they sent to Es Reid for repair . I got a refund from that and had an 80mm triplet from TS, faulty and replaced with another faulty one... you can't make it up... 

Just to be clear   Tim purchased his WO GT81 back in Feb. We began offering Es Reid checked telescopes in May, three months later. Tim's GT81 was a regular off-the-shelf model. 

After we collected Tim's scope (it had pinched optics) and had refunded him it was sent to Es for repair/alignment then sold again at a discounted price in May. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[StargeezerTim]

12 minutes ago, FLO said:

Just to be clear   Tim purchased his WO GT81 back in Feb. We began offering Es Reid checked telescopes in May, three months later. Tim's GT81 was a regular off-the-shelf model. 

After we collected Tim's scope (it had pinched optics) and had refunded him it was sent to Es for repair/alignment then sold again at a discounted price in May. 

HTH, 

Steve 

And very good service you provided as well! As i said, the retailer can't be faulted if there are qc probs with the manufacturer. I was just unlucky with the gt81 but unfortunately the my bad luck persisted with my next attempt at buying another 80mm scope from another retailer. Perhaps I should have stayed with specsavers (aka Flo!). 

 

[Skyline]

It would be interesting how these Chinese cheap cloned triplets perform in the cold, would they exhibit the classical pinched optics shape.

[FLO]

3 hours ago, StargeezerTim said:

And very good service you provided as well! 

Thank-you  

1 hour ago, Skyline said:

It would be interesting how these Chinese cheap cloned triplets perform in the cold, would they exhibit the classical pinched optics shape.

You are right, pinched optics tend to reveal themselves in low temperatures. A good telescope will have a lens cell (metal structure that holds the lens elements) designed and manufactured with this in mind so when the cell contracts on a cold winters night the optics do not become pinched. 

I will bow out now because this is supposed to be a discussion about an AA scope 

ATB, 

Steve 

[StargeezerTim]

11 minutes ago, FLO said:

 

I will bow out now because this is supposed to be a discussion about an AA scope 

ATB, 

Steve 

Thats right... and there is still no responses from Starwave 70 triplet users.

Hopefully there will some kind folks who can enlighten me . Lol...

[The Admiral]

The Lightwave is a doublet, and on the Altair Astro site it's described as a semi-APO. The Starwave is a true triplet APO. Given the relatively small price difference would it not be better to opt for the Starwave? It depends on how much you dislike chromatic aberration though. If you bought from a good dealer it's less of a gamble getting it put right.

Also, am I right that the Starwave is a relatively new product? If so, I guess these short nights would have limited user experience.

Ian

[Skyline]

You could venture onto buying a Skywatcher 130PDS, true star colour without the chromatic abberation by nature. 

With a 5.1" mirror at F5, giving true APO performance at a low snip price, couple that with your DSLR and Skywatcher 0.9x Corrector at f4.5 , believe me the results with that combo for the price is a no brainer.

 The 130PDS is cheap good imaging scope which is optimised for DSLR imaging. Need I say more.

[Adrian Condon]

On 22 July 2016 at 18:01, Skyline said:

It would be interesting how these Chinese cheap cloned triplets perform in the cold, would they exhibit the classical pinched optics shape.

Hi,

I have an Altair Astro 115mm APO triplet..... I have not noticed any pinched optics, I believe that all the parts are metal. I use the scope for solar work with a Baader Herschel wedge and nothing has melted in the scope.

Incidentally, I would like to know if Skyline (sorry I don't know your first name) could let me know what scope these Altairs are clones of?

To-date, I am very happy with all my Altair Astro purchases from Tring Astronomy Centre.

Cheers

Adrian

 

[Skyline]

5 hours ago, Adrian Condon said:

Hi,

I have an Altair Astro 115mm APO triplet..... I have not noticed any pinched optics, I believe that all the parts are metal. I use the scope for solar work with a Baader Herschel wedge and nothing has melted in the scope.

Incidentally, I would like to know if Skyline (sorry I don't know your first name) could let me know what scope these Altairs are clones of?

To-date, I am very happy with all my Altair Astro purchases from Tring Astronomy Centre.

Cheers

Adrian

 

In 2011 I bought a AA115 EDT Triplet Lens Serial No. 0001, I had it for a total of about 6  months everything was good initially.

