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I have mixed feelings about my 10” dob…


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On 23/09/2020 at 16:09, Victor Boesen said:

I totally forgot about that!! I have some spare Baader solar film I could start with. I'd be very interested in doing white light solar observing;)

Thanks for reminding me!

Baader film would be fine - Sun’s just starting to get active again!

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Vendor returned with a price suggestion two days ago, and I'm surprised with their offer. I'll definitely purchase the scope and tripod, but I asked what they'd offer for a PanaView 38mm to which they could also give a decent offer. Still not the same price as FLO but surprisingly close! The question now is, do I purchase the Panaview 38mm together with the scope, or do I settle with scope and tripod and hope for Santa to bring me the PV 38mm:rolleyes2: I still have my Explorer Scientific 82deg 24mm but I'm just worried about the focuser being able to handle it!

Also, would anyone happen to know the outer diameter of the dew-shield on the Evostar 100? I'd like to 3D print a custom solar filter just like I've done with my 72ED, but I can't find its outer diameter anywhere:icon_scratch:

Victor

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Hi Victor.

I think your worries about the focuser wil disappear once you see the scope in the flesh. There are grub screws on the focuser body that adjust the tension of the draw tube. I used a 31mm Nagler on a SW 120 ED Pro with no real issue. As well as the tension adjusting grub screws there's a locking screw that locks the draw tube if need be. I only needed to use it when looking near the zenith.

Edited by mikeDnight
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21 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Hi Victor.

I think your worries about the focuser wil disappear once you see the scope in the flesh. There are grub screws on the focuser body that adjust the tension of the draw tube. I used a 31mm Nagler on a SW 120 ED Pro with no real issue. As well as the tension adjusting grub screws there's a locking screw that locks the draw tube if need be. I only needed to use it when looking near the zenith.

I could imagine the 31mm Nagler being quite a heavy eyepiece as well which calms me a little with regards to my ES 24mm. Thank you very much! I've just emailed the vendor and accepted the offer on the telescope and AZ4 mount:biggrin:

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Well.... some sad news just arrived in my mail box. The vendor found out that the scope isn't available currently, and I would have to wait until November to get it:cry: It is, however, still in stock in Germany, but the price isn't great to be honest. I will have to rethink, whether I should purchase it now and accept the delivery time, or reconsider other options, eg. the TS scopes or Altair Starwave since I'd love to have the scope before the holidays in 1½ weeks.

Decisions...:icon_scratch:

Edited by Victor Boesen
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On 22/09/2020 at 08:22, johninderby said:

Agree with the above.

Most grandparents love doing things for their grandkids and would probably be pleased that you trust them to look after your telescope. That is if they have room for it of course.

I'd agree with this if you go for a refractor..with the Dob, though, they might confuse it with a smoke flue for their log burner?🤭😇

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I've revisited @mikeDnight's suggestion of the TS-Optics 102mm F/7 or its equivalent, the Astro-Tech AT102, which supposedly uses FK-61 ED glass essentially being the same as FPL-51 (correct me if I'm wrong). This scope would leave some extra space in my budget for a case and perhaps even some other gear I have been looking at for some time. What worries me the most is the planetary, lunar and double star performance though. I know, being an F/7 and not FPL-53 glass like the 100ED F/9, that it's probably not going to perform as well at high magnifications, but I do get, what looks to be, a scope with a slightly better build quality with regards to focuser and a sliding dew-shield(with the AT 102). The entire scope will also be shorter by a considerable amount, which I wouldn't mind since its case would be smaller.

I really like the sliding dew-shield on the Altair Starwave 102 and the AT102, so I will look around to see if it's possible to buy them anywhere, but I'll still have a look around on SGL and CN to find some reviews on the different scopes:)

Victor

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Hi Victor,

One of the refractors I attached as a potential alternative did use FPL53 and a Lanthanum mating element. I know that waiting until November is disappointing for you, but don't rush into buying a scope based on mechanics. Optics are everything, and even if you aren't 100% happy with the mechanics, you can always add a better focuser at a later date when funds allow it. If you buy a lesser lens it will plague you for years to come. So I'd seriously suggest you either wait for the SW 100ED Pro, or buy the better optics out of the two other alternatives.  You can put a turbo badge and go faster stripes on a Skoda but it will never make it a Subaru. Get the best optics you can afford and you'll never regret it, even if you're pushing your finances and need to wait before buying accessories. When I bought my Tak FS128 in 2003 it financially drained me and all I could afford was a single second hand 7mm Nagler. I can tell you that I didn't regret buying the best scope I could afford. I can also tell you that I probably got more out of that humble 7mm Nagler than anybody else on earth ever got from their 7mm Naglers, simply because I had no choice! Obviously you shouldn't let others determine your choices, but you can learn from their experiences.  ☺

