Tak 100 dc vs skywatcher 120ed and 150ed

[bosun21]

Just now, Flame Nebula said:

For AP planetary, I'd go with the scope on the alt az setting on AZEQ6, as doesn't need equatorial mode for planets. But, yes you may be right. 

The AZ-EQ6 is a heavy mount with it's 2" tripod. The mount head alone is over 15kg. I was surprised how heavy it was when setting mine up for the first time. That along with a 9.25". will still require time to set up. The Starsense unit still requires polar alignment, it only does the star alignment for you which is fine for Alt/Az.

[Flame Nebula]

4 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

The AZ-EQ6 is a heavy mount with it's 2" tripod. The mount head alone is over 15kg. I was surprised how heavy it was when setting mine up for the first time. That along with a 9.25". will still require time to set up. The Starsense unit still requires polar alignment, it only does the star alignment for you which is fine for Alt/Az.

Apparently, it can also auto polar align too. But, I take your point about the mount weight, as I haven't acquired it yet, so your opinion is valuable. 

[bosun21]

3 minutes ago, Flame Nebula said:

Apparently, it can also auto polar align too. But, I take your point about the mount weight, as I haven't acquired it yet, so your opinion is valuable. 

Polar alignment is the physical positioning of the mount RA axis itself to the north celestial pole. Regardless of the software used you still have to make the adjustments physically to the mount.

[Flame Nebula]

8 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Polar alignment is the physical positioning of the mount RA axis itself to the north celestial pole. Regardless of the software used you still have to make the adjustments physically to the mount.

OK. Thanks Bosun. 👍

[garryblueboy]

Having owned all of the scopes in the original post I would say the Tak gave the best views the 150 ED was a fine scope optics very good and yes image larger but still lacked the sharpness of the Tak the 120 I had was a very good equinox model and was in my opinion close to the Tak but I had another 120 which was not I have had several C9.25 and didn’t think they gave me any more than the C8HD edge Having tried most large apertures from top brands and Chinese makers there were two that really impressed me the Altair 130 EDT and the APM 140 which ultimately led to me obtaining a TEC140 which is now perfect size to handle I still own a Tak FS102 which gives sublime views and a great grab and go scope for me obviously other people have different opinions we all get the aperture bug but quality still outperforms quantity as I found the bigger scopes were more hassle to use and I didn’t use them as much as I do know but it was a fun and expensive journey .

[dweller25]

1 hour ago, garryblueboy said:

Having owned all of the scopes in the original post I would say the Tak gave the best views the 150 ED was a fine scope optics very good and yes image larger but still lacked the sharpness of the Tak the 120 I had was a very good equinox model and was in my opinion close to the Tak but I had another 120 which was not I have had several C9.25 and didn’t think they gave me any more than the C8HD edge Having tried most large apertures from top brands and Chinese makers there were two that really impressed me the Altair 130 EDT and the APM 140 which ultimately led to me obtaining a TEC140 which is now perfect size to handle I still own a Tak FS102 which gives sublime views and a great grab and go scope for me obviously other people have different opinions we all get the aperture bug but quality still outperforms quantity as I found the bigger scopes were more hassle to use and I didn’t use them as much as I do know but it was a fun and expensive journey .

I also think more and more that as the UK does not have consistently great skies that quality over quantity for visual astronomy may be the way to go. 

Edited March 19 by dweller25

[johnturley]

2 hours ago, garryblueboy said:

Having owned all of the scopes in the original post I would say the Tak gave the best views the 150 ED was a fine scope optics very good and yes image larger but still lacked the sharpness of the Tak the 120 I had was a very good equinox model and was in my opinion close to the Tak but I had another 120 which was not I have had several C9.25 and didn’t think they gave me any more than the C8HD edge Having tried most large apertures from top brands and Chinese makers there were two that really impressed me the Altair 130 EDT and the APM 140 which ultimately led to me obtaining a TEC140 which is now perfect size to handle I still own a Tak FS102 which gives sublime views and a great grab and go scope for me obviously other people have different opinions we all get the aperture bug but quality still outperforms quantity as I found the bigger scopes were more hassle to use and I didn’t use them as much as I do know but it was a fun and expensive journey .

This would indicate that the Esprit 150 is significantly superior to the ED 150, I would be interested to hear from someone who has compared them.

When I compared the view of Jupiter (and not under particularly good viewing conditions) through my Tak 100 DZ, with that through my Esprit 150, the 100 DZ (with a Strehl ratio measured by Rother Valley Optics of 0.987) did not even come close, the Esprit 150 was streets ahead. Note also that the 100 DZ is also technically superior to the 100 DC (which seems to be the benchmark 100mm Tak), although several observers have stated that there is no discernable difference between them.