Yes nice tight stars to the edge. However one night in May (yes May) I was imaging a star cluster, when processing I noticed the stars did not look round no more, like a bit triangle in shape. After speaking with AA directly and them suggesting it was other equipment which was at fault, which I found impossible as the problems would be exhibited in my other refractors as well. After much waiting and many phone calls, AA finally agreed to collect the lens of the scope to have it inspected.

They had the lens cell inspected and corrected by Es Reid, from what I remember from the report, moisture had crept into the lens cell.

After a short while I sold it on. After 6 months of departing with it the secondary owner reported pinched optics again.

As far as cloning is concerned, there are many companies which take like for like designs from oem manfacturers and slightly change them to their specifications.  

Such companies are like Kunming Optics (United Optics) - China, Long Pern - Taiwan. I expect lens cell design has changed and improved since 2011.

Decent triplets are expensive for a reason, you expect top designed lens cells, very high grade glass and QC is excellent, last think you expect that you buy a scope for £1600.00 then you get pinch optics. That's not to be expected.

Al.

[Scott]

On 7/22/2016 at 20:16, The Admiral said:

The Lightwave is a doublet, and on the Altair Astro site it's described as a semi-APO. The Starwave is a true triplet APO. Given the relatively small price difference would it not be better to opt for the Starwave? It depends on how much you dislike chromatic aberration though. If you bought from a good dealer it's less of a gamble getting it put right.

Also, am I right that the Starwave is a relatively new product? If so, I guess these short nights would have limited user experience.

Ian

Strange? My AA lightwave triplet is an errr, triplet. it doesn't come close to my sw 80ED doublet but it's a triplet none the less

[StargeezerTim]

52 minutes ago, Scott said:

Strange? My AA lightwave triplet is an errr, triplet. it doesn't come close to my sw 80ED doublet but it's a triplet none the less

What AA model do you have Scott? In what ways does your ED 80 surpass the AA triplet?

Choosing a scope to buy is really hard innit! Too much info about some things and too little about others! I may be wrong, but the vibes I am picking up from some dealers are that sub £1000 triplets stand a reasonable chance of having problems. Also, some of the well regarded scopes, like the Tak 76, are doublets but well liked anyway. Less to go wrong in a doublet and easier to construct well perhaps.

Decisions, decisions, I'm gonna stick with my Canon zoom tonight and perhaps experiment with my Canon 1.8 50mm prime, assuming we have a clearing in the wall to wall cloudbase.

Cheers, Tim. 

[Skyline]

Of all the refractors I have had, i have always been pleased with all the Doublets I have had. If I had to buy another triplet, my aim would be around the £2k starting mark. Not to say there's scopes under 2k which can't perform.

Sorry I am just too picky on what scopes are worth my money also which dealership gets my money.

 

[The Admiral]

1 hour ago, Scott said:

Strange? My AA lightwave triplet is an errr, triplet. it doesn't come close to my sw 80ED doublet but it's a triplet none the less

I was under the impression that the Lightwaves and Starwaves were doublets, unless specifically named 'triplet', and the Waves were triplets. So what Lightwave do you have? I was also under the impression that the Altair doublets weren't as well corrected as other makes, and that they had to re-term them 'semi-APO'.

Ian

[Stu]

4 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

I was under the impression that the Lightwaves and Starwaves were doublets, unless specifically named 'triplet', and the Waves were triplets. So what Lightwave do you have? I was also under the impression that the Altair doublets weren't as well corrected as other makes, and that they had to re-term them 'semi-APO'.

Ian

Ian, I believe Scott has a Lightwave 60mm ED-T Triplet so you are both correct! The Lightwaves all appear to be doublets unless specifically named, which of course Scott's is.

[Scott]

22 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

I was under the impression that the Lightwaves and Starwaves were doublets, unless specifically named 'triplet', and the Waves were triplets. So what Lightwave do you have? I was also under the impression that the Altair doublets weren't as well corrected as other makes, and that they had to re-term them 'semi-APO'.

Ian

 

56 minutes ago, StargeezerTim said:

What AA model do you have Scott? In what ways does your ED 80 surpass the AA triplet?

