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Baby WO at FLO

Chris

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Chris

Chris

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3 minutes ago, moise212 said:

The reply I got was: " The Flat 61 has nearly full frame 44mm image circle with 1:1 flattener ( no reduced) "

I want a replacement for my Canon 300 F4 L lens since this one has some misscolimated lenses inside, maybe due to the image stabilization, but also the EF-T2 adapter doesn't fasten tight enough and I have tilt also there.

With a 0.8 reducer this little scope would be 61/288, which is F/4.72. Reasonably enough. My Canon lens is resolved to ~293mm on astrometry platesolving so 288mm would be very close. The amount of light gathered by the Canon is ~50% more, but it comes with a cost.

We shall see how the FF is designed in the end. According to William, the FF should be ready "by end of July".

Maybe the other WO reducers made for the bigger scopes can work well for a 4/3 sensor?!

I told to myself that I shall not buy any other equipment this year, but at this cost, I could give myself a birthday gift next month.

I'm thinking along similar lines, moise, and I'm sure one of the reducers will work well with a medium format chip :) 

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Chris

Chris

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More digging done, looks real good to me, if I can sell a few items I think I'm happy to Beta test...'IF' I get the funds together I'll be hoping it goes better than the last scope I beta tested! On the flip side, this could be a way of getting a (albeit pseudo) Tak60 I've often fancied.

Check out the example optical report and spot diagrams:

http://williamoptics.com/zenithstar-61-apo#additional  

http://williamoptics.com/zenithstar-61-apo

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Chris

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27 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

I am thinking about getting one purely for visual although for me the fl is a bit long and it would not be easy to get single figure magnifications.

Alan

32mm Plossl will give 11x, that's pretty close to single figures, Alan :) But then again, you can't be far off that with the ZS71 can you? 

For me the visual side would kind of be a bino replacement for just sweeping around looking at pretty twinkly stuff and relaxing with no hassle, and more importantly no repeated neck injury like I keep giving myself with binos! (I first gave myself this injury using binos back in 2000, and it returns to a lesser extent if I use my 10x50's in anger near zenith) 

Other than that, I'm pretty sure it will be lovely on the Moon, and bright open clusters, and Sun spots etc. I think it might actually fit into an eyepiece case so more likely to be taken places and used, like on holiday and to my local astro club.

Then imaging - this could be the little scope that gets me back imaging this season? I think even my EQ3 can handle 360mm of focal length for some deep sky snaps :)

By the time I've added the WO RDF and dielectric diagonal we're talking well over half a grand though, and I've sold quite a lot of things to get over half a grand together so I really need to make sure this is the right scope to complement my 6" Dob before hitting the buy button! 

There are a lot of portable scope setups you can buy for half a grand, some with goto which is a thing I sometimes miss from my arsenal. 

As I'm really torn on this I might need to do a "thread". The WO has the fit and finish and the optical quality I'd love, but then it's just 60mm and I'm also worried about field curvature, plus what else is out there for the money. 

I think I've ruled out the 90mm Mak I was thinking of before the WO61 turned up , the focal length is just too close to my Dob to compliment it. 

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Chris

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3 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I need one of these.... :sad2:

I soooo want a decent 'frac to go with my Newts.

Flattener due in 2 weeks, bet it's £169 :-(

Yeah I reckon it might be that ball park, money soon racks up when setting up a posh frac :grin:

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Chris

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1 hour ago, Alien 13 said:

I am thinking about getting one purely for visual although for me the fl is a bit long and it would not be easy to get single figure magnifications.

Alan

Thinking about it, a 2" 40mm EP would be a worth while thing and would give just 9x. Then there's this TS 60mm f5.5 fpl53 :

http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/telescopes/refracting-telescopes-ota/apochromates/ts-photoline-60-mm-f-55-fpl-53-apo-2-rp-focuser.html

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Chris

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Just wen't out for a quick look with the binos as it was clear. Had a look at the coat hanger Asterism, and before I could grab the Dob for a look at M27 and M57, clouds swept in.

A classic example why something as quick and portable as the WO61 is a good idea :) 

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Alan White

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16 hours ago, Lockie said:

Just wen't out for a quick look with the binos as it was clear. Had a look at the coat hanger Asterism, and before I could grab the Dob for a look at M27 and M57, clouds swept in.

A classic example why something as quick and portable as the WO61 is a good idea :) 

Typical East Anglian evening Chris.

I think you Beta testing one will be good.
May then be tempted to then buy one if it gets the thumbs up from you.

