New Skywatcher HAC125 F2 astrograph

[Elp]

That initial person posted a review, as suspected it is susceptible to tilt though they didn't attempt to adjust it:

https://apranat.exblog.jp/36014405/

 

[Backyardscope]

Impressive scope, but too many changes to adopt to my imaging train. Your going to have to use 1.25" filters at the end of a small camera.

[Backyardscope]

Interesting review.

Scaling the field of view of the HAC125 is very little difference compared to a fov of my Sharpstar 50EDPH in conjunction with its optically matched reducer from natively f5.5 to f4.6, probably a lot less to worry about as well.

[TiffsAndAstro]

6 hours ago, Backyardscope said:

Interesting review.

Scaling the field of view of the HAC125 is very little difference compared to a fov of my Sharpstar 50EDPH in conjunction with its optically matched reducer from natively f5.5 to f4.6, probably a lot less to worry about as well.

surely the hac125 will suck in a lot more photons for that same fov though?

[Backyardscope]

Of course it would, but Astrophotography is expensive as is and can get complicated.

I would rather spend the money on a camera upgrade if I can.

[Elp]

7 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

surely the hac125 will suck in a lot more photons for that same fov though?

Yes. If you're chasing deep images you need aperture for resolution and speed.

[TiffsAndAstro]

40 minutes ago, Backyardscope said:

Of course it would, but Astrophotography is expensive as is and can get complicated.

I would rather spend the money on a camera upgrade if I can.

I'd like one of these if it were a little different. Needs to take a bigger camera, support a filter draw. 

[Ratlet]

I get the impression that they've had to make compromises to hit a price point (like a lot of akywatcher stuff).  It almost feels like they're building an ecosystem?  Like they want to have something like the zwo setup but with beginner budget aimed stuff.

[Ratlet]

That being said, looks like it could be an interesting option for eaa.

[TiffsAndAstro]

1 hour ago, Ratlet said:

That being said, looks like it could be an interesting option for eaa.

My head is likely to obscure the aperture too much

[TiffsAndAstro]

1 hour ago, Ratlet said:

I get the impression that they've had to make compromises to hit a price point (like a lot of akywatcher stuff).  It almost feels like they're building an ecosystem?  Like they want to have something like the zwo setup but with beginner budget aimed stuff.

No way are they not planning larger versions hac150 hac200.

RasaLite

MegaStar, not HyperStar

Edited Saturday at 19:45 by TiffsAndAstro

[Elp]

It does become more difficult making larger F2 mirrors, I'm a bit dubious how good the collimation mechanics will be with this scope.

[TiffsAndAstro]

2 hours ago, Elp said:

It does become more difficult making larger F2 mirrors, I'm a bit dubious how good the collimation mechanics will be with this scope.

yt reviews normally hit around same time as product launches. not seen many on this so far....

are celestron and sw owned by the same group? how many factories make those corrector plates? 

i guess the primary can be more cheaply/lightly supported as its not moving. so can sw get away with only collimation on the secondary i wonder?

[Elp]

Skywatcher are made by Synta, not sure who makes Celestron. The honders is a different design (it's not new I believe it's been done before), it uses a special aspherical primary whereby the light rays go through the front of what might be considered a corrector plate, through the front of the primary mirror and reflect off a rear surface as opposed to a normal primary whereby the rays reflect off the surface. The rays then enter a corrector lens (maybe similar to a corrector lens on an Edge HD) before entering the camera out front. There is no secondary. So one of the issues is the attachment of the camera fixed by one screw on one side, it's guaranteed to tilt the camera. I don't know whether the primary collimation screws at the rear of the OTA have enough adjustment to account for the tilt the camera will have. With a Hyperstar lens you can collimate or tilt the whole lens of the unit so it's kind of the opposite of this scope (HS you effectively tilt at the front of the scope, with the HAC you adjust it from the rear).

Edited yesterday at 00:19 by Elp

[Elp]

As Synta is Chinese, these suppliers will be first in line, and usually the internet worldwide is walled off/restricted from said region (usually not straight forward to access unless you know). I find it odd how many Italian and Australian sites have it listed though.

Edited yesterday at 00:15 by Elp

[ONIKKINEN]

All the other Honders type scopes are ridiculously expensive, such as this one although i am sure this one has other bells and whistles in the design: https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/officina-stellare-riccardi-honders-rh-200-600-at-f-3-ota/p,57272

Makes me think that SW/Synta or whoever is making this rather strange type of mirror (mangin mirror i believe) has figured out a way to manufacture them for a palatable price. Nothing else in the SW/Celestron/Synta lineup of scopes has this mirror so it could well be some other factory that SW contracts to make these. The lack of supply in most European retailers hints that SW is going through a "soft launch" where they ease into the market at small numbers. Maybe to see if there is something to fix in the near future before manufacturing 10 000 of them in haste.

