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TecnoSky 102mm F/7 FPL-53 refractor - Ongoing review


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1 minute ago, dweller25 said:

Hello Victor,

Here is a drawing I did at x217 on October 10th which looks to be the same CM as in your video 🙂

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Beautiful sketch! Looks like you caught many of the same features! Well done:biggrin:

@johninderby I see that Teleskop-express, who I've purchased from before, also have quite a lot of diagonals including APM, their own TS-optics, Baader and etc. A TS-optics one has caught my attention claiming a Quartz mirror with a 1/12 wave accuracy? Looks close to the same as the Revalation.
https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p88_TS-Optics-Optics-2--Zenitspiegel-mit-99---Reflexion---QUARZGLAS---1-12-lambda.html

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2 minutes ago, John said:

I have a couple of the Tele Vue Everbrights which are superbly made things (machined out of a single block of alloy) and even the heavy eyepieces such as the Nagler 31 and Ethos 21 are held very securely in them. My Astro Physics Maxbright is none to shabby either. These gems are rather expensive though and the lower cost diagonals do perform pretty well too :icon_biggrin:

 

 

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The everbrights look like beautiful diagonals John, but I think they're perhaps a little too expensive:cry: You have had quite good experiences with the WO diagonal haven't you? Or am I wrong.

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Just now, Victor Boesen said:

The everbrights look like beautiful diagonals John, but I think they're perhaps a little too expensive:cry: You have had quite good experiences with the WO diagonal haven't you? Or am I wrong.

I have had a WO and the Revelation / GSO and they were about the same in peformance terms as each other. The Revelation / GSO is lighter as @johninderby says.

 

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1 hour ago, johninderby said:

I used to have the AstroPhysics diagonal. An absolute work of art but in truth similar in performance to the WO and Revelation.

Nicer to look at though. 😁

The AP was the joint best performing mirror diagonal in BilP's mega test of diagonals.

Why not have lovely build quality and that great name as well ? :icon_biggrin:

 

 

 

 

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I’ve been through a silly amount of diagonals. Of the decent ones, there was no perceivable difference between the 2” Skywatcher, 2” WO or 2” Baader models (priced around £80, £130 and £199 respectively, though the Baader comes with the clicklock). I think the Baader T2 Zeiss prism and BBHS ones are probably a step up, but not life-changly so..

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21 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

I’ve been through a silly amount of diagonals. Of the decent ones, there was no perceivable difference between the 2” Skywatcher, 2” WO or 2” Baader models (priced around £80, £130 and £199 respectively, though the Baader comes with the clicklock). I think the Baader T2 Zeiss prism and BBHS ones are probably a step up, but not life-changly so..

I would love to get a diagonal which I know I can rely on for some time. This was also the reason why I, as my first eyepieces, purchased and stuck to the Explorer scientific 82 degree series. As with many other decisions in this hobby, I feel like there are so many choices, many quite similar, and I just need to settle on one at some point:icon_scratch:

EDIT: The 2" BBHS diagonal does look very good though, and I really like the customizability and quality of it!

Edited by Victor Boesen
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15 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

I would love to get a diagonal which I know I can rely on for some time. This was also the reason why I, as my first eyepieces, purchased and stuck to the Explorer scientific 82 degree series. As with many other decisions in this hobby, I feel like there are so many choices, many quite similar, and I just need to settle on one at some point:icon_scratch:

EDIT: The 2" BBHS diagonal does look very good though, and I really like the customizability and quality of it!

The Badder 2" mirror diagonals employ  larger mirrors (46 - 47 mm clear aperture) than most other makes, which could be of advantage with some longer focal length eyepieces with large field stops, also if used for imaging with a full frame sensor. I also like the click-lock mechanism of these diagonals.

I have both the dielectric (currently fitted to my 9.25 in CPC) and BBHS (fitted to my Esprit 150) versions, I've not really compared the performance of them (must do so some time), but the coating does appear brighter on the BBHS version., although nearly twice the price.