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MattJenko

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This looks a lovely little scope. If the upcoming reducer works well, then this can be an awesome travel imaging scope when combined with a little pixel camera, be it a cooled CMOS or DSLR. Enormous field of view at a fast ratio and lightweight rig, making it easy for tracking. Bravo! I have a TS60 and the TS x0.79, otherwise I would have one of these without thinking about it for more than a second.

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Chris

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33 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Typical East Anglian evening Chris.

I think you Beta testing one will be good.
May then be tempted to then buy one if it gets the thumbs up from you.

No pressure ;)  IF? I  get one, I'll be needing the matching WO diagonal and RDF, so I just want to make sure this is the right scope for me before dropping well over half a grand on a 60mm scope, these things need thinking about despite this little scopes beauty and fpl53 glass :icon_biggrin:

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Chris

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1 hour ago, moise212 said:

Maybe it is and they didn't figure out the spacing?!

I thought they would have mentioned the flattener in the information for the picture if they had used one? Also, there was no further word on a flattener on the WO site or their FB page. 

If it is indeed without a flattener, I'm quite impressed with the inherent flatness as well as the colour correction, not that I'm an expert or anything. 

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Chris

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25 minutes ago, Alan White said:

What mounts are folks considering hanging this lovely little scope on?

For me it would be my EQ3 with enhanced duel drives, or even possibly the new AZ-gti wifi mount. 

However, I'm mainly visual so I'm still pondering the aperture. Money wise, I'm not too far off affording something like an ES 100 f/6.7 triplet, a SW Esprit 80 triplet, or a nice gps goto scope if I save a bit longer.   

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Chris

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4 hours ago, Alan White said:

But will not a larger aperture compromise your small and portable criteria?

or is larger aperture, better resolution the driver for you?

Hi Alan, I'm trying to look at where the line is between portability/quick setup, and having enough aperture/resolution to be engaging.

I do have the 6" Dob of course, and I'm very slowly building an 8.75", so aperture isn't absolutely critical. I'm just wondering if say an 80mm f/6 doublet/triplet would only be negligibly less portable and convenient if it could be left mounted or stored in a small case close to the mount.... like behind my sofa just 6 feet away from the shed, it would need to be small to fit though. I do like how the WO61 could potentially squeeze into a small case with a diagonal and a few EP's :)

Other than the above, just consider that I'm a person who's addicted to optics and telescopes more than the objects seem through them even. This is kind of the wrong way around, but I have to be honest. If a telescope looks 'nice', interesting, or just new even, this can often peak my interest for wrong reasons. As I'm also rubbing me knees at the prospect of CPC800's, LX90's, Maks, protable goto packages, mounts etc, It's clear I'm all over the place at the moment, so I'm probably best to continue thinking very carefully before such a big spend. 

I've just met Piero at the train station to sell him my AZ4 mount, had a very nice chat about scopes, EP's etc. I picked his brains about his TV60 observing, and the jist I got was despite just buying a larger scope he's pleased with the TV60 when used with very high quality EP's. He did say top tier EP's can make a noticeable difference even over very good TV eyepieces, so it's not just aperture.

I guess a small aperture scope with very good EP's will always perform optimally whatever the seeing. A big consideration when living under suburban UK skies often stuck below the jet stream!   

   

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Alan White

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1 hour ago, Lockie said:

It's clear I'm all over the place at the moment, so I'm probably best to continue thinking very carefully before such a big spend. 

Chris, that one line is SO true in my case as well, hence why I am interested in which way you go.
 

Having sold my ED100 as it was too long to use comfortably for me (you know the story and multiple posts), 
I find myself in a similar situation as well, I want small, portable, big aperture, not too long FL, widefield, amazing view for £50!
You get my gist, :happy6: my head is spinning!
To be honest I am wavering to the 150p Dob like yours for the portability and the f8.
I m also tempted by a refractor like the W.O. because the quality should be good and the widefield view, also very portable.

What I really want is a Tak, but the funds do not allow.

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Chris

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2 hours ago, Alan White said:

What I really want is a Tak, but the funds do not allow.

It's as if the words came from my mouth :) I was Tak window shopping the other day and the Tak76 is £1300 for the tube alone, it's not even mountable for that price. The Tak60cb is £630 and that's not mountable as it comes, you'd need to spend close to £900 to get one shipped that you can immediately stick on a mount! It's all just too much for me I'm affraid! :icon_pale:

The smaller WO's, Bresser's, Explore Scientific's, Skywatcher's, Meades, and Celestrons seem more my speed :)  

Oh and if you choose to buy a 6" f/8 Dob, I can promise it's worth the very small outlay, really great scope. 

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