My First Refractor? Exciting!

[Sunshine]

I’m awfully excited about maybe getting my first serious refractor, short of the Tasco toy I had as a child. On the classified market near me I have found an Orion Eon 120. Tomorrow, I will call the shop in hopes they still have it, the reputation of this scope is fantastic as I have read countless posts. As you all know, I am the first to Honk my horn about my Mak but, I do wish I had a scope which could offer wider fields, be more AP friendly for the future and, cool down quicker. Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll haggle the price down and have it shipped to me once I speak with the shop owner. Awfully excited, I have never had a decent frac.

[Kev M]

A very nice scope indeed....enjoy

 

[John]

The EON 120 is an excellent refractor. Skywatcher used to carry the same scope under the Equinox label. Really good ED doublet objective lenses in these scopes.

 

[mikeDnight]

I really hope you get it. The ED120 is one of the best doublet refractors out there. I've had three of them over the years, one 120 ED Pro with black diamond livery, and two Equinox 120 ED's which are identical to the EON. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about haggling, I'd just pay the money and run. It's an exquisite telescope that can stand alongside high end refractors with its head held high. It's very Takahashi in its image quality and will give stunning rich field views at low power, while on a good night with a steady atmosphere, you'll get 300X and more on the Moon and double stars.

[Paz]

Good luck with the new scope, that will give very good views.

[Frank the Troll]

Enjoy your frac, hopefully I will be unpacking clouds tommorow

[paulastro]

I feel really excited for you, you'll LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!  You've got some exciting observing ahead of you.

[Sunshine]

9 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I really hope you get it. The ED120 is one of the best doublet refractors out there. I've had three of them over the years, one 120 ED Pro with black diamond livery, and two Equinox 120 ED's which are identical to the EON. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about haggling, I'd just pay the money and run. It's an exquisite telescope that can stand alongside high end refractors with its head held high. It's very Takahashi in its image quality and will give stunning rich field views at low power, while on a good night with a steady atmosphere, you'll get 300X and more on the Moon and double stars.

That is a beautiful looking scope you have there, i certainly hope when i call tomorrow, as today is a holiday here, it will be available. The one listed in the ad is identical to yours, with the chrome trim, i must say i love your mount also. By the looks of it, you have the "king" of eyepieces on there, maybe the 31mm Nagler? that must provide some jaw dropping wide field views!. The asking price for the scope is the equivalent of 980 pounds.

Edited February 17, 2020 by Sunshine

[mikeDnight]

5 hours ago, Sunshine said:

That is a beautiful looking scope you have there, i certainly hope when i call tomorrow, as today is a holiday here, it will be available. The one listed in the ad is identical to yours, with the chrome trim, i must say i love your mount also. By the looks of it, you have the "king" of eyepieces on there, maybe the 31mm Nagler? that must provide some jaw dropping wide field views!. The asking price for the scope is the equivalent of 980 pounds.

For a near 5" top class apo refractor, £980.00 is not a bad price. I know its a lot of money, but it will last you a lifetime and it will never deteriorate. 

You're right about the eyepiece,  it is a 31mm Nagler, and the mount is a Hercules Helix altazimuth fork, sadly nolonger made. The tripod I'd a SW tubular steel version.  The views were simply awesome! I say "were" because I eventually sold it to fund another refractor, but the 120ED is very dear to my heart.

 

[Sunshine]

51 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

For a near 5" top class apo refractor, £980.00 is not a bad price. I know its a lot of money, but it will last you a lifetime and it will never deteriorate. 

You're right about the eyepiece,  it is a 31mm Nagler, and the mount is a Hercules Helix altazimuth fork, sadly nolonger made. The tripod I'd a SW tubular steel version.  The views were simply awesome! I say "were" because I eventually sold it to fund another refractor, but the 120ED is very dear to my heart.

 

Is there a particular type/brand of eyepiece you found that favored this scope? is it hard on lesser eyepieces? I will be looking to buy a couple of eyepieces with it, maybe Baader Morpheus which I have used on other scopes and like.

Edited February 17, 2020 by Sunshine

[John]

I don't find the F/7.5 focal ratio of the ED120 too hard on eyepieces. I still like to use well corrected ones but they also get used in other scopes with faster focal ratios.

The Morpheus would be excellent in the 120 I reckon although I've not yet had the pleasure of using one of those

The 120mm ED doublets can handle quite a bit of magnification so some choices in short focal length eyepieces would be very useful in due course.

[mikeDnight]

8 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Is there a particular type/brand of eyepiece you found that favored this scope? is it hard on lesser eyepieces? I will be looking to buy a couple of eyepieces with it, maybe Baader Morpheus which I have used on other scopes and like.

No, the 120ED handles all eyepieces well in my experience, and I can't think of a single instance when I had a disappointing view because of the eyepiece. I'm not sure what you consider to be "lesser eyepieces"? For me a lesser eyepiece would have to be a very cheaply made, low quality eyepiece right at the bottom of the barrel. I find that most eyepieces today are of reasonably good quality, even the less expensive ones, and the ED will give pleasing results through them all, from plossl's and orthoscopics right through to the superdooper ultra wides. Although at F7.5 you don't really need the highly corrected wide angle eyepieces to control the edge of field. 

I used Naglers, Ethos and later Pentax XW's on my 120ED all to great effect. My preference is the XW as it was cooler, and to my eye, purer than the Televue offerings. The 31mm Nagler was in a class of its own though! The Morpheus are simply gorgeous eyepieces at a fraction of the price of either the TV's or XW's, yet they are outstanding in both construction and performance. I'd stick with the Morpheus! 

As John mentioned, you might want to consider some short focal length eyepieces, possibly in the 5mm to 2.5mm range. I found the 5mm and 3.5mm XW's to be invaluable. Orthoscopics are great but you may find eye releif a problem in the shorter focal lengths, in which case I'd suggest using a longer focal length ortho or Plossl along with a 2X barlow.

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by mikeDnight

[Timebandit]

 

 

Nice scope choice👍

In my Equinox 120ED then the eyepiece of choice is the good old ortho BGO if I am in a tight observation mood. As optics are sharp and crisp , but eye relief and fov are tight.

Then you have my favorite all round eyepieces for the 120ED. The Pentax XW range from 3.5XW to that 10XW , ortho like performance sharp as a tak on view ,great eye relief and fov of around 70d.  If you want to treat your 120 and yourself ,then the Pentax XW 3.5 to 10XW are the ones to have in the eyepiece case

[Sunshine]

Well, good and bad news, by the time was ready to pul the trigger on the Eon 120, though I was sure it would be there for me, it sold. Arrrrgh, it was on the showroom floor on consignment for over a month but, I was hours late I was told. The good news is, just today I noticed an Eon 115mm triplet went up for sale with case and flattener, I jumped on it minutes after it was posted, I have to pick it up tomorrow. It is in pristine condition, I am so excited, it will be my first quality frac. Soon, I will be posting my first light report, based on what I hear, it is a very nice scope, I can’t wait to train it on the moon.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Sunshine