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125mm APO Refractor Query


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Hi,
I have my eye on a rather "mouth watering"  125mm APO Refractor from the much respected German retailer APM:-

It is the :

TS - OPTICS PHOTOLINE 125mm F/7.8,  FPL 53 (FROM OHARA),  LANTHANUM APO at £1,499.00 Eur

However, I have spotted this telescope being sold by The Widescreen Centre UK:-

TECNOSKY 125/975 F/7.8, FPL-53 ED DOUBLET APO at £1,399.00

Question:

Are these above telescopes basically the same telescopes under a different brand name?

Does anyone know? and if so are they good scopes?

Regards,
Steve

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The telescope seems to be slightly cheaper if purchased from TS: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p10133_TS-Optics-PhotoLine-125mm-f-7-8-FPL53-Lanthanum-Apo---2-5--Focuser.html

 

They most likely are made by the same manufacturer, the Photoline series are normally good telescopes. 

Manufacturers will build and re-badge telescopes for many different retailers, the difference comes down to what level of QC the customer has paid for/ maintained. 

I tend to go with the retailer with the better reputation for high QC for purchases like this. 

Edited by Gabby76
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Out of the two, I think the TS Photoline would be my preference. Just check the exact spec of things like focuser and any removable sections allowing for binoviewer use etc.

As Gabby says, these things are basically contract manufactured for the retailer or brand so it is down to spec and QC off the production line and how fussy the retailer is in accepting varying optical quality. TS have been pretty good in my experience but I have no experience of Technosky so cant say one way or the other on that one.

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I believe they are the same scope. In fact I've seen this 125/975 OTA available from many rebranders including Altair Astro and Stellavue (US).

The price difference could be due to different stock focusers chosen by the retailers. Both TS Optics and Tecnosky have opted for a 2.5" focuser whereas Altair have picked a 3.7" focuser which increases the price to £1,699.

Edited by KP82
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As refered to above even though they may come off the same production line it doesn’t mean the scopes are the same. The company ordering them will be able to choose the spec of the parts used and the level of quality control during production as well as what focuser etc is used. Often the scopes that don’t come up to the quality standard demanded by one buyer may be sold off at a lower cost to a lesser retailer. Hence the eBay specials that show up at lower prices.

Best to buy from a retailer that supports their products and has a good return policy.

Edited by johninderby
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Hi 
Many thanks for your useful and interesting feedback regarding my 125mm APO query.
Just before typing out this reply, I spotted something "rather exciting"  ( for me anyway ! and probably for you as well ! ).
UK Astro Dealer website 365astronomy.com , are soon introducing some stunning looking APO's from Chinese manufacturer Ruixing (SHARPSTAR),
and interestingly, one of the SHARPSTAR APO's - AL-107mm f/6.5 Triplet is an exact match for TS - Optics Photoline 107mm f/6.5 Triplet APO.
There does not seem to be any 125mm APO available though.
From what I read on some feed back from Cloudy Nights Forum, Stellarvue and TS - Optics, source their APO's from SHARPSTAR.
The SHARPSTAR APO's look damn good and so does their AL-107 ( I was tempted towards the TS - Optics 125mm APO because it was cheaper than the TS - Optics 107mm APO )
Does anyone know much about Ruixing SHARPSTAR?

Regards,
Steve

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I thought Altair test the optics onsite and reject the ones that don't quite reach their criteria,  so added to the fact that the focuser is different as well as the lens cell..

With regards to stellarvue, there was a video shared on here the other day showing the production of the lens cells in house at stellavue..seems strange to the accept a scope from another source and sold as a stellarvue scope with its own unique lens document? Or is that done to mislead us? 

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53 minutes ago, PembrokeSteve said:

Hi,

Here is the link which shows the SHARPSTAR APOs soon to become available from the UK dealer 365astronomy.com 

https://www.365astronomy.com/sharpstar/


Regards,

Steve

But they do not seem to be cheaper than the Esprits which are of proven quality (and if you buy hem from FLO you can get them bench tested) - I would at least let someone else be the guinea pig.

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20 hours ago, newbie alert said:

I thought Altair test the optics onsite and reject the ones that don't quite reach their criteria,  so added to the fact that the focuser is different as well as the lens cell..

With regards to stellarvue, there was a video shared on here the other day showing the production of the lens cells in house at stellavue..seems strange to the accept a scope from another source and sold as a stellarvue scope with its own unique lens document? Or is that done to mislead us? 

The Stellarvue Access line are imported but must meet SV QC spec and then they go through the telescope from focuser to lens cell to bring it to their standard. All I have talked to have found them to be excellent telescopes.

The X series of refractors are made in house with a guaranteed Strehl ratio of 98-99, a friend just received his SVX 102mm which is at 99.6!  

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14 minutes ago, John said:

Pity that SV don't have any importers / dealers this side of the Atlantic.

 

As has been discussed in other threads unfortunately Stellarvue didn’t seem to have the capacity to support dealers over here. It didn’t work out very well at all when they had dealers over here. Pity Stellarvue wasn’t able to make it work.

Edited by johninderby
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On 27/04/2019 at 23:40, PembrokeSteve said:

Hi,
I have my eye on a rather "mouth watering"  125mm APO Refractor from the much respected German retailer APM:-

It is the :

TS - OPTICS PHOTOLINE 125mm F/7.8,  FPL 53 (FROM OHARA),  LANTHANUM APO at £1,499.00 Eur

However, I have spotted this telescope being sold by The Widescreen Centre UK:-

TECNOSKY 125/975 F/7.8, FPL-53 ED DOUBLET APO at £1,399.00

Question:

Are these above telescopes basically the same telescopes under a different brand name?

Does anyone know? and if so are they good scopes?

Regards,
Steve

Cannot comment on the brands that you have mentioned, because my 125 is the Altair Astro one, purchased from Tring Astronomy in Herts. Purchased a complete package of scope, Sabre Mount and the necessary connecting plates etc and they gave me a great deal.

My other scope is a Tak 76 and I wanted something that was a step up; this fits the bill perfectly. It takes more trips from the car to set up, but gives superb views. I hadn't seen one in the flesh before I purchased it, and I'm glad I hadn't as the size and weight of the scope, mount, counterweights etc might have put me off buying.  If i'm observing for just 2/3 hours, I'll take the Tak, but if the forecast is great, then it's the 125 that gets packed. As to the quality, the strehl ratio is .96 and Altair say that "are far superior to the "normal" production quality lenses" on their website. The outer box was labelled with "chengdu airlines" which as far as I can tell is an internal airline to China. My advice would be to pick a retailer that you know will look after you if anything goes awry.  I can vouch for Neil and Jane at Tring and have met them numerous times at the Astro Camp in Wales that they support.

If you are in Norfolk anytime soon, let me know, you are very welcome to have a look at / through mine.

Chris

IMG_2479.jpg

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  • 2 years later...
25 minutes ago, Fedele said:

Are you happy with this refractor?

Very pleased with my Tecnosky 125. Has exceeded my expectations and delivers excellent sharp contrasty views and will take high magnification as well.  Build quality is first rate. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Tecnosky bench tests the scope and makes sure it performs properly and collimation is spot on. Not sure if TS does a full bench test? 

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