Final Decision Large Refractor

[Sirius Starwatcher]

I have read and studied as many reviews as I can find on refractors. I am now down to what I believe to be the final three that would meet my needs but would appreciate some final advice from the experienced members of the forum.

Scope Requirements.

The scope will need to satisfy the following criteria.

An aging 66 year old that wears glasses. Back garden observing in an area of medium light pollution. My eye pieces are Vixen SLV's

Mainly solar system targets with DSO's occasionally. Solar white light observing with a strong possibility of moving to Hydrogen Alpha in the near future. Scope fitted to a Skytee Mount.

Short List of Scopes.

1. AA Starwave 152mm V3. F/5.9.    Cons small FL

2. SW Evostar 120mm  ED DS PRO F/7.5 Cons Focuser could be better therefore more cost to upgrade.

3. Explore Scientific 127mm APO Triplet. F/7.5. Cons Unknown quality.

Any final thoughts please as to which of the above would suit my criteria would be much appreciated. Unless their is a scope I have missed bearing in mind my limited budget. 

Thanks for reading.

Garry

[rwilkey]

You will need to consider the weight of the scopes, how physically agile are you?  My money would be on item 2, the 120ED, a very fine scope, an APO triplet offers no extra benefit in my opinion for the visual observer and the extra cost.  I am the same age as you and I found the 120 rather cumbersome on an EQ mount.  You need to think about it carefully for the coming years.  I settled on a 100mm aperture as my ideal size and on an AZ mount (the best for visual in my opinion).

[cotterless45]

A 4" achro will suit your needs. This gives some info on the subject,

https://www.astromart.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=84 

, in addition a 4" frac will provide plenty of colour from binaries and planets. F10 is an ideal size and will not lead to you buying a massive mount. In addition a Herschel wedge or white light filter can be easily fixed for solar. There are no advantages to paying out for a Triplet for observing . If you need a superb frac a bit bigger, then there are plenty fans of the 120SW ed,

old Nick.

[laudropb]

I have an ED120 and I am very happy with it. It is quite a heavy scope but I find I can handle it on a Skytee 2 mount.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

31 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

You will need to consider the weight of the scopes, how physically agile are you?  My money would be on item 2, the 120ED, a very fine scope, an APO triplet offers no extra benefit in my opinion for the visual observer and the extra cost.  I am the same age as you and I found the 120 rather cumbersome on an EQ mount.  You need to think about it carefully for the coming years.  I settled on a 100mm aperture as my ideal size and on an AZ mount (the best for visual in my opinion).

Thanks for the advice Robin I am reasonably fit and active so don't see a problem with a scope weighting about 8-10 Kg. It's really interesting getting the advice. I was going to settle on the 120 -130 apertur size based on research that the bigger the aperture the better, but had not considered the weight factor. There is plenty to think about.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

So a number of suggestions are pointing towards the acro's were I thought an apo would be better because of CA.

[Moonshane]

I'd definitely go for the 120ED 

It's my most used scope, great for white light, lunar, planetary and double stars as well as providing an decent wide field and as much detail and contrast on DSOs as is (more or less) possible with 120mm of aperture. The focuser is not that bad but buy a Baader Steeltrack or Moonlite and it's a peach.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

24 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

I'd definitely go for the 120ED 

It's my most used scope, great for white light, lunar, planetary and double stars as well as providing an decent wide field and as much detail and contrast on DSOs as is (more or less) possible with 120mm of aperture. The focuser is not that bad but buy a Baader Steeltrack or Moonlite and it's a peach.

Thanks again Shane I think you recommended this one last time I opened this discussion. 

At the moment it looks like SW 120 - Three  Others - Nil

[Sirius Starwatcher]

Am I right in thinking if you upgrade the focuser on the 120 you lose the shoe for the focuser. If so, anyone know how you get round the problem.

[cotterless45]

Stick a Telrad on the tube,

 

[Merlin66]

No, 

Some of the hi-end focusers also have a couple of M4 tapped holes which allow the fitment of a secondary finder shoe.

I use one on my TS102 which has an upgraded 10:1 Crayford focuser

[Sirius Starwatcher]

25 minutes ago, cotterless45 said:

Stick a Telrad on the tube,

 

Derrr I hadn't thought of that and yes I do have a telrad in the spares box. Thanks for the tip.

[Moonshane]

Moonlites usually come with two synta type finder shoes. All mine have anyway

[rwilkey]

I agree with Shane, my Moonlite comes with two Synta shoes, so no problem. 

