New updated Takahashi Epsilon 130D

[GalaxyGael]

 Not many images in the wild of the Tak Epsilon 130D after what I discovered this morning. I had intended to get the 130D over the 160ED, in order to get the 1.5x extender too. Kid in a candy shop feeling this morning for an hour !, but first thing I noticed was the new colorway, identical to the updated 160ED. Since they are collimated and sealed, not so obvious for any vendor to confirm and no images clearly showing it online, even on Tak's website. Here's what it looks like, the small mods are the same as found on the 160ED.  Might post on the scope etc. when I use it later in the spring.

 

[Highburymark]

Nice! I like the new colour. Can’t see any other changes from first glance. Maybe collimation system? Here are couple of pics of mine from similar angles.

[Deadlake]

You where not tempted by a 6" BS scope then?

[GalaxyGael]

Cannot see anything obvious that has changed, secondary and primary cell and their collimation screws look identical at cursory glance. Maybe the collimation stability during focuser rotation has been improved? We'll see in due course

[Highburymark]

Suspect it may just be cosmetic - just like the new blue Tak refractor colour a couple of years ago. The Epsilons do seem to have very long lifetimes between model upgrades. The good news is they hold collimation incredibly well. I haven’t adjusted mine since I bought it - and that was secondhand.

[Franklin]

On 31/01/2022 at 15:29, GalaxyGael said:

 

Whatever you do, don't let that beauty roll off the edge of that table!

[GalaxyGael]

10 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Suspect it may just be cosmetic - just like the new blue Tak refractor colour a couple of years ago. The Epsilons do seem to have very long lifetimes between model upgrades. The good news is they hold collimation incredibly well. I haven’t adjusted mine since I bought it - and that was secondhand.

It might be just that, but I notice the focuser is closer to the front in this model, no gap between the front ring and the focuser. Mine also looks well collimated, and certainly the primary mirror ring is centered. A very slight asymmetry in the reflective ring from the tak cheshire, but there is a tiny shift in the visual adapter that could explain it. I wont tweak until I get first light, but using a well collimated laser with a screwed m48 connection to the focuser shows the beam hitting the secondary mark exactly and almost perfect int he center of the donut. The engineering of the primary and secondary are surprising in the flesh, ultra stable construction. I had heard about this sability, i can understand it now. I am unable to unscrews the secondary collimation screws they are on so rigidly fixed! The OTA diameter is slightly larger at 170 mm, same length at 460 mm.

[GavStar]

3 hours ago, GalaxyGael said:

It might be just that, but I notice the focuser is closer to the front in this model, no gap between the front ring and the focuser. Mine also looks well collimated, and certainly the primary mirror ring is centered. A very slight asymmetry in the reflective ring from the tak cheshire, but there is a tiny shift in the visual adapter that could explain it. I wont tweak until I get first light, but using a well collimated laser with a screwed m48 connection to the focuser shows the beam hitting the secondary mark exactly and almost perfect int he center of the donut. The engineering of the primary and secondary are surprising in the flesh, ultra stable construction. I had heard about this sability, i can understand it now. I am unable to unscrews the secondary collimation screws they are on so rigidly fixed! The OTA diameter is slightly larger at 170 mm, same length at 460 mm.

So existing 166mm tube rings will no longer fit or have bigger gaps?

Edited February 2, 2022 by GavStar

[GalaxyGael]

1 hour ago, GavStar said:

So existing 166mm tube rings will no longer fit or have bigger gaps?

Might depend on the ring construction. I bought the hexagonal rings designed by Teleskop austria to fit the 130D (its 166 mm diam. variant. I did not know the 130D had been updated at all, but since these rings come apart (screwed together at both side, without any hinge), it was an easy fit with (I guess) a slightly large gap between the connection points. Images in OP show it. They will work perfectly. not sure how some hinged designed might fare though.