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21 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Hi Victor,

One of the refractors I attached as a potential alternative did use FPL53 and a Lanthanum mating element. I know that waiting until November is disappointing for you, but don't rush into buying a scope based on mechanics. Optics are everything, and even if you aren't 100% happy with the mechanics, you can always add a better focuser at a later date when funds allow it. If you buy a lesser lens it will plague you for years to come. So I'd seriously suggest you either wait for the SW 100ED Pro, or buy the better optics out of the two other alternatives.  You can put a turbo badge and go faster stripes on a Skoda but it will never make it a Subaru. Get the best optics you can afford and you'll never regret it, even if you're pushing your finances and need to wait before buying accessories. When I bought my Tak FS128 in 2003 it financially drained me and all I could afford was a single second hand 7mm Nagler. I can tell you that I didn't regret buying the best scope I could afford. I can also tell you that I probably got more out of that humble 7mm Nagler than anybody else on earth ever got from their 7mm Naglers, simply because I had no choice! Obviously you shouldn't let others determine your choices, but you can learn from their experiences.  ☺

I really appreciate your advice Mike! The sliding dew shield, better focuser and faster focal ratio has really caught my attention when researching scopes. I will reconsider the TS-Optics scope with a lanthanum element since I definitely understand your analogy with regards to the quality of the optics! Fortunately I've actually just received a SMALL amount of unexpected money, so this could help financing the scope:rolleyes2: Hopefully I will settle for one or the other soon, but I'm happy that you're willing to help!

Edited by Victor Boesen
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Lurking around on various sites this weekend brings me closer to the final decision it feels like. I consider contacting the widescreen center to ask if they have the AZ4 and this telescope in stock:

https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/tecnosky-102700-f7-fpl-53-ed-doublet-apo-refractor-telescope.html

It looks identical to the TS-optics FPL-53 with a lanthanum mating element suggested by @mikeDnight but doesn't mention the lanthanum element anywhere so are they really the same? If they are, and it's in stock I think I'll go for that, although if it's not I am strongly considering the TS-optics. I would just prefer if I could order everything from the same vendor (I need the red cat collar for my Samyang 135mm as well), which would be possible from the widescreen center.

Victor

Edited by Victor Boesen
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I very nearly bought the very same scope (from a different vendor)! My tale is described in this thread.  I had a long chat with the vendor who was very helpful and confirmed that the TS-optics, the Tecnosky and the Altair Astro ED-R are identical and made by Kunming Optics. Why TS advertises Lanthanum and the other two don’t, I’m not really sure - would be interested to hear what Widescreen day on that. The Tecnosky is an Italian brand, a bit like Altair Astro. I ended up buying the Altair Astro, but only because they were closer to home, having a shop about 50 miles away. I’m sure the Tecnosky would be the same quality. I haven’t had the chance to use the scope much yet, but it is clearly a high quality scope and has given me some excellent views of Mars and surprising DSO ability. I’m really glad I went for F7, it’s so much easier to use than my 100mm F10 achro, and gives much better planetary views. Also better wide field ability. Really happy with it and dying to get out again! I did have to ‘re-align’ my expectations, FPL-53 does not turn a 100mm scope into a 150mm scope, but the quality emerges over time as you use the scope more and more, and really shines in good seeing conditions and dark skies. Good luck and keep us up to date. 

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31 minutes ago, RobertI said:

I very nearly bought the very same scope (from a different vendor)! My tale is described in this thread.  I had a long chat with the vendor who was very helpful and confirmed that the TS-optics, the Tecnosky and the Altair Astro ED-R are identical and made by Kunming Optics. Why TS advertises Lanthanum and the other two don’t, I’m not really sure - would be interested to hear what Widescreen day on that. The Tecnosky is an Italian brand, a bit like Altair Astro. I ended up buying the Altair Astro, but only because they were closer to home, having a shop about 50 miles away. I’m sure the Tecnosky would be the same quality. I haven’t had the chance to use the scope much yet, but it is clearly a high quality scope and has given me some excellent views of Mars and surprising DSO ability. I’m really glad I went for F7, it’s so much easier to use than my 100mm F10 achro, and gives much better planetary views. Also better wide field ability. Really happy with it and dying to get out again! I did have to ‘re-align’ my expectations, FPL-53 does not turn a 100mm scope into a 150mm scope, but the quality emerges over time as you use the scope more and more, and really shines in good seeing conditions and dark skies. Good luck and keep us up to date. 

