Starbase 80 f10 Achromat

[IB20]

3 hours ago, Roy Challen said:

 

I think this package needs a finder scope as standard if you're going to be looking at anything other than the sun or moon, and I would want to swap the 14mm for something wider, say a 25mm plossl or similar. This would push the cost to over £600, which is a fair bit of money in anyone's book.

 

The package was £549, the mount and tripod must be about £180 of that as a minimum if the AZ3 is £139? The eye pieces and diagonal another £70-80? So that makes the OTA £289-299? I would say without even having to think that the OTA is worth that. Obviously providers need to take some profit margin too.

I’ve purchased cheap before and ended up with a pair of lemons (Celestron binos) so didnt mind paying for a premium for a Japanese made achromat. Buy cheap buy twice as they say!

I didn’t own a mount, tripod or star diagonal prior to this purchase and if I did own these, I would’ve looked at getting the Vixen A81M or even splurge on the SD81s  and not the Starbase but as a serious starter package it’s thumbs up from me.

 

 

 

[IB20]

In the last week I have continued to use the Starbase every day for white solar, the weather has meant the days have been clear but cloud seems to come over in the evenings, exactly like today! I managed one night session which  I just spent exploring the skies with no targets in mind. Albireo looked beautiful and presented a brilliant golden and blue pair of stars. During scanning Cygnus, I realised how much it would have benefited having the finder as the peephole doesn’t really offer much when pointing at a region of sky!

Back to daytime, I can get the scope out and swap in the Herschel wedge and be viewing in seconds. The 1.25” Lunt wedge really is a brilliant bit of kit, I doubt I’d own it now either if I’d have stretched my scope budget a bit further so I’m glad about that. I’ve been leaving the scope capped in the shade and whenever I get a spare 15 mins or have lunch I’ve been enjoying delightful views of the sun. I never did this with the dob and always planned sessions, I love the ease and spontaneity of observing with the 80mm. I’ve been getting up to 133x magnification consistently; 80x a right sweet spot, and on odd occasions in good seeing, 160x has shown nice detail. 

I’ve been playing around with filters and EPs combinations, learning about back focus optical paths and just refractors in general. It’s been a joy really, and I’m observing at every opportunity. I don’t mean to neglect the dob but if I didn’t own the 80mm the nighttime weather would mean I wouldn’t have used it anyway. I do intend to have a lunar and doubles session with both scopes as soon as possible.

I’m very much looking forward to spending more time night viewing but white solar fills the gap nicely when it’s cloudy at night!

So far what I’ve learned is:-

1. I love portable 80mm scopes and set-ups. I will always own one I’m certain of that.

2. I love white solar viewing and it lends itself to this set-up incredibly well.

3. If I had to choose between reflectors and refractors, I’d pick a refractor. There, I said it! Luckily I don’t need to choose, so I’m keeping both 😝.

Lastly, despite spending my Astro budget a few times over this last month I visited FLO after a few too many bank holiday sherbets and got an addition for the scope which arrived today. 😊

The safety warning advises “Don’t look at the sun”; if you have the appropriate filters, wedges and films, absolutely do look at the sun!

 

[Stu]

Great stuff! I love the finder, looks excellent, and obviously a perfect match!

I share the enjoyment of smaller refractors for all the benefits you describe. They are just begging to be put out at any opportunity so get used an awful lot.

Glad you are enjoying the white light solar views too, I agree, the 1.25” Lunt Wedge is one of those bargain bits of kit that delivers a great image for not a busting lot of cash! 👍👍

[Chris]

It's really great to read how brilliantly you've been getting on with the Starbase and it's perfect now it has the finder, looks ace! Clearly good things come from consuming too many sherbets 🍺🔭👍 Enjoy!

Edited June 2, 2021 by Chris

[johninderby]

Yes I’ve found the Scopetech never fails to impress. Optics like the Starbase are so sharp.

I found fitting bigger focus wheels does improve the feel of the focuser. Used some old Orion brass wheels I had in a drawer.

[IB20]

53 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Yes I’ve found the Scopetech never fails to impress. Optics like the Starbase are so sharp.

I found fitting bigger focus wheels does improve the feel of the focuser. Used some old Orion brass wheels I had in a drawer.

That looks great. I’m looking forward to making some minor tweaks to my scope and refining it into its best form. 

[IB20]

Still really enjoying the Starbase, almost entirely a white solar scope at the minute and some terrestrial viewing as the light nights have put paid to any night time viewing in my current circumstances. 

Got a few more iPhone images to share, this scope is just a great deal of fun. I might have a go at lucky imaging and stacking when I get opportunity to process some videos as the detail at the eyepiece is much higher than a single snap is yielding. The Baader continuum filter is a lovely bit of kit too and works really well with the scope.

Hoping I get chance to have a few night sessions with it soon as well.

 

[F15Rules]

Well, based on those daytime shots, you have excellent optics in that scope, really sharp and great colour, and virtually no CA either!

