The Long Refractor Thread!

[Gonariu]

16 hours ago, AdeKing said:

Grazie @Stu, sono molto contento della mia collezione anche se ho la sensazione di averne troppe ma non riesco a portarmi avanti.

Mi assicuro di alternarli in modo da sentirmi meno in colpa per averli.

 

I also begin to have a little too many optics and consequently I'm thinking of giving myself a tune, but the temptation is powerful. As refractors I only have achromats, being a visualist I feel less need to buy an ED apochromat or semi-apochromat. I find myself these refractors:
Konusuper 120 (lately I have been using it at 90 mm diaphragm due to a side chipping of the doublet);
Ziel Gem 60;
Konus Vista - 80;
Celestron Travelscope 70;
Vixen 102 - M vintage bought used;
Stein Optik 60/800 vintage bought used (real rubbish, money wasted).

Except the last one, I am satisfied with these optics. Used on an online market (Astrosell) I saw an achromatic 70/700 that has some defects (the left knob of the focuser that turns idle, the lack of the lens cap, the locking screw replaced with any one, having broken) that it is sold for € 60 complete with tripod, mount and accessories supplied (new costs € 249), I'm evaluating what to do with it, maybe at school to show my pupils something; for the knob I believe the spare part is found. I now believe that I am ill with instrumentitis.

[Ross gould]

Wow ade what a collection!

great scopes!

[F15Rules]

On 04/12/2021 at 22:59, AdeKing said:

Absolutely @JeremyS T for Towa 🤣

Pronounced "Tower"?? 

Dave

[F15Rules]

At the moment I have just two "long" focus refractors:

Vixen SP102m F10 (probably late 1980s) and Carton Japan 60mm F11.8

 

...but I've also owned quite a few more over the years...

 

"Moonrakered" Meade 339 80mm F15 - Double Star Killer

Pentax Japan J-80 80mm F12 - Superb scope!

D&G USA 5" F15. "Andromeda", now lovingly owned by Steve (Saganite) - wonderful achromat

Perfex" 60mm F15 - made I think by Yamamoto. Beautiful and cute little scope

Tal 100mm F10 -  a legendary scope, I've owned at least 5 of these!

TMB "Planet Hunter" 80mm F11 - sometimes known as Planet Killer - a silly title for an 80mm scope, but capable of wonderful views

Towa "Topic" 80mm F16 - optically superb on doubles, original tripod very unsteady, but a great scope on a Vixen SP or GP mount- identical I believe to Meade 339

1980s Unitron Polarex 4" F15..why oh why did I ever sell this??? one of the best engineered eq mounts Ive ever seen..

Vixen Pulsar 102mm F13 achromat on original altazimuth mount with uber long slo motions - a rare scope

Zeiss Telementor - a legend of the 1980s, superb optically for a 60mm

 

Vixen 80M ...F10 or F11s I recall, a nice, altaz mounted achromat from Japan.

My SGL handle F15 Rules might make more sense now, even though these days my main scope is a wonderful F8.1 Takahashi FS128..

Dave

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by F15Rules
Photos added

[Franklin]

Nice collection of scopes Dave.

What was the name and spec of the alt-az mounted Vixen whose photo is between the Unitron and the Telementor?

[F15Rules]

10 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Nice collection of scopes Dave.

What was the name and spec of the alt-az mounted Vixen whose photo is between the Unitron and the Telementor?

Hi Tim,

I think you should now see the model under the scope image. A Pulsar 102mm F13 achromat. It was in very good condition when I bought it on Fleabay probably 8-10 years ago.

Sadly this one was a disappointment optically (the only Vixen scope I've owned that has ever come up short..at F13 I had high hopes for it, but images were soft. I had the lens checked out by ES Read, who said that the outer 5-6mm zone of the objective was letting the rest of a decent lens down. He made me a simple 90mm aperture mask for the lens, and it made a big difference to the performance of the lens..very sharp, but now operating at 90mm and F14.7!!

I sold the scope a bit later, with full disclosure..the buyer actually wanted to buy the scope as a display piece for his London flat, and wasn't intending to actually use it!! He won the scope on eBay and drive up from London to Leicestershire where I then lived, to pick the scope up. A truly strange episode..

Dave

[Franklin]

1 minute ago, F15Rules said:

A Pulsar 102mm F13 achromat

I had a Vixen 102 f/9 back in the 80's and it came on the same yoke/fork type alt-az mount as your Pulsar. It was called Sensor 102, but I have never seen another like it.👍

[Dave1]

Well over the years I've owned a Topic 80mm F15(  Towa 339 ), Vixen 80mm F15, Skylight 102mm F15, and still own a Skylight 60mm F16.7. 

Heres an old photo of my Skylight 60mm F16.7.

 

 

[Dave scutt]

Are you really going to bazooka that car.

[A McEwan]

I've had a few long refractors, and still do. Swift 839 60mm, Swift 831 77mm and Celestron Omni XLT 100mm (f10) are all here and all get used, though the 60mm probably gets the least use, and the Celestron is my dedicated solar scope.

I used the 831 last night to view the Moon (with Zeiss Huygens and Tak Ortho eyepieces) and it was very enjoyable and rewarding, as expected.

