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Scope No. 8, And It's Big!


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My eighth (although I didn't keep them all - 4 fracs, an MCT, an SCT, a Dob, and a Newt).

I've wanted a longish focus frac for a while, and didn't fancy the cost, weight, and extra cooling for a triplet, so I've gone for the Bresser Messier AR 127L/1200 Achro.  A little CA on bright objects is not a problem (even less so with a higher ratio).  And I expect it to be sharp and contrasty, with good depth of focus and only little field curvature.

The R&P hex focuser has a smooth and slop-free action.  The straight-through finder has great adjustments on two rings, and with magnification and crosswires should be fine for locating and tracking, inversion notwithstanding.  (If it proves tricky, I'll probably go for a non-inverting finder with illuminated ring reticle.) 

It is big - almost as much a shock as when the 10" Dob landed.  From the front of the tube to the base of the diagonal is 136cm.  The handle between the tube rings is certainly a blessing, and the Skytee II is a good platform for it.  (The home-made counterweight is serving well.)  I'll be fine with it, but keep hearing, "Where are you going to store that?"

I must say, this thing really looks the business - to my eyes, more so than any other 'scope I've had.  Can't wait to put it into action!

Doug.

 

P1080018.JPG

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It's a very fine visual scope. I sold mine to fund a sw 120ed, but that was just a luxury I could afford.

Works wonderfully with almost every eyepiece, great focuser, very nice finder (kept mine) and very well built. It also handled high magnification really good, most of the times seeing was the limiting factor.

And the looks!! A proper frac, not one of those tiny camera lenses 😁. I miss mine so much, that I haven't changed my avatar.

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15 minutes ago, Raph-in-the-sky said:

Quick question: What are the advantages of this kind of scope? Is it better than a 10'' dob at anything besides transportability?

 

- Looks great

- Tighter Stars/sharper images- important for example on tight doubles' separation

- no diffraction spikes

- Better contrast

- Easier to mount on a tracking mount (less important on an AZ mount)

- permanently collimated, very unlikely to ever need adjustment

- easier to look through (I know that is subjective, but I honestly believe that)😊

- Looks great (did I say that before?)🙃😁

Dave

 

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1 minute ago, F15Rules said:

- Looks great

- Tighter Stars/sharper images- important for example on tight doubles' separation

- no diffraction spikes

- Better contrast

- Easier to mount on a tracking mount (less important on an AZ mount)

- permanently collimated, very unlikely to ever need adjustment

- easier to look through (I know that is subjective, but I honestly believe that)😊

- Looks great (did I say that before?)🙃😁

Dave

 

It does look great... did you already say that?

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To Dave's ( @F15Rules ) list I would add:

# higher focal ratio, so less CA, better depth of focus, less field curvature, more forgiving of eyepieces, and max exit pupil not excessive (so better contrast at low power)

# in short - a good all-rounder: good mag, quite good aperture, and ditto field of view

# looks like a telescope rather than a dustbin (only joking! 😉)

Doug.

 

 

Edited by cloudsweeper
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12 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

 

# looks like a telescope rather than a dustbin (only joking! 😉)

Doug.

 

 

Now now Doug, we get enough from Dave and his ' ship funnels'.........:grin:

Very lovely scope BTW. Look forward to your 'first light ' report.

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2 hours ago, Saganite said:

Now now Doug, we get enough from Dave and his ' ship funnels'.........:grin:

Very lovely scope BTW. Look forward to your 'first light ' report.

Steve - look at my original post's image - can you spot my Dob in there, left of centre?

Doug.

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1 hour ago, John said:

I always wanted a 5 inch frac after seeing pictures of Sir Patrick Moore's 5 inch Cooke at Selsey :smiley:

pm5inch.jpg.33a2f5a8cdef41ef4d4215244aae2f26.jpg

That did it for me too John. I'd stare longingly at the pic of Patrick's 5"refractor in the "Observers Book Of Astronomy". His reflectors left me cold, but that may have in part at least, been because Patrick promoted the 3" refractor equals a 6" reflector myth. I still have that book 40 years later and i still look longingly at his 5" frac'. Its an illness!

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1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

That did it for me too John. I'd stare longingly at the pic of Patrick's 5"refractor in the "Observers Book Of Astronomy". His reflectors left me cold, but that may have in part at least, been because Patrick promoted the 3" refractor equals a 6" reflector myth. I still have that book 40 years later and i still look longingly at his 5" frac'. Its an illness!

I didn't find that my experience bore out that myth - maybe that was harking back to mirrors made from speculum ? :grin:

When I've done comparisons I reckon a good refractor can match a reflector around an inch or so larger in aperture perhaps ? It does depend on the seeing conditions as well though.

Anyway - nice to see Dougs new-to-him 5 incher and I'm looking forward to hearing about it's performance :smiley:

 

 

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39 minutes ago, John said:

 

Anyway - nice to see Dougs new-to-him 5 incher and I'm looking forward to hearing about it's performance :smiley:

 

 

Thanks John.  I'm delighted with it.  Already bunged on a decent 2" diagonal and extension tube, got the balance point right, and built a storage stand from the foam packing it came with.  I'm sure it's gonna live up to expectations!

Doug.

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Antares also made the elite models at f8.8, f13 and bf15.  They were all 105mm refractors.

I see a Canadian dealer selling the 105 f13 one but I got too many right now at 13 scopes, maybe 14 I gotta count them

Joejaguar 

Edited by joe aguiar
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10 minutes ago, joe aguiar said:

Antares also made the elite models at f8.8, f13 and bf15.  They were all 105mm refractors.

I see a Canadian dealer selling the 105 f13 one but I got too many right now at 13 scopes, maybe 14 I gotta count them

Joejaguar 

The Antares 105mm refractors looked great but were internally stopped down to around 95mm effective aperture. Challenging to mount such long tubes steadily as well. Perhaps choose elsewhere for your 15th / 16th scope ? :smiley:

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I already have though about the next 2 scopes but if I every find them I'll be selling 2 of them that they will be replacing.

But it's a long shot seeing them for sale. I know one person that's a collector tho but he wants a collector price on it, so not sure he will come down in price.

Besides him its probably 0.01 chance I'll find another used for sale in Canada 

Joejaguar 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 20/02/2020 at 14:55, cloudsweeper said:

My eighth (although I didn't keep them all - 4 fracs, an MCT, an SCT, a Dob, and a Newt).

I've wanted a longish focus frac for a while, and didn't fancy the cost, weight, and extra cooling for a triplet, so I've gone for the Bresser Messier AR 127L/1200 Achro.  A little CA on bright objects is not a problem (even less so with a higher ratio).  And I expect it to be sharp and contrasty, with good depth of focus and only little field curvature.

The R&P hex focuser has a smooth and slop-free action.  The straight-through finder has great adjustments on two rings, and with magnification and crosswires should be fine for locating and tracking, inversion notwithstanding.  (If it proves tricky, I'll probably go for a non-inverting finder with illuminated ring reticle.) 

It is big - almost as much a shock as when the 10" Dob landed.  From the front of the tube to the base of the diagonal is 136cm.  The handle between the tube rings is certainly a blessing, and the Skytee II is a good platform for it.  (The home-made counterweight is serving well.)  I'll be fine with it, but keep hearing, "Where are you going to store that?"

I must say, this thing really looks the business - to my eyes, more so than any other 'scope I've had.  Can't wait to put it into action!

Doug.

 

P1080018.JPG

They are pretty big scopes I had it’s big brother and big it was 

E75B8C93-39A7-4ACE-8A35-000A7091F534.jpeg

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