Tak or not, that's a great scope!👍

Personally, that complete package seems good value today for what you get.

Yes, I'd advise FLO if possible to offer the finder as part of the package..if it were shipped with the rest of the package a small discount could be offered, and the shipping charge could be eliminated as it would be shipped within the cost of the rest of the outfit.

Finally, if that finder bracket is the same dimensions as a real Tak 30mm one, I think a Skywatcher 30mm RACI finder would fit it...SO much easier to use than a straight through one!☺️👍

Dave

[Stu]

They do look very good indeed! Aerials are normally a nightmare for showing CA and I can’t see any in your images. Nice scope!

[Chris]

Wow! If you told me that was ED glass I wouldn't question it! lovely shots of the Sun and local wild life : )

[IB20]

Got my first views of Saturn last night with the 3” frac. I must say, was pleasantly surprised in the size and brightness of the image with no CA. The 10mm BCO, 8mm BST, 6mm Starbase ortho and 5mm BST all presented lovely images. Some nice beige/brown/orange colouration and banding detectable on the northern hemisphere and on occasion dark separation of the Cassini division would pop out. Titan nice and visible even with fairly light horizon skies. Managed to view Saturn at about 11° which would be impossible with the 8” dob from my garden.

Also managed to split a 1.4” double in Pi Aquilae too which I think is good going for an 80mm. 

Turning out to be a lovely solar system scope which I’m thrilled about. If I’d stayed out another 40 mins or so I’d have been able to view Jupiter but I’ll save that for another session, but with the recent weather who knows when that will be!

[johninderby]

Re: finder fitting

As the Starbase focuser is the same as the Scopetech one a regular Synta type finder shoe will fit the focuser. The focuser needs removing though to remove the mounting block on the inside and fit the nuts for the finder foot. 

[Chris]

3 hours ago, IB20 said:

Got my first views of Saturn last night with the 3” frac. I must say, was pleasantly surprised in the size and brightness of the image with no CA. The 10mm BCO, 8mm BST, 6mm Starbase ortho and 5mm BST all presented lovely images. Some nice beige/brown/orange colouration and banding detectable on the northern hemisphere and on occasion dark separation of the Cassini division would pop out. Titan nice and visible even with fairly light horizon skies. Managed to view Saturn at about 11° which would be impossible with the 8” dob from my garden.

Also managed to split a 1.4” double in Pi Aquilae too which I think is good going for an 80mm. 

Turning out to be a lovely solar system scope which I’m thrilled about. If I’d stayed out another 40 mins or so I’d have been able to view Jupiter but I’ll save that for another session, but with the recent weather who knows when that will be!

Those views sound excellent for an 80mm Achromat which is great to hear. Yes tripods definitely rule for those low alt targets. Glad you're still having fun with it   

[John]

3 hours ago, IB20 said:

Got my first views of Saturn last night with the 3” frac. I must say, was pleasantly surprised in the size and brightness of the image with no CA. The 10mm BCO, 8mm BST, 6mm Starbase ortho and 5mm BST all presented lovely images. Some nice beige/brown/orange colouration and banding detectable on the northern hemisphere and on occasion dark separation of the Cassini division would pop out. Titan nice and visible even with fairly light horizon skies. Managed to view Saturn at about 11° which would be impossible with the 8” dob from my garden.

Also managed to split a 1.4” double in Pi Aquilae too which I think is good going for an 80mm. 

Turning out to be a lovely solar system scope which I’m thrilled about. If I’d stayed out another 40 mins or so I’d have been able to view Jupiter but I’ll save that for another session, but with the recent weather who knows when that will be!

Excellent result !

I think the Dawes limit for an 80mm scope is 1.45 arc seconds so a clear split of Pi Aquilae is a really superb achievement for the scope, observer and the seeing conditions.

I agree entirely that refractors on tallish mounts make getting low targets in the eyepiece a lot easier.

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by John

[IB20]

Another good session with the Starbase 80 last night. A night that had a veil of thin cloud over 95% of the sky and one I’d have normally written off. Had 90 minutes of observing the gas giants & the moon instead of none!

I must say I am very happy with the planetary detailing on Jupiter that I can see and I feel now I really need to optimise and refine my EP collection from 7-9mm. The 6mm Starbase ortho I have is a good EP but feel the stated range would be most used. The 10mm BCO works beautifully in the scope but I think the scope can eek out a bit more magnification before seeing starts affecting the views. My new 17.5mm Morpheus is also a triumph in the scope, and I can’t quite believe the detail I can see despite the small image. With that in mind I think I’m gravitating towards to 9mm Morpheus, which would also be a great EP in the dob too. I’d say the colours in the 13mm Delite probably appear the best and there’s a 7mm in that range, but perhaps an 8mm Delos is a consideration? 
I better start saving…

Managed this afocal moon snap with my IPhone 11 last night; I do find a refractor is much easier to do this than the dob, probably due to hand position and FOV? Still very happy indeed with the scope, even managed a WL solar session yesterday morning too! It’s been too long.

