Gonzo Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 Is anyone using an Askar FMA 135? Looking for general feedback about this one, I can find plenty about the FMA 180... and if anyone would have by any chance the 135 and 180... I'l be interested in a comparison. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam J Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Gonzo said: Is anyone using an Askar FMA 135? Looking for general feedback about this one, I can find plenty about the FMA 180... and if anyone would have by any chance the 135 and 180... I'l be interested in a comparison. thanks I am told it has less CA than the 180 but it's probably marginal. I don't know of anyone on here using one at the moment. Some people on cloudy nights is using one though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted July 4, 2022 Author Share Posted July 4, 2022 I've checked the CloudyNight forum, not much on it really. Same as for the FMA 230, it seems that the FMA 180 is The most popular of the series. It's only £289 at Flo for it while £359 for the 180. I've dismissed the 230 a I have a RedCat 51. I mean look at it, it's so tiny. It would do nicely for my new sub-micro-tiny observatory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam J Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 On 04/07/2022 at 07:13, Gonzo said: I've checked the CloudyNight forum, not much on it really. Same as for the FMA 230, it seems that the FMA 180 is The most popular of the series. It's only £289 at Flo for it while £359 for the 180. I've dismissed the 230 a I have a RedCat 51. I mean look at it, it's so tiny. It would do nicely for my new sub-micro-tiny observatory The issue for me is that the 180 is so portable that to be honest the 135 is no more portable for being smaller. The 135 is a 30mm apperture and so if you use a 1.25 inch filter on the front of it you are going to narrow that down further to only 24-26mm. So F5-F5.5 territory. I think the mount is better designed on the 135 though easier to slick a finder shoe on it. None of that invalidates the 135 so by all means go for it, but I can see why the 180 is the most popular model. The 230 is not allot more focal length than the 180 considering the price difference and sits at a price point that cant be justified against its FPL53 based competition. Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 Thanks for the input, much appreciated. From the few posts I've found, some are placing the filter at the front and not near the camera as usual, any reasons why? Oh and there is this 3d printed bracket for the FMA-180 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4762752 which is very similar to the 135 bracket. I might say something wrong, but I have the impression that the 230 is a competitor to the RedCat 51 somehow and as I already have the RC51... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam J Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 2 hours ago, Gonzo said: Thanks for the input, much appreciated. From the few posts I've found, some are placing the filter at the front and not near the camera as usual, any reasons why? Oh and there is this 3d printed bracket for the FMA-180 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4762752 which is very similar to the 135 bracket. I might say something wrong, but I have the impression that the 230 is a competitor to the RedCat 51 somehow and as I already have the RC51... I think its meant to be but it does not really compete the, red cat is superior in performance and price to performance. Thanks for the bracket link. Adam 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
licho52 Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 (edited) I have the FMA135 and bought it more as a guider and a novelty. It's ok, doesn't have CA but stars in corners are not great on 2600MM but perhaps can be fixed with backspacing tweaks...as it's a side project I haven't bothered with it yet. No problem mounting 1.25 or 2" filters in front of camera sensor so the aperture isn't limited. The wide views at 135mm are nice, FMA180 and 230 are trounced by Redcat's optics. Edited July 5, 2022 by licho52 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 1 hour ago, licho52 said: I have the FMA135 and bought it more as a guider and a novelty. It's ok, doesn't have CA but stars in corners are not great on 2600MM but perhaps can be fixed with backspacing tweaks...as it's a side project I haven't bothered with it yet. No problem mounting 1.25 or 2" filters in front of camera sensor so the aperture isn't limited. The wide views at 135mm are nice, FMA180 and 230 are trounced by Redcat's optics. Cool thanks for the info about the filter. For the price of the FMA-135... it's not going to break the bank. I have seen some really nice images from an FMA-180, I 'assume' the FMA-135 is on par with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
licho52 Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Works quite decently with narrowband too, I may do more with it but as the sky-time is limited I just have other, more compelling projects at the moment. It does make for a decent guider in the meantime. Cygnus Wide Field - from Butterfly to Tulip ( trans-at ) - AstroBin Coma Star Cluster - Melotte 111 ( trans-at ) - AstroBin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 Very nice images thanks for sharing. I have a few physical measurements to take before I commit to either the 135 or the 180. Both are looking good for what I want to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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