ASKAR FMA180 40mm aperture apochromatic telescope.

[Adam J]

I am strongly considering one of these for a protable wide feild setup, connecting to my ASI1600mm pro and filter wheel on a Star Adventurer. Thinking that I will most likely match it up with an off axis guider.

40mm ED triplet,does not say which ED glass is used so could be anything, question is at 40mm and two ED elements will it matter????

Its about the perfect focal length to give me the FOV I am looking for and at F4.5 about as fast as I can go with 1.25 inch filters on the ASI1600mm pro without serious vignetting and I dont want to buy bigger astrodons. One of the reasons I am not so keen on the Samyang 135. I would go for a Redcat but to be honest this setup will not get used often enough for me to have a £700 scope sitting around depreciating.

This is pritty much 100% new to the market and I believe its effectively made by Sharpstar, so no example images avaliable yet. Hence the question, am I nuts to buy on of these?

Would welcome your thoughts.

Adam

 

 

 

[Adam J]

So as an update to this and since no one shouted, "NO ADAM DONT DO IT!", I caved in and have one on the way.

Now if it was only possible to get hold of a star adventurer to mount it on.

Adam

[Adam J]

The next day and it has arrived. Outer box is a nice touch.

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by Adam J

[Icesheet]

Looking forward to more pics and first impressions as I won’t be seeing mine for a while. Turns out I had an email in my junk saying they sold out. Wasn’t best pleased. 
 

Anyway hoping you will have positive words about it!

[Adam J]

3 hours ago, Icesheet said:

Looking forward to more pics and first impressions as I won’t be seeing mine for a while. Turns out I had an email in my junk saying they sold out. Wasn’t best pleased. 
 

Anyway hoping you will have positive words about it!

Bad luck.

Well I had a go today and it seems good, i took some images of high contrast daylight targets with a DSLR and i dont see and fringes.

Feels like a quality but of kit in the hand.

Adam

[Adam J]

A shot of a roofline at about 70 meters with a canon 700D. Not seeing much purple on high contrast edges.

Edited September 20, 2020 by Adam J

[Icesheet]

Hi @Adam J , have you managed to get this under the night skies yet?

[Adam J]

10 hours ago, Icesheet said:

Hi @Adam J , have you managed to get this under the night skies yet?

Yes but not sure I should post the results as it was taken in poor transparency and 100% moon. So not a good example image. 

[Icesheet]

6 hours ago, Adam J said:

Yes but not sure I should post the results as it was taken in poor transparency and 100% moon. So not a good example image. 

Hi, you don’t need to post it here. More interested to know if there are any obvious flaws in the lens. I’ll pm you. 

[Adam J]

3D printed a bracket and ring for my pegasus astro focus cube v2. As was the focuser was workable but it took longer to focus than I would like and so this will help.

Adam

Edited August 5, 2020 by Adam J

[Adam J]

Now this is a test image, taken at 100% moon and poor transparency so almost daylight. Hence this is more a test looking at stars than what the scope can really do.

1h20mins total of LRGB expsoures in 10 second subs with the ASI1600mm pro.

Some blue fringes but only minor and easy to fix, so not 100% APO but all in all very sharp.

I am looking at the stars more here than anything else as the conditions really where unworkable.

Personally I think that for £350 thats very respectable.

Adam

Edited October 9, 2020 by Adam J

[alcol620]

Review in  September's Astronomy Now by Ade AShford.

[Adam J]

30 minutes ago, alcol620 said:

Review in  September's Astronomy Now by Ade AShford.

Yes read it, but there are a few things ill add to what was said in that review when i come to do mine. Also I dont really take much note of Magazine reviews as I struggle to think of any that have ever given less then 4 stars. Its the old we will give you our stuff to review but your not allowed to say bad things about it situation.

Adam

Edited September 20, 2020 by Adam J

[alcol620]

Thinking of getting one and would be very interested in hearing anything negative that you find.

regards

Alec

[Cziffra]

Looking forward to more posts and shots too.  Adam, or anybody, do you know:

-- whether a flattener would be needed when used without the reducer?