John 

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7 hours ago, Victor Boesen said:

Thank you @Highburymark, @JeremyS, @Dantooine and @RobertI!! I have been very lucky with regards to the weather since the scope arrived, but of course I don't mind:biggrin:

Rob I will definitely stick with the doubles, and I find they're great to explore under my light polluted skies at home! I just need to find them first😅 I do agree that the 380X image shows slightly more detail, for example the clouds on the northern limb. I do, however, think I prefer the contrast in the 266X image.

Last night I had yet another session with my new telescope under darker skies. I decided to meet up with some other amateur astronomers I have a good relation to, and we met at a dark spot just outside of the city (25min drive). I hadn't been there before, but I was surprised with how dark it was! The milky way was noticeable in the Cygnus region but not overwhelming, and I'd say the location is about a Bortle 5. I also had the opportunity to try out one of the other's 2" skywatcher diagonal, and I was happy to see that I could easily reach focus with all my eyepieces, the 2" included! I also brought my filters and I made use of the darker skies by looking for some deep sky objects.

M26 looked beautiful with my OIII filter screwed in the diagonal. I observed it with my 24mm, 14mm and 8.8mm and each eyepiece showed a different view. Through the 24mm it was very bright and comparable to the brightness of some of the surrounding stars. Because of the low magnification there was a lack of detail in the nebula itself, and it looked more like a glowing ball, although the core was slightly brighter. Through the 14mm the detail improved, and the core was now easily discernable from the outer nebulosity. Even more detail was visible with the 8.8mm, and the "shell" of the nebula was beautiful!

M31 was unfortunately located towards a dome of light pollution which was noticeable through the eyepiece. It did look very good through the 24mm eyepiece and M110 was also visible. I did notice the elongated shape of the galaxy was a lot more obvious at the darker sky compared to the view at home. The 24mm eyepiece seems great on these wide field targets and I can't wait to get my own 2" diagonal!

Next up was M81 and M82 through the 24mm again. The image was easy to compare to when I observed them from home last night, and the oval/ellipse shape of M81 was a lot more evident. M82's shape was quite sharp and defined, and I could definitely resolve more of its shape, eg. core and outer parts, compared to from home where it was mostly just the core and a slightly elongated shape.

I then swung over to the double cluster in Cassiopeia, and it was absolutely beautiful through the 24mm! I figured the rich star field would be a good way to test how flat the field would be. The field wasn't entirely flat, but I found that taking some time to adjust to the view and settle on good focus helped. After studying the double cluster for while I'd say that about 80% of the FOV remains sharp.

Pleiades was also buried in the dome of light pollution, but they looked great nonetheless with pin-point stars through the 24mm. No nebulosity was seen, and I expect that this would require a lot darker skies. If you've seen nebulosity in the Pleiades, what's your "requirements" with regards to aperture and darkness to see it?

After Cygnus had moved a little from zenith I decided now would be the perfect time to test if the Veil nebula would be doable through "only" 102mm of aperture. The only time I remember seeing it through my 10" dob was at a bortle 3/4 location with an OIII filter and 24mm eyepiece. I recall both the eastern and western veil being visible, but I wasn't "blown away" by the view, and I much preferred the view through my 15X70 binoculars with my OIII and UHC filter in the eyecups! At first I located the general area without the OIII filter in place, and I couldn't see anything, but I knew I was in the right spot. I then mounted the OIII filter in the 2" diagonal and the Eastern veil became obvious without the need to search around the FOV. The curved shape was easily visible, and I showed the four others attending our small "star party" the veil and they could all see it! After studying it for while it seemed like the southern and northern parts of it seemed brightest, but I couldn't notice many fine details expect the general shape and brightness. The western veil also became visible after some time, but it wasn't as impressive, which I had also previously experience, and it looked more like a faint glowing pencil brush right across 52 Cyg. Nonetheless, I was very satisfied with the view of the veil with my modest 102mm of aperture under, what some would not even consider, dark skies.
For fun, I tried one of the other's 40mm, 70 degree eyepiece on the veil, and I could fit the eastern and western veil in the same FOV, but I felt there were more details visible, mostly to the eastern veil, through the 24mm. Through the 24mm I can barely fit both parts in the same FOV.

