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

[Victor Boesen]

12 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

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!

Thank you Jeremy! I enjoy every second of unboxing a telescope:) After all it's not something you get to do everyday!

I am also really happy with my image! I didn't expect I'd get to capture such image with my current equipment!

[mikeDnight]

That was a wonderful video Victor, and your refractor looks fantastic. Terrific image of Mars too, and the high magnification you used during observing is testement to the scopes fine optics. Watching your video and listening to your experiences with planets as well as deep sky, it seems you and your scope will have many happy years of observing to look forward to together. 

[RobertI]

Great video Victor, I have subscribed to your channel! I think yours and @Lockie's "DIY Astro" channel are the only two I subscribe to.

[Stu]

I’m really not sure how I missed this thread! Have just read through the whole thing and watched your video; excellent and enjoyable writing Victor, and the video was very well put together and interesting. I’m not familiar with the TechnoSky brand but it looks just as nice as the TS equivalents which I do have experience of, so I’m sure you will continue to be delighted with it.

Get yourself a Herschel Wedge soon and you will have some fabulous solar views through it too!

I think every astronomer should have a 4” apo!

[Victor Boesen]

12 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

That was a wonderful video Victor, and your refractor looks fantastic. Terrific image of Mars too, and the high magnification you used during observing is testement to the scopes fine optics. Watching your video and listening to your experiences with planets as well as deep sky, it seems you and your scope will have many happy years of observing to look forward to together. 

Thanks Mike!! I must say I'm impressed by the optics of the scope, easily surpassing the 50X pr. inch rule:)) I think you're right! It's a definite keeper!!

11 hours ago, RobertI said:

Great video Victor, I have subscribed to your channel! I think yours and @Lockie's "DIY Astro" channel are the only two I subscribe to.

Thank you very much Rob:) That's very nice of you! I don't feel like I reach the same standards as Lockie, but I do love to share some of my experiences. I also have a couple of video ideas, review of my Evostar 72ED being one of them, but I just need to find the time besides school and work! Thanks a lot!

3 hours ago, Stu said:

I’m really not sure how I missed this thread! Have just read through the whole thing and watched your video; excellent and enjoyable writing Victor, and the video was very well put together and interesting. I’m not familiar with the TechnoSky brand but it looks just as nice as the TS equivalents which I do have experience of, so I’m sure you will continue to be delighted with it.

Get yourself a Herschel Wedge soon and you will have some fabulous solar views through it too!

I think every astronomer should have a 4” apo!

Thank you Stu! I'm glad you found the thread interesting (and learned something!). I do plan to make a solar filter for it with some spare Baader solar film I haver laying around, then perhaps in the future I can upgrade to a proper wedge. I've noticed that Lunt sometimes have a discount on their wedges so it would make sense to get one when that's the case

 

Had another short session last night again, but unfortunately the seeing was a little turbulent and there was quite a lot of wind. Nonetheless, I was able to spot fine details in Solis Lacus and Tithonius Lacus at moments of steady seeing. Sirenium also looked beautiful, and I was able to easily spot the brighter region parallel, just south of it. I'm unsure if I also noticed some slight clouds forming on the limb just west of the southern polar cap? I'll have to double check when others post images today!

For the first time in a while I also decided to take a look at Uranus which, at 152X, looked like a tight ball/disk surprisingly bright, and I felt the scope had no problem focusing on the small disk.

A short but enjoyable session on opposition night!

[AstroPepe]

Hello Victor, do you see some noticeable difference regarding CA and contrast when compared to Evostar 72ED?

[Victor Boesen]

2 hours ago, AstroPepe said:

Hello Victor, do you see some noticeable difference regarding CA and contrast when compared to Evostar 72ED?

Hi! Yes I do see a noticeable difference between the two. I find the Evostar has slightly more CA and it doesn't remain as sharp at high magnifications as the TecnoSky does. With that being said, the focal ratio of the Evostar is f/5.8 and the Tecnosky is f/7, which will make a difference. The Evostar is great for the money, but the view through the TecnoSky is noticeably better (besides being brighter because of the larger aperture).

Edited October 14, 2020 by Victor Boesen