Double first light - TS 102 F7 ED and Pentax XW 10mm

[badhex]

Hello all, 

After reading all the great reports about the Starfield 102 F7 ED, I decided to treat myself with the equivalent version more readily available to me from TS-Optics. Aside from a decidedly less fun logo and the addition of a finder shoe, the scope itself has exactly the same components including the FPL53+Lanthanum objective and sturdy, rotolock style focuser. 

In a rare event, it was actually almost completely clear, but I was unable to access the shared roof terrace so had to make do with my NE facing balcony and fairly low altitude ceiling. This was also the first opportunity to use a brand new Pentax XW 10mm. 

I spent a while just checking the scope, build quality and parts which I have to say are all absolutely first-class. Focuser is super solid and has that classic 'snap' into focus that barely needs the fine focuser if at all. Image is super contrasty and sharp all round. 

I had picked a random star in Lynx to play around defocusing/refocusing and was immediately worried there was something wrong as I could not quite get a tight focus - something seemed off. It took me at least 15 mins of swapping EPs and fiddling with the focuser to realise that in fact I was looking at 38 Lyncis - a reasonably tight double which was unknown to me until that point! I split it at 159x with the Morpheus 4.5mm. 

As Orion was becoming visible over the rooftops, I switched over to M42 finding that the Pentax XW 10mm gave the best balance of magnification/contrast and was really quite blown away by how much detail I could pick out. Because expectations are always high with such a showpiece object, I find M42 can sometimes be a little disappointing with a smallish aperture scope under skies with heavy LP, but this was not the case here. I believe this is the best view of M42 I've had with any scope I own. 

Views were further enhanced by the addition of my Astronomik OIII filter, and I spent the next hour with that setup. A bright view, tons of detail and additional nebulosity visible with the filter - the Fish's Mouth dark nebulosity area seemed almost punched out from the rest of the view.

Eventually, wispy intermittent cloud had started to roll in and worsen, but I persevered for a while longer. I kept being hugely surprised as the view would gradually darken from clouds, and then suddenly and vibrantly 'pop' back - almost feeling brighter each time. 

A wonderful, if limited, first light with two new additions to my arsenal. I imagine these two alone will keep be entertained for a long while! 

[Mr Spock]

Nice report. Good optics do make a difference! 

[John]

Great report !

Reminds me of the first views I had with a 4 inch ED doublet refractor and also with a Pentax 10mm XW

If the cloud cover here lasts much longer it will seem like a "first light" again when I do eventually get an observing opportunity

Glad you are impressed by your new purchases

[Stardaze]

Great combination there, look forward to hearing a few more reports.

[badhex]

2 hours ago, John said:

Great report !

Reminds me of the first views I had with a 4 inch ED doublet refractor and also with a Pentax 10mm XW

If the cloud cover here lasts much longer it will seem like a "first light" again when I do eventually get an observing opportunity

Glad you are impressed by your new purchases

Thanks John - actually it was a comment you made on the Starfield thread which really got me thinking. I loved the idea of a scope which could get almost 4deg of sky at one end, and 200x the other yet still be reasonably lightweight.

[badhex]

4 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Nice report. Good optics do make a difference! 

Thanks Spock. Your reports on the Starfield also helped me make the decision!

[badhex]

2 hours ago, Stardaze said:

Great combination there, look forward to hearing a few more reports.

Thanks Stardaze, I look forward to using the combo again soon 🙂

[Mr Spock]

1 hour ago, badhex said:

Thanks Spock. Your reports on the Starfield also helped me make the decision!

It's nice when others confirm what you are seeing!

[John]

It's satisfying to use a setup where, seeing conditions and observer acuity allowing, you can have some confidence that the view is as good as can be got from that aperture 

 

[Chris]

Excellent report! I especially liked the 38 Lyncis plot twist  

[Deadlake]

Does anyone know how much back focus these scopes have?

