Takahashi Starbase 80

[Dave1]

Very nice 6" F12 John. Istar still make the normal achromat 6" lenses in F12 and F15. Not in the R35 or R50 Anastigmatic lenses though.

David

[FLO]

On 15/04/2020 at 11:33, Dave1 said:

The owners are generally very happy with the performance of the Starbase 80 telescope. They are also seasoned observers. Its been discovered that the factory making the optics for the Starbase 80 is Kubota Optical in Hanamaki City. Kubota Optical has been operating for a long time. This is why Takahashi America mention Hanamaki in there sells pitch. Kubota Optical make both the Takahashi Starbase 80mm and Scopetech ( https://scopetown.co.jp/ ) line of telescopes. I did some research on Scopetech and discovered they make a 80mm F15 which is there flagship telescope. They also pride themselves in making high quality telescope in the time honoured Japanese tradition. In France they have tested the 80mm F10, 80mm F12.5, and 80mm F15. The 80mm F15 came out as 0.972 Strehl in D Ray which is most important for Planetary. The Tester was Joerg of Wellenform, who does all the testing for APM telescopes. The French have tested the light transmittance of the lens coatings, the result they got back was 99.5% So not quite the advertised 99.9% but not very far off. 

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So these aren't just good beginners telescopes. These are actually very high quality optics made in the time honoured tradition of Japanese Optics. This is why Takahashi choose Kubota Optical in Hanamaki. The 80mm F10 ( Takahashi Starbase 80) made by Kubota Optical test results are just a bit behind the Scopetech 80mm F15.

ScopeTech 80mm Fraunhofer Telescopes are now available to buy in the UK 🙂