SW 100ED

[bosun21]

I am going to be ordering my new scope in the morning and I have settled on the Starfield 102. However the Skywatcher 100ED kit has caught my eye. Both are FPL53 glass and the same aperture. The 100ED comes with a 2” dielectric and the matched 0.85 F/R plus the aluminum case. This has thrown me a last minute curveball. Any last advice folks?

[Franklin]

They'd both be fine scopes. Skywatcher a little longer and not quite as portable as the F/7 Starfield. Fit and finish on the Starfield is better, focuser, dew shield etc.

[RobertI]

42 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I am going to be ordering my new scope in the morning and I have settled on the Starfield 102. However the Skywatcher 100ED kit has caught my eye. Both are FPL53 glass and the same aperture. The 100ED comes with a 2” dielectric and the matched 0.85 F/R plus the aluminum case. This has thrown me a last minute curveball. Any last advice folks?

Personally I would go for the Starfield for the the following reasons:

• The focuser is higher quality, rack and pinion and is rotatable
• You get a sliding sliding dewshield, CNC tube and rings
• At F7 it’s a shorter tube which is easier to use and easier on the mount - my 4” F10 refractor is definitely more challenging in that respect.
• Slightly better for wide field viewing. 
• Overall it has a premium feel that Skywatcher will lack.

I believe the lens quality is very similar, both really excellent. You get a lot of extras with the Skywatcher, I guess the finder and diagonal are very useful if you don’t already have them, but on the other hand you are paying for a reducer you may never use. 

I may be slightly biased as I have an identical scope to the Starfield (rebranded Altair Astro) and I absolutely love it. Get some binoviewers for planetary and lunar observing and you will be blown away. 🙂

Edited July 31, 2022 by RobertI

[ED Splitter]

I have the 100ED. It was the first scope that i bought. I had a good but limited budget that had to include a mount. It is good value, the extras are worth a few hundred pounds, which makes the scope appear good value for money. The 28mm let is ok and I’m in no real rush to upgrade it. 
 

I considered a similar scope like you but the budget couldn’t cope. As said in previous response, if you have those extras already then they hold no value and inflate the scope price to potentially diminishing returns. 
 

I will say the scope is no slouch and has wowed C127 users who got me into astronomy with views of the moon and planets. It is slow and long, that may hinder photography if that’s your thing. I’m purely visual so it doesn’t bother me. If you want to travel with the scope you may consider overall size for dark sky viewing.  
One further good point for the ED is that it cools down very quickly. 
There’s a good overview of the scope by Ed Ting on YouTube, he’s probably reviewed your other choice as well. 
best of luck with your purchase. Don’t think you can go wrong with either. 

[Jiggy 67]

The SW 100ED is a great scope, I use mine a lot but the focuser is pants, it will struggle if you add any weight such as a click lock system and a heavier diagonal plus a Morpheus ep. I swapped the focuser out for a Baader steel track which is a massive improvement. 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Jiggy 67

[Adam J]

2 hours ago, bosun21 said:

I am going to be ordering my new scope in the morning and I have settled on the Starfield 102. However the Skywatcher 100ED kit has caught my eye. Both are FPL53 glass and the same aperture. The 100ED comes with a 2” dielectric and the matched 0.85 F/R plus the aluminum case. This has thrown me a last minute curveball. Any last advice folks?

Depends on what you are doing with them, if you are going to do any imaging then the starfield is the better choice due to being F7 which you can reduce to F5.4

The SW 100ED is not well suited to imaging at a native F9.

If just visual then I would say it depends on what you want to observe.

Adam

[bosun21]

Thanks all, I am not really interested in the diagonal or the Kellner eyepiece, although I could find a use for the 9x50 finder. I have a brand new dual speed Crayford focuser on my Evostar 120 that i could swap over to the 100ED if needed. I would most definitely use the aluminum case if I chose the 100ED. I am totally visual at the moment but I am considering dipping my toes into the dark arts of astrophotography.

 

 

 

 

[Adam J]

3 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Thanks all, I am not really interested in the diagonal or the Kellner eyepiece, although I could find a use for the 9x50 finder. I have a brand new dual speed Crayford focuser on my Evostar 120 that i could swap over to the 100ED if needed. I would most definitely use the aluminum case if I chose the 100ED. I am totally visual at the moment but I am considering dipping my toes into the dark arts of astrophotography.

 

 

 

 

I would say that if there is any chance you are going to try astro imaging (Deep sky) then go for the F7 scope or you will need to buy another scope when that time comes.

Adam

[ED Splitter]

1 hour ago, Jiggy 67 said:

The SW 100ED is a great scope, I use mine a lot but the focuser is pants, it will struggle if you add any weight such as a click lock system and a heavier diagonal plus a Morpheus ep. I swapped the focuser out for a Baader steel track which is a massive improvement. 

I added that focuser to my FLO wish list just last night. Any chance of a picture of what the scope looks like with that baader? Did you find a different means of mounting a finder scope?

The ED Stock focuser is part of the scope that was  clearly value engineered to drive down cost. It’s either too tight or too loose according to user reports. The former for me so far, too scared to loosen it.
I have pined over a moonrise or feather touch. But only just noticed baader offering and they do make very nice shiny things, I mean valuable scientific instruments that are also shiny. 

[ED Splitter]

10 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Thanks all, I am not really interested in the diagonal or the Kellner eyepiece, although I could find a use for the 9x50 finder. I have a brand new dual speed Crayford focuser on my Evostar 120 that i could swap over to the 100ED if needed. I would most definitely use the aluminum case if I chose the 100ED. I am totally visual at the moment but I am considering dipping my toes into the dark arts of astrophotography.

