NEW Starfield 102mm f/7 ED Doublet Refractor

[badhex]

Hello Starfield fans! For those of you who already own the scope, what are you using for a case? I'm looking at the Oklop 120/600 which apparently which should be fine in length, but have a couple of cm either side in the diameter. Any better options out there? I'd also ideally like the overall package to be shorter than 800mm as that's the size of the shelf it will live on! 

[jjohnson3803]

Maybe I missed it above, but what mount / tripod combo are people using for this?  I have a seemingly identical AT102ED and find neither my ScopeTech Zero nor my SW AZ5 on a Manfrotto 475B do well at high magnification.  The Zero does somewhat better on a Twilght-1 tripod, but that reduces the portability a fair bit.

[Zeta Reticulan]

6 minutes ago, jjohnson3803 said:

Maybe I missed it above, but what mount / tripod combo are people using for this?  I have a seemingly identical AT102ED and find neither my ScopeTech Zero nor my SW AZ5 on a Manfrotto 475B do well at high magnification.  The Zero does somewhat better on a Twilght-1 tripod, but that reduces the portability a fair bit.

I have the Altair equivalent and find that a Vixen Porta II and TL-130 combination works if I stick to 1.25" accessories.

For heavier eyepieces/diagonals I mount the Porta on a HAL-130 with the Vixen Half-Pillar.

[badhex]

1 minute ago, jjohnson3803 said:

Maybe I missed it above, but what mount / tripod combo are people using for this?  I have a seemingly identical AT102ED and find neither my ScopeTech Zero nor my SW AZ5 on a Manfrotto 475B do well at high magnification.  The Zero does somewhat better on a Twilght-1 tripod, but that reduces the portability a fair bit.

Hello @jjohnson3803 (I am also a J. Johnson 🙂)

I don't know the specific manfrotto tripod you mentioned but could that be the culprit? I'm using my Starfield (I have the identical TS-Optics version) on a Scopetech mount zero and Gitzo Systematic Series 5, which is an excellent combo. I believe a few others are using some of the lighter Berlebachs, although they also may be slightly less portable. 

I was previously using it with a Skytee-2 and EQ6 tripod which is rock solid but not very portable at all. 

I have nothing bad to say about the Gitzo apart from the terrifying price! It took me a while to finally take the plunge but I have not regretted it. 

Bit more discussion here that might be of interest:

 

[jjohnson3803]

9 minutes ago, badhex said:

Hello @jjohnson3803 (I am also a J. Johnson 🙂)

I don't know the specific manfrotto tripod you mentioned but could that be the culprit? I'm using my Starfield (I have the identical TS-Optics version) on a Scopetech mount zero and Gitzo Systematic Series 5, which is an excellent combo. I believe a few others are using some of the lighter Berlebachs, although they also may be slightly less portable. 

I have nothing bad to say about the Gitzo apart from the terrifying price! It took me a while to finally take the plunge but I have not regretted it. 

I was under the impression that the Frotto 475B was a higher-end tripod, but I'm thinking it probably is the culprit.  I've been looking at the BB Report 212 and 312.  Hopefully they could handle it, but I do need some degree of portability for grab-and-go and / or taking it to a darker site.

[badhex]

5 minutes ago, jjohnson3803 said:

I was under the impression that the Frotto 475B was a higher-end tripod, but I'm thinking it probably is the culprit.  I've been looking at the BB Report 212 and 312.  Hopefully they could handle it, but I do need some degree of portability for grab-and-go and / or taking it to a darker site.

Deffo worth having a read through that thread, lots of chat about using Berlebachs im this exact setup. 

Personally, I know I'm the outlier but I didn't go for the Berlebachs because I've never felt that attracted to them aesthetically (I know, wash my mouth out!) plus the portability aspect. The Gitzo is only 2.5kg, making the tripod+mount only 4kg - I can easily carry that two flights of stairs with one hand, EP case in the other and the scope bag on my shoulder.

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, jjohnson3803 said:

Maybe I missed it above, but what mount / tripod combo are people using for this?  I have a seemingly identical AT102ED and find neither my ScopeTech Zero nor my SW AZ5 on a Manfrotto 475B do well at high magnification.  The Zero does somewhat better on a Twilght-1 tripod, but that reduces the portability a fair bit.

I always used my 102ED on a Skytee with a 2” tripod - rock solid but really heavy. I recently got an AZ4 on a 1.75” tripod which is considerably lighter and I’m pleased to say is also extremely solid and good for high mags with the 102ED. I’d say it’s the perfect sized scope for this mount.  The AZ4 might not be the most refined mount from an engineering point of view, but for the price you can’t really go wrong. 

[bosun21]

On 26/07/2022 at 20:24, RobertI said:

I always used my 102ED on a Skytee with a 2” tripod - rock solid but really heavy. I recently got an AZ4 on a 1.75” tripod which is considerably lighter and I’m pleased to say is also extremely solid and good for high mags with the 102ED. I’d say it’s the perfect sized scope for this mount.  The AZ4 might not be the most refined mount from an engineering point of view, but for the price you can’t really go wrong. 

I have both the AZ4 and the EQ5 pro go to sitting waiting for my new 102. I’ll be putting it on the EQ5 pro though.

[bosun21]

I have just seen the Explore Scientific essentials 102ED triplet. Does anyone know anything about these? They are £985. I’m ordering my scope on Monday and it’s still the Starfield that’s the firm favorite.

[badhex]

5 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I have just seen the Explore Scientific essentials 102ED triplet. Does anyone know anything about these? They are £985. I’m ordering my scope on Monday and it’s still the Starfield that’s the firm favorite.

I don't know the ES Essentials but I would still probably say you're better off with the Starfield. It will be a much easier scope to manage weight wise, and the cooldown (quicker with the Starfield) will make a huge difference to portability / grab and go usage. 

[Stu]

15 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I have just seen the Explore Scientific essentials 102ED triplet. Does anyone know anything about these? They are £985. I’m ordering my scope on Monday and it’s still the Starfield that’s the firm favorite.

Go with the Starfield, much better option I reckon.

[F15Rules]

+1 for the doublet.

Triplets are an awful lot harder to fix if the lenses become misaligned..😱..

And for visual a triplet is completely unnecessary 

Dave

Edited July 28, 2022 by F15Rules
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