iOptron 150mm Rumak - first impressions

[Mr Spock]

Sadly, I refuse to do an 'unboxing' thread - I'm sure people would rather look at a very nice scope instead. There's no first light due to my EQ5 being somewhere - who knows where - probably stuck at Felixstowe, so that will follow later.

The iOptron 150mm (6") is a Rutten-Maksutov (Rumak) rather than the standard 'Gregory' type. This means the secondary is not on the back of the corrector and part of it, but is a separate fitting. This allows the designer more freedom to correct aberrations.  According to reports, it can cover 1.4° with a 40mm eyepiece and is sharp right to the edge. I can't test that yet, so I'll concentrate on the feel of the scope.

The whole thing is a step above what you consider normal. Despite it's size, the scope, with dew shield and diagonal, weighs in at 7.4 kg. Not light, but below the EQ5's maximum 9.1 kg payload - just, with eyepiece. But the combination gives me the portability, absence of 'faff' and quality I need.

The tube material appears quite thick, as does the included dew shield. I've not measured it but you can see from the pic below the thickness of the dew shield. Not like the 'tin can' tubes of other manufacturers.

On this image you can see the twist lock for the dew shield and the separate fitting for the secondary.

The focusser is very smooth with no play at all. It has the same high quality feel as the rest of the scope. I kinda like the blue colour too. You can also see the covers for the collimation screws; I haven't taken one off yet but I believe there are two hex bolts underneath.

The finder is excellent. I've had a look through this and it's very sharp. Again there's a high standard of build quality.

Even the dovetail is better than you would normally get. It has an inset and end stops - perfect!

There's not much else in the box - just a few adaptors. I guess with this quality of scope they figured you'd prefer to use your own high quality eyepieces and diagonal rather than the inexpensive generic ones normally included. That adds to the quality feel and gives the impression the scope isn't aimed at a beginner, but is more of a next step upgrade.

So there we have it. A really nice scope which I'm sure is going to give me years of good service. It's a shame I'm a long way away from a first light, but, that's the way things are right now. 

 

 

[John]

It looks a great scope Michael

I agree with you re: photos of the actual instrument rather than boxes

[Alkaid]

Looks very nice.  I often wondered about these a few years back, heard good things.  Looking forward to your first light report (when the weather breaks!).  

Cheers,

Steve

[GazOC]

Nice. Is the secondary adjustable or fixed?

[callisto]

Looks nice...Enjoy

[Mr Spock]

1 hour ago, GazOC said:

Nice. Is the secondary adjustable or fixed?

Fixed. I don't know for certain but would think it's spherical like the Gregory, just a different radius to the corrector plate unlike the latter.

[Highburymark]

Very nice! Look forward to that (distant) first report.

[dweller25]

I see a box - so it’s an unboxing 😁

Very nice scope - should be good on Mars 👍

Edited November 21, 2020 by dweller25

[chiltonstar]

Lovely looking scope! When the Weather Gods permit, the first light report will be eagerly awaited. Contrast on eg Mars would be interesting.....

Chris

[Mr Spock]

Finally, after ordering both in September, it's complete.

 

[John]

Very nice Michael. Has a real "classic" look to it

 

 

[Mr Spock]

It's what I need - back to basics, get out and do some astro.

Looks good though doesn't it? 

[Mr Spock]

Just had a brief look. Seeing is pants  Collimation appears good though. 

ε Lyr was split at x144 but is very mushy. I'll give it another hour or two to see if it clears up.

[johninderby]

Nice looking scope indeed. 👍🏻

Supposed to be raining here but sky completely clear but horrible seeing.  Just couldn’t get sharp focus on anything with the StellaLya CC6. Frustrating. 🤬

 

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by johninderby

[HollyHound]

11 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Supposed to be raining here but sky completely clear but horrible seeing.  Just couldn’t get sharp focus on anything with the StellaLya CC6. Frustrating

Likewise, was hoping to get out for an hour on the moon this evening, but total cloud cover so far... still it's Christmas Eve and so sure there'll be some festive food and drink around anyway 🎄

Lovely scope BTW. Will be interesting to see how it performs, as I love Maks and this seems to be a really good one 👍

[Mr Spock]

Jetstream is right across the top of us. I don't expect seeing to improve much.

[johninderby]

Maybe we should take up a bit of spelunking. No problems with clouds then. 😁

[HollyHound]

Scrub that... suddenly cleared up and moons amazing 🔭👍

Edited December 24, 2020 by HollyHound

[Mr Spock]

Back in now. Seeing is too unstable to do any serious observing.

Moon: looks really good through the 22mm LVW x82. Not so good with the 8mm LVW x225 - image was mushy, however, some nice shading on the inside wall of Copernicus. This tells me the scope has excellent contrast. Through the mush you could see the scope is razor sharp.

Mars: Wobbly and full of atmospheric artifacts. Could just about make out some shading, but it was elusive.

Focusser is excellent. No play at all 👍

Main plus for the night is my cold weather gear is nice and toasty. 1.0°C at the moment and I felt really warm and comfortable.

[John]

3 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Scrub that... suddenly cleared up and moons amazing 🔭👍

Yep - I've just got out and it's not bad. Not the greatest seeing ever but good enough to have some fun

Short session though - got to keep on the right side of the CEO

[HollyHound]

3 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Moon: looks really good through the 22mm LVW x82. Not so good with the 8mm LVW x225 - image was mushy, however, some nice shading on the inside wall of Copernicus. This tells me the scope has excellent contrast. Through the mush you could see the scope is razor sharp.

Mars: Wobbly and full of atmospheric artifacts. Could just about make out some shading, but it was elusive.

Had two hours with a clear sky and the Mak 127, and my experience mirrors yours... magnifications up to x100 were ok but much higher and things seemed “mushy” indeed. Binoviewing the moon was still very pleasant though. Just lovely to have clear skies again for first time in ages 👍

[HollyHound]

4 minutes ago, John said:

Short session though - got to keep on the right side of the CEO

Me too... final prep for Christmas lunch tomorrow 🎅