John 

[garryblueboy]

11 minutes ago, johnturley said:

This would indicate that the Esprit 150 is significantly superior to the ED 150, I would be interested to hear from someone who has compared them.

When I compared the view of Jupiter (and not under particularly good viewing conditions) through my Tak 100 DZ, with that through my Esprit 150, the 100 DZ (with a Strehl ratio measured by Rother Valley Optics of 0.987) did not even come close, the Esprit 150 was streets ahead. Note also that the 100 DZ is also technically superior to the 100 DC (which seems to be the benchmark 100mm Tak), although several observers have stated that there is no discernable difference between them.

John 

I’d say for sure the Esprit is a step above not significantly the 150ED but Costs 3 times the cost as would The Tak150 which I also owned is a tad better than the Esprit at 3 times the cost but both the Esprit and Tak 150 are a heavy scopes if your setting up and tearing down nightly and the View from my TEC 140 is better than my Takahashi FS102 but it’s still a close thing on planets size is relative but so is setting up etc if I had an observatory I’d still have my Tak150 and my C14 Edge but life gets in the way sometimes and as I’m getting older I want less hassle.

But that’s me everyone’s mileage will differ.

Edited March 19 by garryblueboy

[Saganite]

Since I have been using my APM ED 152 I have not enjoyed very good seeing more than a few times, but I have had one occasion when the seeing was near perfect and that showed an image scale with super sharpness that I have rarely seen, and on that basis I would never trade it for a 4" of any make !

Portability is not an issue of course because it lives permanently in my Dome on an AZ100

[Stu]

22 minutes ago, johnturley said:

This would indicate that the Esprit 150 is significantly superior to the ED 150, I would be interested to hear from someone who has compared them.

When I compared the view of Jupiter (and not under particularly good viewing conditions) through my Tak 100 DZ, with that through my Esprit 150, the 100 DZ (with a Strehl ratio measured by Rother Valley Optics of 0.987) did not even come close, the Esprit 150 was streets ahead. Note also that the 100 DZ is also technically superior to the 100 DC (which seems to be the benchmark 100mm Tak), although several observers have stated that there is no discernable difference between them.

John 

That doesn’t surprise me John. The Esprit 150 has a great reputation and I would expect it to be a decent amount better than a 150ED. Neither am I surprised by its superiority to a DZ. I think (hope!) I’ve made clear that it’s the whole package of the DC that makes it so useable; excellent optically in a lightweight package that can travel. They are never going to win against an excellent 150mm triplet except under very poor seeing conditions.

[garryblueboy]

53 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Since I have been using my APM ED 152 I have not enjoyed very good seeing more than a few times, but I have had one occasion when the seeing was near perfect and that showed an image scale with super sharpness that I have rarely seen, and on that basis I would never trade it for a 4" of any make !

Portability is not an issue of course because it lives permanently in my Dome on an AZ100

Your correct Steve the APM is a wonderful scope also I have had one and would highly recommend one or as I’ve said the 140 is also a little gem although on a good night the Little FS102 is hard to beat on contrast and sharpness but I have luxury of owning a more premium scope than that I’m surprised the original poster hasn’t considered APM 152 or the 140 as they are reasonably priced and a steal on the used market .

 

[Flame Nebula]

2 hours ago, garryblueboy said:

Your correct Steve the APM is a wonderful scope also I have had one and would highly recommend one or as I’ve said the 140 is also a little gem although on a good night the Little FS102 is hard to beat on contrast and sharpness but I have luxury of owning a more premium scope than that I’m surprised the original poster hasn’t considered APM 152 or the 140 as they are reasonably priced and a steal on the used market .

 

I'm considering now🤔🤪

[Doctor D]

On 09/03/2024 at 09:55, Flame Nebula said:

So, here we have a Tak with an excellent reputation vs two skywatcher ED refractors. Price range £1500-2000. 

I'd be interested in which of these you would recommend, based on comparative viewing. No limits on what was viewed. Given that the 6" ED is similar price to the Tak, I would assume it would be the best choice, as I find it hard to imagine the 4" apo being able to match it? But, perhaps the magical qualities of Taks can do this? 

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has used the tak and either/both the skywatchers. 

Thanks 

Mark 

 

The Evostar 150ED doublet is a fantastic value. Some of the nicest views have come from this scope.