 

[F15Rules]

Lovely lunar shot there..👍

I have both 9mm and 17.5mm Morpheus, and if you like the 17.5 I think you would also really like the 9mm Morpheus...might make life a bit uncomfortable for your 10mm BCO though!!

What do you think of the 14mm Starbase ortho performance?

Dave

[IB20]

19 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Lovely lunar shot there..👍

I have both 9mm and 17.5mm Morpheus, and if you like the 17.5 I think you would also really like the 9mm Morpheus...might make life a bit uncomfortable for your 10mm BCO though!!

What do you think of the 14mm Starbase ortho performance?

Dave

It’s quite possible that if (when 😅) I get the 9mm Morpheus it becomes my workhorse EP, but I’m almost certainly keep the BCO regardless cos I love it.

Must admit I haven’t really used the 14mm ortho much as I tend to plump for my 13mm Delite. I did experiment with it in daytime though and it seemed to have very easy eye placement and was easy to take afocal snaps with my iPhone. I do recall it showing some edge of field curvature in those images however but can’t remember if they were as pronounced visually. I’ll give it a whirl next session I get.

 

[wookie1965]

On 15/06/2021 at 22:35, IB20 said:

Still really enjoying the Starbase, almost entirely a white solar scope at the minute and some terrestrial viewing as the light nights have put paid to any night time viewing in my current circumstances. 

Got a few more iPhone images to share, this scope is just a great deal of fun. I might have a go at lucky imaging and stacking when I get opportunity to process some videos as the detail at the eyepiece is much higher than a single snap is yielding. The Baader continuum filter is a lovely bit of kit too and works really well with the scope.

Hoping I get chance to have a few night sessions with it soon as well.

 

May I ask are you using a phone adapter or just hovering over the eyepiece if the latter which one please.

[IB20]

3 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

May I ask are you using a phone adapter or just hovering over the eyepiece if the latter which one please.

I do own a cheapo Amazon adapter but it’s such a faff to line up at night that I don’t bother using except for white light solar now.

Burst mode or taking quite a few shots and using a camera app that allows control of the exposure and ISO all help me when hand holding at the EP.

 

[wookie1965]

22 minutes ago, IB20 said:

I do own a cheapo Amazon adapter but it’s such a faff to line up at night that I don’t bother using except for white light solar now.

Burst mode or taking quite a few shots and using a camera app that allows control of the exposure and ISO all help me when hand holding at the EP.

 

What exposure and iso do you set at I have a galaxy S10 with pro mode so I can set them there thanks.

[IB20]

5 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

What exposure and iso do you set at I have a galaxy S10 with pro mode so I can set them there thanks.

I wish I expert enough to set them with knowledge of why! Essentially I just play around with it until it looks “alright”. 😅

Checking that particular lunar image above, the details were Exposure 1/240, ISO 32 and focus 26mm. 

Adobe Lightroom is a great free app too, very user friendly and let’s you tweak exposures, contrast and image settings if needed.

[IB20]

Similarly this image was 1/15, ISO 3200 and focus 26mm. Sometimes the auto-setting double screen tap sorts this for you but not always. 

Was pretty pleased to grab this afocally, usually just get a flying saucer blob!

[IB20]

Another gratuitous afocal moon iPhone snap from the Starbase. Still loving this thing, it’s now the proud owner of a Takahashi decal due to its wonderful performance. 😂

[JeremyS]

13 minutes ago, IB20 said:

Another gratuitous afocal moon iPhone snap from the Starbase. Still loving this thing, it’s now the proud owner of a Takahashi decal due to its wonderful performance. 😂

Great to hear how much you are enjoying it 👍🏻

[Gonariu]

I have read with pleasure the whole interesting discussion and I must say that I did not believe that an achromatic refractor 80/800 could be used practically as you take it out or just short of it. About twenty years ago I bought the Konusuper 120 (achromatic 120/1000) which I use diaphragm at 90 mm for a chipping of the achromatic doublet on the edge that I don't know how it was done (the instrument has never dropped, I'm thinking of a defect of how they sold it to me and which I never noticed). I must say that using it like this is magnificent, it is not uncommon that on the Moon it puts 333X (Plossl eyepiece from Celestron 6 mm plus barlow 2X also from Celestron, I think achromatic) and our satellite is fabulous, I had a splendid view of the three craters Theophilus , Cyrillus and Catharina; in the past autumn on Mars it defended itself quite well with magnifications of 250X (orthoscopic 6 mm from Unitron) and 333X (as before). I brought the Konusuper to my mother in Cagliari and in the meantime, at the end of July, I bought a vintage lens, the Vixen 102 - M (refractor 102/1000). I know a lot that for the hit and run observations I'll keep the Vixen mounted on an EQ5 that I bought used for a long time; after I have dinner, I fall asleep and I give up using the Nexstar 8 SE (C8) that you have to take out on the terrace an hour before to acclimatize.