Thanks a lot Rob! Will have a read through your thread and contact widescreen tomorrow. They all look like really nice scopes! I started out thinking the Evostar 100ED was the hands down best choice for me, but the sliding dew shield, focuser and wider FOV of the Altair, TS and technosky looks really good!

I will keep this thread updated;)

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54 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

Thanks a lot Rob! Will have a read through your thread and contact widescreen tomorrow. They all look like really nice scopes! I started out thinking the Evostar 100ED was the hands down best choice for me, but the sliding dew shield, focuser and wider FOV of the Altair, TS and technosky looks really good!

I will keep this thread updated;)

Looking forward to updates. You should be able to track down 'first light' reports and observing reports using the AA 102 ED-R from myself, @Paz and @Dantooine - I'm sure there are plenty of other owners on SGL too!

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1 hour ago, RobertI said:

Looking forward to updates. You should be able to track down 'first light' reports and observing reports using the AA 102 ED-R from myself, @Paz and @Dantooine - I'm sure there are plenty of other owners on SGL too!

It’s a good scope. No regrets from me. I love the sliding few shield. Focuser is great. Nice manageable size for quick setting up and cool down. I find it so easy to use. Very good all rounder. 

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7 hours ago, RobertI said:

Looking forward to updates. You should be able to track down 'first light' reports and observing reports using the AA 102 ED-R from myself, @Paz and @Dantooine - I'm sure there are plenty of other owners on SGL too!:laugh2:

 

5 hours ago, Dantooine said:

It’s a good scope. No regrets from me. I love the sliding few shield. Focuser is great. Nice manageable size for quick setting up and cool down. I find it so easy to use. Very good all rounder. 

Thank you both, I've read through many of your posts about the Altair;) Have any of you purchased directly from Altair themselves?? They seem to have it in stock.

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15 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

 

Thank you both, I've read through many of your posts about the Altair;) Have any of you purchased directly from Altair themselves?? They seem to have it in stock.

Yes I got mine direct from Altair Astro. There have been a couple of bad reviews on here about them however I have full compliments on the way my purchases have been.
 

I dealt with a man called Ian Night who was very pleasant and helpful. If you decide to purchase from Altair I would give him a telephone call and discuss stock levels and delivery details.
 

Altair is a small business with only few staff and sometimes they are very busy. My own experiences have been they are perfect gentlemen to deal with.  

Old fashioned speaking in the phone is sometimes better in this high tech click and collect rat race of a world. 

Dale. 

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How unlucky can one be.... After having committed to the Tecnosky 102mm FPL-53 from astroshop I get home from school and prepare to order. I then notice that it is now out of stock, which is wasn't a couple hours ago!!! Still waiting for Widescreen center and Altair to respond to my mail I sent Sunday morning.

I would love to get my hands on the scope during or before next week because it's a holiday from school and I also want to observe Mars as much as I can before it drifts away from Earth! Maybe I will order from Altair astro instead, but they're a little more expensive.

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If you get no responses, you could try Harrison Telescopes for the Altair scope (although i don’t think they carry stock, and just order from Altair Astro themselves, but at least they do respond to emails) or Astrograph.net for the Tecnosky (again I don’t think they carry stock but you can speak to them on the phone). 
 

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8 hours ago, RobertI said:

If you get no responses, you could try Harrison Telescopes for the Altair scope (although i don’t think they carry stock, and just order from Altair Astro themselves, but at least they do respond to emails) or Astrograph.net for the Tecnosky (again I don’t think they carry stock but you can speak to them on the phone). 
 

I've already considered harrison telescopes, but unfortunately they don't deliver to Denmark. I think I will try calling Altair and the widescreen center today if I don't get an answer.

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UPDATE! I checked astroshop this morning, who'd also responded very fast to my email and confirmed that the TS-optics and Tecnosky refractor are the same, and the Tecnosky was now in stock!! So an order has been placed on a Tecnosky 102mm FPL-53 refractor:biggrin: Now I just need the AZ4 mount, but I already have a mount that I could play with before it arrives!

