New Bresser 90mm f/13.3 - Unboxing and initial thoughts

[Chris]

Hi, just a quick update. I sent off two more emails to Bresser yesterday and received a reply today giving me instruction on how to return the scope free of charge. The 90/1200 is now on it's way back to Germany and they said they will refund me when it lands with them. Much appreciated Bresser.de 

This should give me time to decide on what to exchange it with. The 'fun' part of my brain says order the monster 102/1350, and the logical side of my brain is saying should you mix 1350mm of focal length with an upgraded eq3!? So maybe I'll settle for something shorter and less fun.

Any suggestions? 

Edited April 18, 2017 by Chris Lock

[John]

Good news Chris

I suspect the logical part of your brain is the one to listen too !

[alacant]

2 hours ago, John said:

logical part of your brain is the one to listen to

That's no fun. No, it just has to be the 102/13.5 or bust! [1]. HTH.

[1] and a sandbag for your mount until the eq6 arrives;)

[DRT]

I emailed FLO at the weekend to ask if they intend stocking the 102 F/13.5 - the reply today says that they are not intending deciding until they see some feedback from customers on SGL

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

On 15/04/2017 at 18:39, John said:

Do you recall seeing these scopes at the Stoneleigh show Mark ?

They looked from a distance like two giant white chopsticks

No John I don't remember seeing them. Perhaps I spent too much time meeting friends and NOT viewing the telescopes.

[Chris]

Still waiting on a reply to emails, I just wantto check they received the Bresser 90mm f/13 back ok, and when they are going to return my money?

 

[John]

Fingers crossed here Chris

[Chris]

Sensible part of brain says, put an offer on one of these until I can sort out a more heavy duty mount head and the counter weights needed for the Bresseer 102/1350. Fun part of brain still says get the 102/1350 and worry about the mount later 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252895931488?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252893971354?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

They do look like the good fit for the eq3, and I don't have that much more than the £140 I spent on 90mm f/13 if being sensible., so the 102/1350 might be a bit of a stretch at the moment, hmmm?

I could just spend £40 quid on an Astroboot scope for the time being even. 

 

 

[John]

There is a Skywatcher 130mm F/5 newt OTA on Astroboot at the moment for £35 + P&P. Lot of scope for very little dosh IMHO. Not even the price of a low cost eyepiece !

Edited April 26, 2017 by John

[Chris]

1 hour ago, John said:

There is a Skywatcher 130mm F/5 newt OTA on Astroboot at the moment for £35 + P&P. Lot of scope for very little dosh IMHO. Not even the price of a low cost eyepiece !

That makes a lot of sense, John, so I added it to my basket but by the time you add postage it's £53, then it needs a dovetail plus P&P for that so it's going to be about £70.

I think I can get the vixen 130 for about £140 delivered with all the extras such as eyepieces and finder, rings and dovetail. It would have a high grade mirror (I checked with Opticron and they Said it's produced in a Synta factory, but Vixen specify a much higher grade mirror than SW or Celestron)

Considering the above, what would you do?

Or I think I could get the Vixen 80 frac for about 140 too.

The reason I think this is I put an offer on the 130 yesterday of 130, and they counter offered 150.

Edited April 26, 2017 by Chris Lock

[RobertI]

If it was me I'd favour the Vixen 130 over the 80 simply for its aperture (possibly a better fit for the eq3 too?). But I also wonder whether the better mirror of the Vixen over the Skywatcher would be noticeable in UK skies? But then you already have  6" dob and I know you like your fracs!   Is 80mm going to be enough for you? Clearly I have been of no help at all. 

[Stub Mandrel]

Why spend 189 on a used 130mm Newt when you could have a virtually identical brand new 130P-DS with ther benfit of a crayford focuser for £179 from FLO?

[Chris]

40 minutes ago, RobertI said:

If it was me I'd favour the Vixen 130 over the 80 simply for its aperture (possibly a better fit for the eq3 too?). But I also wonder whether the better mirror of the Vixen over the Skywatcher would be noticeable in UK skies? But then you already have  6" dob and I know you like your fracs!   Is 80mm going to be enough for you? Clearly I have been of no help at all. 

Haha thanks Rob, and not at all, your comments are always very much appreciated  I think an 80mm frac would probably be ok because I do have the 6" f/8 Dob for more resolution when the seeing allows. It feels a bit odd having the eq3 sitting around with no OTA I can use with it.

I considered buying some rings and a dovetail for the 6" f/8 Dob OTA, so I can use that with the EQ3 (getting motor drives when funds allow), but I think that would be too much for the EQ3 as will the Bresser 102/1350 if I'm honest.  

The Vixen 130 Newt would a pretty flexible OTA and easy mountable on the EQ3, so will the Vixen 80mm f/11.4 frac.

Occasionally I like to image stuff, Moon, planets, and a bit of light hearted DSO imaging, so I do want to get an EQ3 driven mount up and running. Otherwise, I should probably be frugal and just solely have the 6" Dob.

