Starwave 102 7fl FPL 53

[Carl Au]

And so the day has arrived....

[Carl Au]

And so on to pairing it up with the mount.

[Alan White]

Looks very nice, look forward to the first light report on how its performs.
Looks very nice on the AZ4 mount.

[Cjg]

Congratulations, I have the slightly larger brother (125) love the views and build quality.

Hope you have first light soon.

Chris

[Carl Au]

Just waiting for 2 inch diagonal to arrive from FLO tomorrow now. 

Overall the fit and finish is quite a bit better than the SW ED100 and ED 120 I used to own. It feels very solid on the AZ4 and expect no issues whatsoever as an outfit, it's the perfect combination as far as I see. 

As soon as I can take it out for a first light session I will report back, but I am convinced that I have done the right thing buying this scope.

[John]

It looks lovely - congratulations !

 

[JeremyS]

Brilliant- looks super 👍

[Carl Au]

 

 

34 minutes ago, John said:

It looks lovely - congratulations !

 

Thanks John and thanks for the sage advise. My diagonal arrives tomorrow so I just need to drop my MKIII Baader Zoom into it and wait for a clear night....

 

I could be waiting some time...

[Mark at Beaufort]

Really nice looking scope. Did the scope come with a finder bracket or was that an extra purchase? I look forward to your first observing review. 

[Carl Au]

No it didn't, the shoe on there came with the finder, a WO red dot finder to go with the WO diagonal which should arrive tomorrow 

[Carl Au]

3 hours ago, Cjg said:

Congratulations, I have the slightly larger brother (125) love the views and build quality.

Hope you have first light soon.

Chris

The build quality is quite a step up from SW that is a fact. 

[Carl Au]

One of the things I like about is that it looks like a scientific instrument rather than a piece of disposable consumerism, if that makes sense? I am just very lucky to be able to afford such a thing. 

[dweller25]

Nice scope, just need to clear skies now.......

[david_taurus83]

Good choice! I miss mine. Took it to a rare clear night at the local astro club and everyone commented on how sharp the views were. Enjoy!

[mikeDnight]

That looks fantastic Carl. I'm pretty certain you're going to have a lot of fun with that. 

[RobertI]

The scope looks perfect on the AZ4, a lovely simple, but quality set up that will get a lot of use I’m sure. 
 

FYI,  I found having the RDF or straight through finder attached to the focuser drawtube involved too much neck twisting, so I ended up putting  a nice RACI finder there, and attaching a Rigel Quickfinder further up the tube. I’m sure you’ll find your own solutions if it’s a problem for you too. 👍
 

 

[Paz]

Very exciting! That scope is as good to look at as it is to look through. Look forward to hearing how you get on with it on action.

[Chris]

Congratulations! Four inches of aperture, FPL53 glass, and lovely looking build quality, there is no way you're not going to enjoy this scope

[Nicola Fletcher]

51 minutes ago, RobertI said:

The scope looks perfect on the AZ4, a lovely simple, but quality set up that will get a lot of use I’m sure. 
 

FYI,  I found having the RDF or straight through finder attached to the focuser drawtube involved too much neck twisting, so I ended up putting  a nice RACI finder there, and attaching a Rigel Quickfinder further up the tube. I’m sure you’ll find your own solutions if it’s a problem for you too. 👍
 

 

Do you mind me asking which RACI finder you are using? I just bought the same scope and I haven’t picked out a finderscope yet. Do you know if the Altair finder comes with the bracket to fit it to the scope? TIA!

Edited January 20, 2021 by Nicola Fletcher
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[Nicola Fletcher]

It looks absolutely fantastic - can’t wait to see mine in the flesh! Hope you get clear skies soon 🤞

[Carl Au]

Hi Nicola the short answer is no, you need to buy a finder with a shoe. I like red dot finders personally. RVO has the WO version on my scope in stock if that helps any. 

The Wicklow mountains eh? Been a long time since I was there. I did most of my stargazing in North Co Lietrim and Sligo when I lived in Ireland.

[RobertI]

10 hours ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

Do you mind me asking which RACI finder you are using? I just bought the same scope and I haven’t picked out a finderscope yet. Do you know if the Altair finder comes with the bracket to fit it to the scope? TIA!

I use the Altair RACI finder which comes with base. Not the cheapest option but works well. 👍 Like Carl I find the RDF is fine for most targets on most nights, although the finder is very useful on moonlit nights or in areas where there are few guide stars. 

[Nicola Fletcher]

10 hours ago, RobertI said:

I use the Altair RACI finder which comes with base. Not the cheapest option but works well. 👍 Like Carl I find the RDF is fine for most targets on most nights, although the finder is very useful on moonlit nights or in areas where there are few guide stars. 

Thanks a lot - I’m thinking of getting the Altair RACI finder too. Yours looks great on your scope!

[Nicola Fletcher]

11 hours ago, Carl Au said:

Hi Nicola the short answer is no, you need to buy a finder with a shoe. I like red dot finders personally. RVO has the WO version on my scope in stock if that helps any. 

The Wicklow mountains eh? Been a long time since I was there. I did most of my stargazing in North Co Lietrim and Sligo when I lived in Ireland.

Thinking of just going all out and getting the Altair RACI - I haven’t used a finderscope in a while but I really liked the one that was on my LX200. Wicklow is a good place for reasonably dark skies - although I brought my little 127 Mak to the Burren in Co. Clare last summer and Wow the skies were great! Leitrim and Sligo would be good too I imagine

[Carl Au]

Well there's not much going on in North Leitrim, Drumshambo is probably the biggest town and can't see there being even 1000 people living there. Light pollution isn't a problem in North West Ireland