Choosing a scope to buy is really hard innit! Too much info about some things and too little about others! I may be wrong, but the vibes I am picking up from some dealers are that sub £1000 triplets stand a reasonable chance of having problems. Also, some of the well regarded scopes, like the Tak 76, are doublets but well liked anyway. Less to go wrong in a doublet and easier to construct well perhaps.

Decisions, decisions, I'm gonna stick with my Canon zoom tonight and perhaps experiment with my Canon 1.8 50mm prime, assuming we have a clearing in the wall to wall cloudbase.

Cheers, Tim. 

 

15 minutes ago, Stu said:

Ian, I believe Scott has a Lightwave 60mm ED-T Triplet so you are both correct! The Lightwaves all appear to be doublets unless specifically named, which of course Scott's is.

Sorry for the late reply. Yes, as Stu has pointed out (Thanks Stu), its the 60mm ED-T. Sorry if I came across as picky or abrupt, I was only being cheeky which I let myself down with poor use of emoticons  . 
Yes Tim, buying a frac is far and away more difficult than a newt IMHO. The reason I prefer the SW 80ED over the AA is that bloating in the blue is absolutely appauling in the AA. It's ok with NB but when using with my canon....pewk. It wasn't until I got the SW that I realised what I was missing out on  .I by no means know anything about fracs, but in my experience, if you're not spending quite a few squids, then the sw is hard to beat 

[Skyline]

2 hours ago, Scott said:

 

 

Sorry for the late reply. Yes, as Stu has pointed out (Thanks Stu), its the 60mm ED-T. Sorry if I came across as picky or abrupt, I was only being cheeky which I let myself down with poor use of emoticons  . 
Yes Tim, buying a frac is far and away more difficult than a newt IMHO. The reason I prefer the SW 80ED over the AA is that bloating in the blue is absolutely appauling in the AA. It's ok with NB but when using with my canon....pewk. It wasn't until I got the SW that I realised what I was missing out on  .I by no means know anything about fracs, but in my experience, if you're not spending quite a few squids, then the sw is hard to beat 

Hear, hear !! The blue is very well controlled on an SW80ED and other 80ED variations with the same lens.

[The Admiral]

No offence taken Scott, it was not knowing which model AA that you had caused confusion. But it is a bit concerning that the AA triplet was causing blue bloat, if I understand you correctly. My AA 102 triplet gives me no grief in that department, as my posted images will show.

Using a reflector is a whole new ball-game, which I've not experienced, but it certainly is a much cheaper way of gaining aperture. I like to do astrophotography using an alt-az mount, and there aperture helps enormously, though I'd be concerned that the star spikes coupled with a rotating FOV would cause me grief.

Ian

[Space_Plane]

Hi Tim, 

Just Incase it helps, I was recently trying to decide between the starwave triplet and 72 lightwave. Sky at night April issue did a review of the triplet, they seemed to quite like it, good for imaging and visual, ca-free. I think you can get back issues on the Android store. 

I bought the 72ed-r just due to cost and used it for the first time the other night, and was astonished by the views. Solid little scope too. 

Cheers! 

[StargeezerTim]

5 minutes ago, Space_Plane said:

Hi Tim, 

Just Incase it helps, I was recently trying to decide between the starwave triplet and 72 lightwave. Sky at night April issue did a review of the triplet, they seemed to quite like it, good for imaging and visual, ca-free. I think you can get back issues on the Android store. 

I bought the 72ed-r just due to cost and used it for the first time the other night, and was astonished by the views. Solid little scope too. 

Cheers! 

Thanks...

Lots of interesting views in this thread. From my own experience, and some feedback here, I think I have discounted triplets because of the difficulties in QC, at least in the price bracket I'm interested in. I also was impressed by the reviews and comments from the Skywatcher ED80 but I am really looking for a wider field of view. The 130 PDS plus flattener is a very similar FOV to the ED80 and is a really good cheap scope. I already have a 150pds so don't really want to get something so similar

I am thinking of either the Lightwave 72 ED R or the Takahashi FC 76, (FOV almost identical) which looks a wonderful scope, but I could get the 72 EDR for about 500£ inc reducer and bits and pieces whilst the Tak would run up to nearer £2000. Can I justify fours times the cost? . Especially with these ! 

Cheers, Tim.