For example generally a Takahashi or Vixen will have around 160-180 mm of back focus whereas a APM will have around 220 mm of back focus. The APM will not need a GPC when being used with a BV and I was wondering if this was the case with the TS et other brands made in the same factory scopes? 

[F15Rules]

Great report Badhex!👍

Your new Apo and XW sound like a marriage made in heaven.

Thanks for sharing, especially at a time when some of us can hardly remember our last decent session!😂

Dave

[Sunshine]

Great report! congratulations on what seems to be a killer refractor which will continue to wow you for years to come. Those XW's which I too have a few of are the icing on the optical cake!.

Edited December 19, 2021 by Sunshine

[jetstream]

@badhexThe refractors coming from TS will have more expensive brands quivering IMHO- their stuff is very high quality, both optically and mechanically. My 90mm SV is along the same lines as their triplet APO's and is excellent as well.

Great scope!!

[johninderby]

This new crop of doublets being sold by FLO, TS, Altair and Tecnosky really are great performers and seem like a step up over the SW doublets optically. 

[badhex]

3 hours ago, Chris said:

Excellent report! I especially liked the 38 Lyncis plot twist  

Haha thanks, it definitely had me worrying for a minute or two but it was a real "ohhhhhhh I see!" kind of moment when I realised 🙂

[badhex]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

Great report Badhex!👍

Your new Apo and XW sound like a marriage made in heaven.

Thanks for sharing, especially at a time when some of us can hardly remember our last decent session!😂

Dave

Thanks Dave! It's a great combo. If it makes you feel any better I was in the UK with my travel kit for 6 weeks very recently and I only got one session! 

Edited December 19, 2021 by badhex

[badhex]

1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

Great report! congratulations on what seems to be a killer refractor which will continue to wow you for years to come. Those XW's which I too have a few of are the icing on the optical cake!.

Thanks Sunshine, so far it seems a great scope and I'm really looking forward to more sessions soon! 

[badhex]

1 hour ago, jetstream said:

@badhexThe refractors coming from TS will have more expensive brands quivering IMHO- their stuff is very high quality, both optically and mechanically. My 90mm SV is along the same lines as their triplet APO's and is excellent as well.

Great scope!!

Thanks Gerry! Agreed, I'm sure we'd all love a Tak but it's out of reach for many. Having options that are quite close but maybe a third or quarter of the price is great for the hobby! 

[badhex]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

This new crop of doublets being sold by FLO, TS, Altair and Tecnosky really are great performers and seem like a step up over the SW doublets optically. 

Thanks John, yes it's certainly a cut above my SW 80ED both optically and in build quality. I'm glad to be in the club! 

[Stu]

9 minutes ago, badhex said:

Thanks John, yes it's certainly a cut above my SW 80ED both optically and in build quality. I'm glad to be in the club! 

Can’t beat a good 4” apo refractor. Every astronomer should have one 👍👍. Glad you are enjoying the views, plenty more to come in future. Enjoy 😀😀

[JeremyS]

Excellent write up Joe. Enjoy 👍🏻

[badhex]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Can’t beat a good 4” apo refractor. Every astronomer should have one 👍👍. Glad you are enjoying the views, plenty more to come in future. Enjoy 😀😀

Thanks Stu! I'm beginning to see why everyone says that! 

[badhex]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Excellent write up Joe. Enjoy 👍🏻

Thanks Jeremy! Sometimes worry that I am a bit too wordy but then I realise if anyone gets bored they can always stop reading 😂

[John]

9 minutes ago, badhex said:

Thanks Jeremy! Sometimes worry that I am a bit too wordy but then I realise if anyone gets bored they can always stop reading 😂

I like your style of writing

Us observers can't post flashy pictures of our achievements but we can do our best to describe them, the circumstances surrounding the observations and even the emotions experienced as a result.  Hopefully such reports prove interesting and encouraging to others 

If I ever see a clear sky again (I've been wondering lately ) I'll certainly post a narrative report about what I see somewhere in the observing section.

Keep them coming Joe