I'm very excited, and happy that things went my way this morning!

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11 hours ago, Victor Boesen said:

I've already considered harrison telescopes, but unfortunately they don't deliver to Denmark. I think I will try calling Altair and the widescreen center today if I don't get an answer.

Altair Astro need to read this thread and answer customers, silly boys, lost another sale! They will put themselves out of business if they don’t pull their socks up. 

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1 hour ago, Dantooine said:

Altair Astro need to read this thread and answer customers, silly boys, lost another sale! They will put themselves out of business if they don’t pull their socks up. 

I could have chosen to call them instead, but astroshop answered my email within an hour and the scope is due to arrive tomorrow!! I'm continuing to have a great experience with them.

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Good news!! The scope arrived today, and I've had a little time to fiddle with it. My heavy 2" 24mm 82 degree ES eyepiece is not a problem at all! The focuser is far better than the one fitted on the Evostar 72ED, the compression rings in the focuser are very nice and the nobs are very smooth. I wasn't aware that the focuser was rotatable, but apparently it is and it feels very sturdy and smooth to rotate and lock.

IMG_20201008_171006.thumb.jpg.4603b113ffdb403385746f181aaa4e52.jpg
_DSC0451.thumb.jpg.feeea48b7ac39d2b70b5fc3332219c41.jpg
I have purchased the AZ4 mount from FLO, but it isn't in stock currently. For now I'll be using it on my Manfrotto 055 Xpro tripod and AZT6 alt/az head from TS-optics. I thought I could use the counterweight shaft and weight from my star adventurer with the mount head, but unfortunately it doesn't fit. It'll be fine for now, but it's definitely too much, not useless though, for the small head without a counterbalance.

I am surprised how far I need to rack out the focuser before I reach focus. This is currently an issue with my 24mm eyepiece, since I'm not able to reach focus even with a 50mm extension tube in place. I can reach focus with all my 1.25" eyepieces and my Takahashi diagonal. I am not sure a 2" diagonal would fix the issue or if I would need to replace the eyepiece with another one in the future.

Inspecting the inside of the tube I noticed that there are a lot of baffles inside the tube, which will hopefully reduce glare and stray light. The coating of the glass also looks good even at a point-blank flash. The dew-shield isn't loose when retracting and extending it, and the dust cap fits nicely.

IMG_20201008_162838.thumb.jpg.c5e4b4ed1cb3de441f66ce3cb6c0c9f9.jpg
Point-blank flash with my phone rested on the dew-shield. Looks pretty good to me!
IMG_20201008_171018.thumb.jpg.7a2abb7f9c233f40d058defe0513aa51.jpg

It was/is currently terrible weather, which is to be expected upon arrival of astronomy goods:biggrin:, but I managed to get a look at an antenna some 100 meters away (don't know the exact location of it but it's 300+ meters away), and the view through the scope was very surprising. I expected to see some chromatic aberration due to the bright background but I couldn't notice any in my 4,7mm eyepiece (152X) and the view was very sharp. If there was some chromatic aberration I might have seen a slight yellow tint to the edges of the antenna, but I really can't say for sure. As soon as I get the opportunity to try it on Venus, Mars and etc. I think this will be a better test.

IMG_20201008_170444.thumb.jpg.d49181992d9c8861f866ffed80958c64.jpg
10X optical/digital zoom on my Oneplus 7 Pro for scale.

IMG_20201008_170534.thumb.jpg.22bf5f5d6c1e73ce16b77a7dfa9fa173.jpg
Straight through the 4.7mm eyepiece.

IMG_20201008_170544.thumb.jpg.2889bd9cae0fe97be322f5f0644ab2f4.jpg
A 3X optical zoom on the TV-antenna. Some purple is visible in this image and the one before, but I didn't notice it when looking through the eyepiece, which I feel like matters the most!!

As of now I haven't fully decided what to do with my dob, but my grandparents will visit me the next week because of holiday so that gives me an opportunity to talk to them about storing the dob at their place. I am very excited to try out the scope properly, and despite my 24mm eyepiece not able to reach focus I still have a very good first impression of the scope and its mechanical quality. According to Clear Outside it'll clear up at about 4am tomorrow morning but I have school at 8am so I don't expect myself waking up that early🥱

I will create a separate thread about the refractor as soon as I get my unboxing/first impression video finished either tomorrow or Saturday, just to keep things separated.
Thanks to everyone who's helped me deciding what scope to get! I am very happy that I went for a shorter F/7 scope with retractable dew-shield instead of the Evostar 100 at F/9.