-- Could the reducer be used with a different Apo with similar focal ratio?

[Adam J]

6 hours ago, Cziffra said:

Looking forward to more posts and shots too.  Adam, or anybody, do you know:

-- whether a flattener would be needed when used without the reducer?

-- Could the reducer be used with a different Apo with similar focal ratio?

I would think that the reducer night work with a similar focal length scope, you could try the F5 - F6 range. Much depends on how specific it is to the FMA 180 in term of any chromatic aberation correction charactoristics, but it seems likely that it will work....I could try it on my Esprit 100 as its F5.5 and has the backfocus for that to work.

You would need a flattner if not using a focal reducer for imaging unless it was a very small sensor such as a guide camera sized sensor etc. I am not really sure what would work though as it would need to use a M42 thread to attach it to the scope...Its possible the new flattner for the EVO GUIDE 50 might work...

Adam

[Cziffra]

Thanks very much Adam. Speaking of the EVO GUIDE 50, is there a reducer that pairs with it? I've not been able to find one.

[Adam J]

No it only has a flattener to use with it. Focus travel is limited so most likely a reducer Would not work out. 

[Cziffra]

Thanks. I wondered. That makes this Askar the only game in town for that wonderful wide focal length. I'm probably going to buy one. Has it continued to be a good performer for you? Thanks again.

[Adam J]

On 02/10/2020 at 17:16, Cziffra said:

Thanks. I wondered. That makes this Askar the only game in town for that wonderful wide focal length. I'm probably going to buy one. Has it continued to be a good performer for you? Thanks again.

Above is all I have done with it, just a quick test to see if it has any issues after purchase. I have yet to start my first full project with it. I will post here when I have something.

Adam

[Icesheet]

I have about an hour of HA with it on an ASI1600 unguided (no calibration frames here). I know my spacing isn't right and it turns out I had some tracking issues so stars aren't perfect but with that considered I think it shows promise. I have noticed from some of the threads around on it that it does seem to display blue bloat. It's only really noticeable when you pixel peep or on really bright stars. Since for me this is primarily a back up lens and for really widefield it's a trade off I think I'll be happy to live with, and as Adam says it can be further corrected in processing. In any case the versatility and compact nature of it more than makes up for it for me. I've actually been using it mostly as a daytime spotter with a TV Pan 15mm and it's been excellent. Sharp, bright and contrasty. Only real downside is it doesn't handle glare well. I also plan to use it as a guide scope. 

Edited October 3, 2020 by Icesheet

[djdurance]

^ Looks like a solid piece for the price! I was debating between this and the Samyang 135mm F2 lens. Seems like there are some trade offs either way... Samyang will be a bit more money. Hmmm. More decisions!

[Cziffra]

Thank you Icesheet and AdamJ. Adam, I'm intrigued by your autofocuser solution. I have no knowledge of 3D printing though. And how are you attaching everything to your mount (in my case it would be to a Star Adventurer). Thanks again!

[Adam J]

8 hours ago, Cziffra said:

Thank you Icesheet and AdamJ. Adam, I'm intrigued by your autofocuser solution. I have no knowledge of 3D printing though. And how are you attaching everything to your mount (in my case it would be to a Star Adventurer). Thanks again!

I am using the 76mm ZWO camera clamp at the back of the camera and a 50mm guide scope ring just infront of the filter wheel.

Its not together at the moment as the camera is on my Esprit but ill take a picture when next i use it.

Adam

 

[Space Oddities]

Sounds very tempting! I am thinking of replacing my Samyang 135mm with this small APO. The main advantage I see is the low weight compared to the Samyang. It would allow me to mount it to my AZ-GTi without a counter weight, and put that on my narrow balcony. The motivation to go out during winter is quite low, so that could be a nice way to still image some winter targets, from the comfort of my bed. And also to take it with me while traveling. 

Adam, have you tried mounting an OAG? I did the maths, and ZWO's OAG + EFW + 11mm spacer + ASI1600 = 54mm, which theoretically should be fine for the back focus of 55mm? That would make it a super tiny imaging platform to take everywhere!