Sharpstar 150mm f/2.8 HNT

[Davey-T]

This arrived today, posted a few unboxing pic's in another thread but thought I should start it's own thread as not seen much about them yet.

Poor mans Tak' Epsilon 😂

Seems well made and a nice sturdy flight case.

Apparently it's available in blue, green, gold, and red much like WO scopes.

First hurdle will be collimating not having ever done it before only on the SCT which is pretty simple, seems anything at 2.8 needs a pretty good collimator so just spent another £300.00 on a Howie Glatter laser collimator with adapter for fast scopes.

According to the AN December review it comes with a set of all needed allen keys but doesn't include one for the dovetail which is slightly annoying as all the screws are imperial.

No manual and not even a link to their website so luckily AN listed it.

So all I can say so far is the R&P focuser seems pretty good, not sure if it can be rotated,  will have to put it on the iOptron iEQ45 for now and find all the guiding stuff for it as only been using it for solar for a couple of years.

Dave

 

[Debo]

Very interesting 🧐

[Craney]

Very nice.

It looks quite chunky .... and then you realise that's a DSLR and it is on a Star Adventurer.

Looking back at my pictures for last year, some of the 'best'   (all relative)  pictures were from a 6"F4.    This is going to be awesome.

[tooth_dr]

Lovely! Sean’s right. It looks really chunky then you realise it’s compact.

I was advised not to rotate anyway once collimated as it may lose collimation in the process!

Looking forward to seeing this in action. 

[old_eyes]

Fascinating! A competitor to the RASA?

[Jkulin]

Beautiful looking scope.

Indeed I saw the results of somone on Astrobin and did a hell of a lot of research, varying reviews, especially about loose screws, so please check as most seem to complain about that.

What filters are you going to be using Dave as some fast Astrographs don't like working with lower spec ones.

Watching with interest, enjoy.😎

[Davey-T]

14 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

What filters are you going to be using Dave as some fast Astrographs don't like working with lower spec ones.

Only be using a DSLR or a colour CCD at first to see how it performs.

Speaking of loose screws the smaller collimating ones were nearly falling out.

Dave

Edited January 9, 2020 by Davey-T

[bob-c]

It looks great Dave ,have fun mate. will be waching with interest.

Bob.

[knobby]

Can't believe you spent all that money to get a scope that matches the star adventurer colour scheme 🙂

Seriously though, looks very impressive.

 

[Davey-T]

Spent a few hours balancing the thing, that Rainbow mount is looking more attractive by the minute 😂

The tube rings are too small for the scope and whoever tightened them up before has crushed the carbon fibre, bit of a design flaw IMHO.

Dave

[Davey-T]

Couple of shots out the patio doors in twilight.

The focuser can be rotated but one of the screws is cunningly hidden behind the tube ring, image shifts when changing focuser direction.

60Da ISO1600 1/50th

Trees about a mile away

Cables about 100 yards away

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by Davey-T

[Michael Hogan]

Oh my god you have the 10MicronGM1000HPS with this i demand images with this show me what 60 sec gets then 120 sec get 240 then 300

[Davey-T]

12 minutes ago, Michael Hogan said:

Oh my god you have the 10MicronGM1000HPS with this i demand images with this show me what 60 sec gets then 120 sec get 240 then 300

Unfortunately sky modelling mounts like the 10Micron don't work too well with floppy mirrors so I've put it on the iEQ45.

The idea of f/2.8 is only needing short exposures hopefully.

Dave

[david_taurus83]

Whilst researching the various 70mm quad refractors on offer, of which Sharpstar offer a version, the consensus over on CN is that Sharpstar actually make the scopes that TS and Stellarvue then rebadge for themselves, so I hope you've got yourself a nice quality instrument there. I'd be pi88ed though about the tube rings. Will the damage be an issue with the focuser and collimation?

Ps. If you get the Baader protective t ring you can rotate the camera whilst the M42 or M48 retaining ring can stay in position with the nosepiece. Just need to loosen the 6 grub screws

 

[Michael Hogan]

7 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Unfortunately sky modelling mounts like the 10Micron don't work too well with floppy mirrors so I've put it on the iEQ45.