 

 

 

 

What don’t you like about your 120 that’s taking you to the 100?

The ED will offer you an improvement but it is more of the same, a long and slow scope. But, if your dipping your toe in to photography it may be best to go for the starfield as it represents something different. You can always buy a case separately. 
Do you have a local astronomy group near you? I’d be amazed if there wasn’t an ED user at such a group or even a version of the starfield.  
 

[Jiggy 67]

44 minutes ago, ED Splitter said:

I added that focuser to my FLO wish list just last night. Any chance of a picture of what the scope looks like with that baader? Did you find a different means of mounting a finder scope?

The ED Stock focuser is part of the scope that was  clearly value engineered to drive down cost. It’s either too tight or too loose according to user reports. The former for me so far, too scared to loosen it.
I have pined over a moonrise or feather touch. But only just noticed baader offering and they do make very nice shiny things, I mean valuable scientific instruments that are also shiny. 

 

And the finder shoe is this one…….

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/william-optics-vixen-style-finder-shoe-mounting-base.html
 

All really easy to fit

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, ED Splitter said:

What don’t you like about your 120 that’s taking you to the 100?

The ED will offer you an improvement but it is more of the same, a long and slow scope. But, if your dipping your toe in to photography it may be best to go for the starfield as it represents something different. You can always buy a case separately. 
Do you have a local astronomy group near you? I’d be amazed if there wasn’t an ED user at such a group or even a version of the starfield.  
 

I am not a fan of the CA i get with the Achromatic 120. I bought the semi apo filter and that certainly helps but casts a yellowish tint. There are local clubs but I am no longer able to drive due to health reasons. I don’t reckon I could dip my toes into astrophotography with any seriousness using the 120.

[Robindonne]

There is a nice 100ed sw equinox for sale on abs.  

[bosun21]

15 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

There is a nice 100ed sw equinox for sale on abs.  

The equinox is the older version of this scope. Thanks 👍

[RobertI]

55 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

The equinox is the older version of this scope. Thanks 👍

I believe the Equinox was the higher quality version, same lens but CNC tube and rings, sliding dew shield and better focuser. They stopped making it for some reason but seem to be re-introducing something similar in the form of the Evolux. 

Edited August 1, 2022 by RobertI

[ED Splitter]

3 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

 

And the finder shoe is this one…….

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/william-optics-vixen-style-finder-shoe-mounting-base.html
 

All really easy to fit

Thanks. Did you add a click lock? How do you find the cantering?

[Carl Au]

If it helps I have owned both scopes. The 102 ED-R is optically superior with better colour correction. The build construction is on another level entirely compared to a ED100. I have always thought SW telescopes to be joyless things with all the appeal of a toaster

[saac]

18 minutes ago, Carl Au said:

If it helps I have owned both scopes. The 102 ED-R is optically superior with better colour correction. The build construction is on another level entirely compared to a ED100. I have always thought SW telescopes to be joyless things with all the appeal of a toaster

Not all toasters are built equal  

Jim

Dualit

 

 

 

 

[Zeta Reticulan]

1 hour ago, Carl Au said:

 I have always thought SW telescopes to be joyless things with all the appeal of a toaster

I love my Evostars, but I get what you mean. Interestingly, when I changed the stock focuser on my 80ED DS Pro it made it a fair bit more joyful lol.

[Carl Au]

9 hours ago, saac said:

Not all toasters are built equal  

Jim

Dualit

 

 

 

 

That’s my kinda toaster….

[Carl Au]

8 hours ago, Zeta Reticulan said:

I love my Evostars, but I get what you mean. Interestingly, when I changed the stock focuser on my 80ED DS Pro it made it a fair bit more joyful lol.

I did the same, and yes, it does make a big difference. I think I would like them more if they were white. Black is a stupid colour for a telescope. I used to own a black OO dob, I nearly tripped over it in the dark loads of times. Telescopes are white for a reason 

[F15Rules]

If you could find one used, a Vixen ED103s would be a real step up from either of the above scopes (optically right up there with Takahashi), and at F7.7 and very lightweight fine for imaging dabbling if that's what you want.

I've owned two of these and paid under £650 each used..the current SD103s model (which is virtually identical) retails new at c£1800!

An oversized 115mm diameter tube, but very light at c 4.5kg.

Wonderful scopes.

Here's a link to the latest new version and a Sky at Night review. Also a pic of my last one, now owned and loved by an SGL friend..🤗👍..

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/telescopes/vixen-sd103s-apochromatic-refractor/

Dave

Edited August 2, 2022 by F15Rules

[Carl Au]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

If you could find one used, a Vixen ED103s would be a real step up from either of the above scopes (optically right up there with Takahashi), and at F7.7 and very lightweight fine for imaging dabbling if that's what you want.

I've owned two of these and paid under £650 each used..the current SD103s model (which is virtually identical) retails new at c£1800!

An oversized 115mm diameter tube, but very light at c 4.5kg.

Wonderful scopes.

Here's a link to the latest new version and a Sky at Night review. Also a pic of my last one, now owned and loved by an SGL friend..🤗👍..

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/telescopes/vixen-sd103s-apochromatic-refractor/

Dave

What he said....

[bosun21]

There’s none these around for sale atm.

[F15Rules]

35 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

There’s none these around for sale atm.

"All things come to he who waits"

👍😁

Dave