It's hard to stop wanting things I find 

[Chris]

23 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Why spend 189 on a used 130mm Newt when you could have a virtually identical brand new 130P-DS with ther benfit of a crayford focuser for £179 from FLO?

£189 is the buy it now price, I put an offer of £130 in and they countered with £150 so think it would go at £140.

ex display not second hand.

Other wise they are both made in the Synta factory, but the key difference is that Vixen oversee QC on their version, plus they specify a higher spec mirror which would be noticeable on nights of good seeing.

The 130pds is an option, if I bought another it would either be my 3rd or my 4th, I can't remember such is my illness of buying and selling scopes!

Is a Crayford a good thing? I prefer R&P if it's a semi decent one 

Edited April 26, 2017 by Chris Lock

[Chris]

I put in a cheeky low offer of £135 on the Vixen 80mm f/11.4 refactor before work. Well I say cheeky but if this was any other Synta style 80mm achromat then £135 would be a good price for it. 

I know the RRP on these is surprisingly high for an Achro, something like £269 which is about double what you'd expect a similar SW or Celestron achromat would cost! From what I can tell from asking Opticron (who are basically Vixen UK) the extra money goes into better QC and a better figure for the glass lens or mirror. Maybe more importantly to me at this precise moment is that the Vixen scope has metal rings!  well, plus 910mm focal length wont totally kill the EQ3, but will probably still push it!

Anyway, I came back from work expecting a counter offer but they accepted the £135 to my surprise so Vixen A80mf it is for the time being  

At least I've kept with the long focus achromat theme of the thread!

I still want the 102/1350 monster Bresser at some point, but it can wait for now. Someone else can review it in the meantime. I think it will be a better quality prospect than the 90/1200....that was a shame... I would have kept it if it wasn't for that pesky plastic clamshell! 

 

[Moonshane]

I had the version with the 2" focuser (Vixen 80mm f11) and it's a beautiful scope. Real feel of quality. Excellent optics too. I was happier though once I got an ED.

 

 

 

[Chris]

9 hours ago, Moonshane said:

I had the version with the 2" focuser (Vixen 80mm f11) and it's a beautiful scope. Real feel of quality. Excellent optics too. I was happier though once I got an ED.

 

 

 

Haha I like your extreme planetary observing their, Shane, for a second I thought you really did have a problem with the scope!

 

[Chris]

Got a reply from Bresser yesterday too, they initially couldn't find the scope backin the warehouse, but it has now turned up. They said they would refund me yesterday which didn't happen so I've given them another gentle reminder. You catch more flies with honey or something like that  Hopefully I'll get it today? 

Another confession, since I've solved my financial issues by not spending another £1300 quid on a car worth 900, and instead switched to a cheap 0% PCP deal on a new fiat Tipo. I've thus treated myself to an enhanced dual axis drive kit for the EQ3, which obviously makes sense . FIAT gave me £1000 for my old car even though I owned up to it needing a new clutch and cambelt service! Thanks FIAT  

Also picked up a sneaky 6mm SLV for £55 the other day, 152x with the Vixen should be perfect. 

No more treats for a while now 

Edited April 27, 2017 by Chris Lock

[John]

49 minutes ago, Chris Lock said:

..... You catch more flies with honey or something like that  Hopefully I'll get it today? 

 

Another saying is "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"

[Chris]

15 minutes ago, John said:

Another saying is "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"

I'll try squeaking if the honey doesn't work  

[Chris]

Honey worked! Bresser have refunded me including the cost of postage which honestly didn't expect, thanks Bresser 

[Mark at Beaufort]

3 hours ago, Chris Lock said:

Honey worked! Bresser have refunded me including the cost of postage which honestly didn't expect, thanks Bresser 

Pleased that you got the refund together with the postage. Now you can start thinking about that next scope

[Chris]

1 minute ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Pleased that you got the refund together with the postage. Now you can start thinking about that next scope

Thanks Mark, for now I have a Vixen A80mf  f/11 refractor on the way  I'll pick up the larger Bresser 102/1350 when I have a more suitable mount down the line.

[Moonshane]

I think I'd personally consider a used (maybe the older gold one like my 120ED) 100mm Skywatcher ED but if it's an itch you have to scratch! 

[Chris]

17 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

I think I'd personally consider a used (maybe the older gold one like my 120ED) 100mm Skywatcher ED but if it's an itch you have to scratch! 

Hi Shane, I've just sold an ED100 due to recent car expenses, the Bresser 90/1200 I reviewed hear was basically it's budget replacement...I bit too budget unfortunately as it turns out. However, I am curious about this new line by Bresser, I just think I picked the wrong one to try by the looks of it  

I've had a few ED's -  ED80's, ED100's and once when I was really flush I had the Equinox 120. I totally agree these Synta ED's are basically spectacular for the money, but I also really rate the long focus crown and flint achromats which I've also had a few of over the years.

Lets just say I'm in budget mode at the moment, well apart from the naughty 6mm Vixen SLV, and the Dual axis drives for my EQ3 that are on their way to me, I'm a bad man, I've not told SWMBO yet     

Edited April 27, 2017 by Chris Lock