I finished the session with a quick look at Mars, but it seemed that the conditions weren't as good last night as they were in my previous sessions, but I could still glimpse some details in the albedo features, and the polar cap, together with clouds on the northern limb, was still visible at moments of good seeing. I do think I may have noticed some slight yellow false color last night, but I figure this might be from the 2" skywatcher diagonal, since I haven't seen this yellow tint before on Mars or the Moon even.

I'm very pleased to know that a 2" diagonal would fix my current focusing issues, so I look forward to get my own some day. I just have to figure out which one:icon_scratch:
I continue to be amazed by the scope, and its deep sky capabilities are certainly not a joke. I look forward to bringing it to even darker skies this winter!

Your reports are making me jealous of the clear skies and the time under them that, time that at the moment I just have not got. Oh well, I will just snatch the moments as they come. You have written some good reports Victor 👍

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6 hours ago, John said:

I have a couple of the Tele Vue Everbrights which are superbly made things (machined out of a single block of alloy) and even the heavy eyepieces such as the Nagler 31 and Ethos 21 are held very securely in them. My Astro Physics Maxbright is none to shabby either. These gems are rather expensive though and the lower cost diagonals do perform pretty well too :icon_biggrin:

 

 

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That lens looks such a long way down in there, is it an illusion?

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1 minute ago, Dantooine said:

That lens looks such a long way down in there, is it an illusion?

It's a 14mm Delos with the eye guard section in the upper most position. As a non-glasses wearer, that suits me the best.

Huge eye lens with the Delos.

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

Your reports are making me jealous of the clear skies and the time under them that, time that at the moment I just have not got. Oh well, I will just snatch the moments as they come. You have written some good reports Victor 👍

Thank you Dantooine:biggrin: I'd never expected I would get to try my scope three nights in just four days! Forecast looks like I might have another opportunity tonight, but I have some things to do before then. Crossing my fingers🤞 Would love to try some more double stars:icon_rabbit:

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48 minutes ago, John said:

It's a 14mm Delos with the eye guard section in the upper most position. As a non-glasses wearer, that suits me the best.

Huge eye lens with the Delos.

 

 

 

Sorry John I’m having a silly moment I thought it was the 21 🤪

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6 hours ago, Victor Boesen said:

I would love to get a diagonal which I know I can rely on for some time. This was also the reason why I, as my first eyepieces, purchased and stuck to the Explorer scientific 82 degree series. As with many other decisions in this hobby, I feel like there are so many choices, many quite similar, and I just need to settle on one at some point:icon_scratch:

EDIT: The 2" BBHS diagonal does look very good though, and I really like the customizability and quality of it!

One thing to note about the TV everbrite is that the nosepiece is not undercut (or sloping) which ensures a snug fit in compression fittings.

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I finally finished my unboxing/first impression video about the TecnoSky refractor. I cover some of the mechanical features about the scope, and I compare its size to my smaller Evostar 72ED refractor. Guess how that looks like:wink2:

I briefly mention my first opportunity to use the scope under the stars, but I have already covered a lot more in this thread! If you want to see more images of the scope if you're unsure about its size and built quality I think you'll like the video!

Looking outside right now it looks clear so I'll probably get out and observe Mars on opposition night:thumbright:

Victor

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Great video Victor. Well presented and the scope looks amazing. 
You showed considerable constraint in the leisurely way you  opened the box! 🙂

I hope you will enjoy some good views of Mars tonight. I still find your Mars image pretty amazing!

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