[Sirius Starwatcher]

Thanks for the advice gents. Nightfisher just posted on for sale forum 120 ED PRO so just PM him.

(perfect timing)

[nightfisher]

Regarding the focuser, i will be very surprised if you find you need to upgrade the focuser on the ED120, it is buttery smooth and holds a 2" diagonal with a revelation 42mm 2" EP with no slipping

[Sirius Starwatcher]

This is what we like to hear. No Slippage !

[ronin]

Being not that far below you in age I wiould just say be careful of weight. I cannot or do not intend to pick up anything for a week or two. Sunday the two lower back muscles went, not seriously but all I was doing was reaching into a box of bike bits for an item that weighted about 3 maybe 4 grams so nothing even close to 8-10Kg. So light that you may not even register it if it sat on your palm. The box was on the couch so that it was easy to get to and meant I did not have to bend to ground level.

Immediatly I felt the twinge I froze, and yes it is better just 2 or 3 days later, will take I guess only another week with care, but not going to chance lifting a scope up or on to anything for a couple of weeks.

Even left the bike where it was at the time, decided not to move that back to where it should be. Should really be out giving it a try and sorting out any residual problems, instead I am sat here looking at it, waiting for when I consider I am flexible enough to flip it up and sort the rear derailleur out.

[JG777]

Another option is the Skywatcher Equinox 120, same optics as the ED but a much nicer quality focusser, and nicer all round finish. You would need to add a few other bits but if cash is not an issue then it's a great choice. 

[Paul73]

I've just come in from a lovely Saturn session with my SW Evostar ED120. Zero false colour. Made the most of the steady sky.

Mine does have an upgraded SW focuser which is better for than the standard unit. But, the standard focuser can work well given a bit of fettling. Re. Finders - a cheap red dot does me! 

For me, this scope is a cracking "all rounder". Big enough for bright wide(ish) views, intoxicatingly sharp stars, good colour, long enough for planets etc etc. Yes, it is big, so don't skimp on the mount and tripod. My Berlebach / Sky T combination seems to work well. It easily handles  the ED120 (plus wedge) and a 100mm F10 Ha scope during the day.

Paul

[John]

My ED120 (Moonlite focuser) rides on a Skytee II on a Oberwerk hardwood tripod. Very steady even at 250x. Optically excellent even compared with rather more expensive "exotica"

Tonight though I was using my Tak FC-100DL on the same mount. Superb views of Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon and numerous double stars

 

[Sirius Starwatcher]

10 hours ago, ronin said:

Being not that far below you in age I wiould just say be careful of weight. I cannot or do not intend to pick up anything for a week or two. Sunday the two lower back muscles went, not seriously but all I was doing was reaching into a box of bike bits for an item that weighted about 3 maybe 4 grams so nothing even close to 8-10Kg. So light that you may not even register it if it sat on your palm. The box was on the couch so that it was easy to get to and meant I did not have to bend to ground level.

Immediatly I felt the twinge I froze, and yes it is better just 2 or 3 days later, will take I guess only another week with care, but not going to chance lifting a scope up or on to anything for a couple of weeks.

Even left the bike where it was at the time, decided not to move that back to where it should be. Should really be out giving it a try and sorting out any residual problems, instead I am sat here looking at it, waiting for when I consider I am flexible enough to flip it up and sort the rear derailleur out.

Thanks for the tip Ronin. As for hobbies I think if you stick to astronomy and leave the bike alone it's much less dangerous ! (Lol).

[Waldemar]

Very often the turning move to the left or right while picking up something beside you is the cause of this kind of injury. Nothing to do with weight, just unusual muscles to use... and sometimes a disc slips, which really hurts! I am an experiential expert on this ... Only rest will do the job.

[Moonshane]

the 120ED does have a bit of weight but it's easy to handle as long as you are generally healthy. The key as always with any 'manual handling' is to prepare your path before you pick something up. Make sue the mount is ready and positioned correctly and that e.g. the handwheel is loose enough. I always add a bolt on the underside of the dovetail bar to act as a stop which helps a lot.

[25585]

On 4 July 2017 at 23:02, JG777 said:

Another option is the Skywatcher Equinox 120, same optics as the ED but a much nicer quality focusser, and nicer all round finish. You would need to add a few other bits but if cash is not an issue then it's a great choice. 

Reading www.scopeviews.co.uk/SW120ED.htm the Equinox is deluxe.

Weight of the above would not bother me for carrying but accidental dropping or knocking would.

However need to try a decent Barlow etc with my Genesis first.