New scope by WO: William Optics Pleiades 181 Apo Refractor

[AstroGS]

New William Optics Pleiades 181 (£18K)!!! Beautiful and HUGE!!!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/william-optics/william-optics-pleiades-181-apo-refractor.html

 

It makes the Askar 185 APO look like a bargain 🙂

Edited April 15 by AstroGS

[Nik271]

But unlike the Askar 185 this has a good chance of being very well corrected. For a scope of this size and with 7 lens elements arriving in collimation is a key issue I think.  

Edited April 15 by Nik271

[Elp]

For that price it better be perfect. It was announced a while back and people commented a lot about the captain's wheel.

[John]

Impressive looking scope for an impressive price !

I sometimes wonder if these whopping refractors are designed to attract the crowds at astro shows, as much as anything else 🙄

 

 

[rl]

Quote

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Impressive looking scope for an impressive price !

I sometimes wonder if these whopping refractors are designed to attract the crowds at astro shows, as much as anything else 🙄

Yep...my John Owen 6" f/10 triplet purchased for circa 3% secondhand of the WO cost always gets a crowd, 

7 elements!...Es Reid will have a job for life tweaking those!

I seem to recall a WO 71mm 5-element astrograph that went out of production quite quickly to be replaced with a simpler design..more is not always better?

 

[AstroGS]

1 hour ago, Elp said:

For that price it better be perfect. It was announced a while back and people commented a lot about the captain's wheel.

What is this Cosmos Steering Wheel?

 

[Elp]

4 minutes ago, AstroGS said:

What is this Cosmos Steering Wheel?

 

Supposed to be easier to load and orient I think, but you could just rotate the back end/imaging train?

[Elp]

22 minutes ago, rl said:

seem to recall a WO 71mm 5-element astrograph that went out of production quite quickly to be replaced with a simpler design..more is not always better?

A few people on CN seem to have had issues with getting a flat field on the Pleiades, one of its selling points...

[Elp]

I'm just wondering how much better a scope this size offers. You can get a 150 APM LZOS triplet for half the price and Askar have shown the world with their latest triplets (though not "premium" glass) what can be achieved. Don't get me wrong, I love my Z61.

Edited April 15 by Elp

[Mr Spock]

It's a triplet with a four element corrector.

[AstroKeith]

45 minutes ago, AstroGS said:

What is this Cosmos Steering Wheel?

 

It's a rather nice nod to the grand refractors (and a few other scopes) of yesteryear. 

Take a look at the back of the 36" Yerkes telescope - lots of brass, wheels and the same steering handle.

[LukeTheNuke]

It looks lovely! I've never owned a William Optics telescope, alas.

I like the idea of a big frac, and I was trying to persuade myself towards the Skywatcher ED150 just yesterday. But I think I am probably sticking at 120 mm as my biggest frac. I figure, it already feels fairly big to me, and not going higher gives me a good excuse for getting the Edge 8 SCT out.

I keep trying to talk myself into various new scopes, but I think it's just a dob larger than 10 inches where I have a proper gap. Of course, the Frac Fraternity may have different priorities to me!

Edited April 15 by LukeTheNuke

[John]

10 minutes ago, LukeTheNuke said:

It looks lovely! I've never owned a William Optics telescope, alas.

I like the idea of a big frac, and I was trying to persuade myself towards the Skywatcher ED150 just yesterday. But I think I am probably sticking at 120 mm as my biggest frac. I figure, it already feels fairly big to me, and not going higher gives me a good excuse for getting the Edge 8 SCT out.

I keep trying to talk myself into various new scopes, but I think it's just a dob larger than 10 inches where I have a proper gap. Of course, the Frac Fraternity may have different priorities to me!

I'm currently feeling that my 130mm F/9.2 is as large a refractor as I want to deal with. Like you, from time to time I look at 150's but, having tried some in the past, I'd probably go for a different design if I want to get more aperture again.

 

 

[Mr Spock]

I've a feeling this should be an observatory scope. I'd feel uncomfortable lugging a scope that size and price onto a mount on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, I wonder what the optics are like for visual. Seven elements are over the top for planetary but it would be a heck of a wide field scope (at a price!).

[tomato]

Nice, but I would need two…😉

[Elp]

30 minutes ago, tomato said:

Nice, but I would need two…😉

You know what you need to do then.