Eagerly waiting for someone to get their hands on this and post an in depth review (in English i mean, i know there are already reviews in chinese).

[Ratlet]

Think skyward eyes on cloudy nights is a vendor for akywatcher stuff and they wouldn't be importing it to the us which will limit it's punch.

[ONIKKINEN]

2 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

Think skyward eyes on cloudy nights is a vendor for akywatcher stuff and they wouldn't be importing it to the us which will limit it's punch.

Hasnt SW done this kind of thing before? I am pretty sure SW PDS newtonians are also not sold in the US.

[Ratlet]

29 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Hasnt SW done this kind of thing before? I am pretty sure SW PDS newtonians are also not sold in the US.

Aye.  But that's allegedly for the opposite reason.  Given the price the pds newts provide an awful lot of performance.  Would potentially impact apo sales.

[TiffsAndAstro]

8 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

All the other Honders type scopes are ridiculously expensive, such as this one although i am sure this one has other bells and whistles in the design: https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/officina-stellare-riccardi-honders-rh-200-600-at-f-3-ota/p,57272

Makes me think that SW/Synta or whoever is making this rather strange type of mirror (mangin mirror i believe) has figured out a way to manufacture them for a palatable price. Nothing else in the SW/Celestron/Synta lineup of scopes has this mirror so it could well be some other factory that SW contracts to make these. The lack of supply in most European retailers hints that SW is going through a "soft launch" where they ease into the market at small numbers. Maybe to see if there is something to fix in the near future before manufacturing 10 000 of them in haste.

Eagerly waiting for someone to get their hands on this and post an in depth review (in English i mean, i know there are already reviews in chinese).

Those officina stellare seem to have a mixed reputation and I'm sure they be better built/designed at 10x the price

Only seen a couple of videos featuring them but they look a look cooler than this much cheaper sw version. Also F3 not f2 but appear shorter than the sw.

Still a very odd scope for sw to release 

[Elp]

2 hours ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

Still a very odd scope for sw to release 

Maybe the mechanical design is but Celestron have the RASA and this is SWs equivalent, they've obviously tried to keep the manufacturing cost down so can release at a lower price point.

Until Celestron pull their finger out and decide to release the RASA6 as an OTA option, SW can capitalise on the smaller aperture niche if the scope is capable.

Edited 23 hours ago by Elp

[Louis D]

20 hours ago, Elp said:

Skywatcher are made by Synta, not sure who makes Celestron.

Here's what I could find about Synta's ownership at arm's length of Celestron via SW.  While it may be incorporated in Delaware (almost all US corporations are for multiple reasons), it is actually headquartered in Torrance, California.  I believe that is where Celestron has been located all along.  I'm guessing Synta helps to bankroll Celestron development and manufacturing in the US.  What I have no idea about is how much of the design and manufacturing is done in China.  If it's anything like a certain well known Korean company that makes cell phones and appliances, after they've sent over their engineers from the home country long enough to learn leading edge design methodologies by working with their US counterparts shoulder to shoulder, they then layoff the US design group and move development to Korea.  This isn't hearsay, I've worked for, and been laid off, twice by this particular company under these conditions for different product categories.  I'm not doing that a third time.  Considering Synta has owned Celestron for almost 20 years now, I have to wonder if the US company is now simply a shell holding company.

Edited 15 hours ago by Louis D

[Elp]

So Synta Technology Corporation is Taiwanese, reading into it their manufacturing of telescopes is done by Suzhou Synta Optical Technology in China, SW is their brand as is Acuter and they also do scopes for Celestron (now owning them) and Orion (USA) whom are no longer.

Edited 22 hours ago by Elp

[900SL]

I'd love a fast astrograph, but this isnt it.

Neither is the Sharpstar 150mm f2.8 (they must be making a fortune on those)

Oh well. Let's see what comes along next

[TiffsAndAstro]

1 minute ago, 900SL said:

I'd love a fast astrograph, but this isnt it.

Neither is the Sharpstar 150mm f2.8 (they must be making a fortune on those)

Oh well. Let's see what comes along next

I was shocked when I saw the sharp star price. Save up a little more, get a Rasa  would be my thinking.

I'm hoping a bigger hac150 or 200 might give some more room for back focus.

Maybe the mirror factory is practicing production on smaller mirrors first. 

Maybe the hac125 primary is the left over cut out from center of a bigger mirror, lol?