Attached pic of the 831 on AZ04 mount.

Ant   

 

[HollyHound]

Room for another small(er) one… Takahashi FOA-60 with CQ 1.7x Extender, so basically an FOA-60Q… 900mm f/15.

Beautiful little scope, superbly engineered and gives stunning views of the moon, planets and double stars 👍

[Debo]

It's great to see all these telescopes, especially the old classics.

This thread prompted me to dig out my old Towa 80mm F15 and spend some time giving it a bit of TLC (even got the little light working 😊)

I had forgotten how good it looks.

[BinocularSky]

I've had three:

A 112mm f/18 that I made in 1992 (first and only attempt at making an achromatic doublet - Littrow type, turned out very slightly undercorrected when I "oiled" the air-space to increase transmission). Interesting project, but turned out to be far too unwieldy and the slightest breeze would make it oscillate like crazy. Converted it onto a folded refractor, but that wasn't satisfactory either. Ended up giving the lens away as a raffle prize. (tube is 6" diameter irrigation pipe)

 

60mm f/12, no makers name, given to me "in case I could use it" mid 1990s. used it to demonstrate how these things could be made more usable. (L-R: add a chain to damp oscillations, add a weight to the mount, shore up the tripod, take the optics out of the finder and use it as a sighting tube (yes, that diaphragm was there originally)

 

 

Tasco equatorially mounted 60mm f/15, picked up for a tenner (mount but no tripod) on a street market in the late 1990s, and used exclusively for solar projection, initially just a jury-rigged setup with a bit of aluminium angle and plywood board that did sterling service at the '99 eclipse, then later a foam-board projection box:

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by BinocularSky

[Stu]

I’ll just pop this one on the thread as I acquired something more recently than my post in here.

Tak FC-76Q (ie DCU plus the CQ Extender) making it f12.75, on a Scopetech Zero Mount.

[Carl Au]

I don’t own anything like this anymore. The best example I owned was a rather wonderful 3 inch fl 15 scope, the Towa 339. I have owned a decent Vixen SP at fl 11 and a couple of TAL 100 R and RS’s too, the TAL having considerably better corrected CA. I always thought Vixen refractors were a bit over rated to be honest 

[Carl Au]

On 09/12/2021 at 20:50, F15Rules said:

Pronounced "Tower"?? 

Dave

Circle T, great scopes Towa were. The 339 was as good as many as the early ED scopes in the CA correction dept

[JeremyS]

Long reactor thread? We’re only on page 3 🤔

[CCD-Freak]

This 6" Unitron is not mine 8^(   but I get to use it sometimes.  I wanted one ever since I first saw the adds in Sky & Telescope.

 

[CCD-Freak]

This photo shows how huge the U6 is.   If memory serves me correctly it is F16

 

[mikeDnight]

Here's my contribution to the long refractor thread. It's a 6" F10 achromatic objective, allegedly by Edmund Scientific, though I only have the seller's claim to that. All i can really say about it is that it has remarkable colour correction for a 6" F10 achro. The lens has a small scratch on the rear lens, which was facing forward when I bought it, and although it was said to be coated, I can detect no coatings on the objective. The lens may have some age to it, but I'm only guessing at this point. Hopefully the person who built the tube assembly will see this and shed some light on the mystery of this loveley objective.  The tube assembly itself is a heavy affair, and to carry it well I needed to acquire a substantial mount. The mount, which has zero vibration and glides at the touch of a finger, is a vintage equatorial by H. N. Irving and as solid as a rock - quite literally! My head can attest to that fact!!

It's all still a work in progress, but here are some pic's.

 

Just as I'd posted the above, I received an e-mail from the gentleman who bought the lens and built the tube assembly. The lens is old stock from Edmund Scientific and was bought from the USA, but rather than rewrite what was in the e-mail, I've included the relevant snippet below. I have to say I'm ever pleased!! 

Edited March 30, 2022 by mikeDnight

[Franklin]

Great looking scope and the mount is made for carrying such a beast. You've got to get a set of rings with double bolts at the base, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night with the scope not in line with the bar.

[mikeDnight]

4 hours ago, Franklin said:

Great looking scope and the mount is made for carrying such a beast. You've got to get a set of rings with double bolts at the base, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night with the scope not in line with the bar.

It's only temporary until I can make some better tube rings. The mounting plate has four holes, one at each corner, where as the rings only have one threaded hole. I used opposite corners of the mounting plate so as to maintain balance of the tube assembly. I have a few adaptations in mind and will post pic's as I go along. 

[F15Rules]

On 21/12/2021 at 11:33, Debo said:

It's great to see all these telescopes, especially the old classics.

This thread prompted me to dig out my old Towa 80mm F15 and spend some time giving it a bit of TLC (even got the little light working 😊)

I had forgotten how good it looks.

Lovely..

When I had one of these, I just loved those super long Slow Motion handles..😊👍

Dave

[JeremyS]

34 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Lovely..

When I had one of these, I just loved those super long Slow Motion handles..😊👍

Dave

No AZ 75 for you then Dave

🤣

[F15Rules]

2 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

No AZ 75 for you then Dave

🤣

Er..Take the Fifth..