The idea of f/2.8 is only needing short exposures hopefully.

Dave

Davey what do you mean 10 micron dont work with Edge HD SCT or Newts iv seen many with them work perfect

Edited January 11, 2020 by Michael Hogan

[Davey-T]

6 minutes ago, Michael Hogan said:

Davey what do you mean 10 micron dont work with Edge HD SCT or Newts iv seen many with them work perfect

Depends on the individual scopes I think there are folk that gave up trying to use an Edge HD because of mirror movement and the bigger the scope / heavier mirror the more hassle,  it doesn't take much to mess up the sky modelling.

May give it a try sometime but probably not until next summer when the nights are short.

Dave

[Michael Hogan]

1 minute ago, Davey-T said:

Depends on the individual scopes I think there are folk that gave up trying to use an Edge HD because of mirror movement and the bigger the scope / heavier mirror the more hassle,  it doesn't take much to mess up the sky modelling.

May give it a try sometime but probably not until next summer when the nights are short.

Dave

So only Apos why isnt the mount promoted as a refractor only mount so your telling me you cannot even align the mount with a mirror scope

[Davey-T]

16 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

Whilst researching the various 70mm quad refractors on offer, of which Sharpstar offer a version, the consensus over on CN is that Sharpstar actually make the scopes that TS and Stellarvue then rebadge for themselves, so I hope you've got yourself a nice quality instrument there. I'd be pi88ed though about the tube rings. Will the damage be an issue with the focuser and collimation?

Ps. If you get the Baader protective t ring you can rotate the camera whilst the M42 or M48 retaining ring can stay in position with the nosepiece. Just need to loosen the 6 grub screws

I think TS are offering the same scope, hopefully the dents in the tube won't affect the imaging as they're only small, scope is about 200mm, rings are about 190mm so very easy to overtighten them, may make some spacers out of plastic tube to prevent it.

I rotated the camera using the teeny screws of the T adapter but they're a bit feeble so don't think they'll stand much repetitive use.

Dave

 

[Davey-T]

4 minutes ago, Michael Hogan said:

So only Apos why isnt the mount promoted as a refractor only mount so your telling me you cannot even align the mount with a mirror scope

I use it unguided with an 80 point sky model, this achieves an accuracy of a few arc seconds,  it can be used fine guided with a mirror scope.

Dave

[Davey-T]

Got PHD working.

Took a few pic's of M42, think it's going to need a bit of fettling, got a bit of coma and some dodgy stars in bottom left corner.

Not bothering too much until collimation tool arrives.

Dave

20 seconds ISO800 60da.

Doesn't like wind hence random off target hi.s,

 

100% crop

 

Bottom left corner

 

 

 

[souls33k3r]

5 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Got PHD working.

Took a few pic's of M42, think it's going to need a bit of fettling, got a bit of coma and some dodgy stars in bottom left corner.

Not bothering too much until collimation tool arrives.

Dave

20 seconds ISO800 60da.

Doesn't like wind hence random off target hi.s,

 

100% crop

 

Bottom left corner

 

 

 

That Guiding looks really tight. As for the dodgy stars, could it be tilt if only in one corner? 

[Davey-T]

5 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

That Guiding looks really tight. As for the dodgy stars, could it be tilt if only in one corner?

Probably, there's lots of adjustment on the focuser to play with but want to put the Atik 4000OSC on it, just waiting to get a few more comet pictures with it on the SCT before swapping it over.

Dave

[Jkulin]

Any more updates on this scope?

[Davey-T]

11 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

Any more updates on this scope?

Been waiting for Howie Glatter laser collimator with attachment for fast scopes that arrived a few days ago, there didn't appear to have been any attempt to collimate it from the factory or someone had fiddled with it after the event judging by all the mirror locking screws being loosened to the point of nearly falling out.

Also bought a better Baader T adapter to rotate the camera as I didn't want to rotate the focuser once I've got rid of the coma / tilt.

Had a go at collimating it and waiting for a decent night to try it, tonight would have been ok but it's too windy, when I tried it the first time on the iEQ45 it was a bit of a flag.

Dave

[Jkulin]

Cheers Dave, Keep us advised how it goes?