Victor

Edited by Victor Boesen
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1 hour ago, Victor Boesen said:

Good news!! The scope arrived today, and I've had a little time to fiddle with it. My heavy 2" 24mm 82 degree ES eyepiece is not a problem at all! The focuser is far better than the one fitted on the Evostar 72ED, the compression rings in the focuser are very nice and the nobs are very smooth. I wasn't aware that the focuser was rotatable, but apparently it is and it feels very sturdy and smooth to rotate and lock.

IMG_20201008_171006.thumb.jpg.4603b113ffdb403385746f181aaa4e52.jpg
_DSC0451.thumb.jpg.feeea48b7ac39d2b70b5fc3332219c41.jpg
I have purchased the AZ4 mount from FLO, but it isn't in stock currently. For now I'll be using it on my Manfrotto 055 Xpro tripod and AZT6 alt/az head from TS-optics. I thought I could use the counterweight shaft and weight from my star adventurer with the mount head, but unfortunately it doesn't fit. It'll be fine for now, but it's definitely too much, not useless though, for the small head without a counterbalance.

I am surprised how far I need to rack out the focuser before I reach focus. This is currently an issue with my 24mm eyepiece, since I'm not able to reach focus even with a 50mm extension tube in place. I can reach focus with all my 1.25" eyepieces and my Takahashi diagonal. I am not sure a 2" diagonal would fix the issue or if I would need to replace the eyepiece with another one in the future.

Inspecting the inside of the tube I noticed that there are a lot of baffles inside the tube, which will hopefully reduce glare and stray light. The coating of the glass also looks good even at a point-blank flash. The dew-shield isn't loose when retracting and extending it, and the dust cap fits nicely.

IMG_20201008_162838.thumb.jpg.c5e4b4ed1cb3de441f66ce3cb6c0c9f9.jpg
Point-blank flash with my phone rested on the dew-shield. Looks pretty good to me!
IMG_20201008_171018.thumb.jpg.7a2abb7f9c233f40d058defe0513aa51.jpg

It was/is currently terrible weather, which is to be expected upon arrival of astronomy goods:biggrin:, but I managed to get a look at an antenna some 100 meters away (don't know the exact location of it but it's 300+ meters away), and the view through the scope was very surprising. I expected to see some chromatic aberration due to the bright background but I couldn't notice any in my 4,7mm eyepiece (152X) and the view was very sharp. If there was some chromatic aberration I might have seen a slight yellow tint to the edges of the antenna, but I really can't say for sure. As soon as I get the opportunity to try it on Venus, Mars and etc. I think this will be a better test.

IMG_20201008_170444.thumb.jpg.d49181992d9c8861f866ffed80958c64.jpg
10X optical/digital zoom on my Oneplus 7 Pro for scale.

IMG_20201008_170534.thumb.jpg.22bf5f5d6c1e73ce16b77a7dfa9fa173.jpg
Straight through the 4.7mm eyepiece.

IMG_20201008_170544.thumb.jpg.2889bd9cae0fe97be322f5f0644ab2f4.jpg
A 3X optical zoom on the TV-antenna. Some purple is visible in this image and the one before, but I didn't notice it when looking through the eyepiece, which I feel like matters the most!!

As of now I haven't fully decided what to do with my dob, but my grandparents will visit me the next week because of holiday so that gives me an opportunity to talk to them about storing the dob at their place. I am very excited to try out the scope properly, and despite my 24mm eyepiece not able to reach focus I still have a very good first impression of the scope and its mechanical quality. According to Clear Outside it'll clear up at about 4am tomorrow morning but I have school at 8am so I don't expect myself waking up that early🥱

I will create a separate thread about the refractor as soon as I get my unboxing/first impression video finished either tomorrow or Saturday, just to keep things separated.
Thanks to everyone who's helped me deciding what scope to get! I am very happy that I went for a shorter F/7 scope with retractable dew-shield instead of the Evostar 100 at F/9.

Victor

It looks a very fine telescope. Just have to be patient now for first light. I think you will find you have made a very good choice. What is the 24mm eyepiece that you cant get focus with? I’ve not had any problem with focus on any of my eyepieces with my Altair version. 

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