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Anyone on the Astro-Physics Waiting List?


AndrewP

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Neil, the point is, if a TMB/Tak/Tec etc can match it...why wait?

The question is, can they?

I'm waiting for my retirement lump sum! All being well that wll be 9 years. I have my name down for the 140 EDF starfire. My name's down for an AP1200 as well but I think they will be offering me one of those within the next year. I'll have to turn them down on that one though since I can't afford one at the mo.

£5000 purchases tend to be something you have to save up for?

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I had a second hand AP 102mm Starfire a while back...

Very nice, and had a feathertouch focuser....

But was an oil spaced triplet... worked perfectly well, but they do have a reputation for getting 'leaky' so it was 'moved on' as we do, for other projects...

All AP are airspaced now I think... would actually like one of their Maks if they ever decide to make them again!!! they are supposed to be the dogs danglers...

I am without GEM at present and put my name on the AP list for a Mach 1 GTO some time ago...

i have a week or 3 to decide... and I am sorely tempted to make the deposit payment...

Just that 'iffy' exchange rate thwarting things at present.

Steve

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I was tidying up my inbox today (don't ask) and found my email confirmation from Astro-Physics of joining the waiting list.

I've signed up for an AP 130mm Grand Turismo Refractor as it breaks down for Air Travel

... and do you have a mount capable of holding it that will pack away for airline travel???:):rolleyes:

Steve

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Sorry folks been ill over the last few days hence the no-show. Some interesting points made and all valid I think.

My thoughts are:

For the vast majority under UK skies, a TMB, Tak or AP would all be so similar in performance as not to make a difference.

Waiting Lists: My circumstance is not the norm. I will get a large lump sum as part of my pension in 5 years time and part of that has been set aside for an AP scope.

With a fairly large mortgage and a young family I can neither afford or justify such a scope, so the wait for me is a bonus, something to look forward to if you like.

Skye at Night you make a very valid point about a mount to take an airline portable 130mm APO and it's something I will have to address but initial thoughts are a Giro Alt Az.

Anyway enough of me! :) I asked the question as most people on the AP list seem to be in the US and I was interested as to how many in the UK might have put their names down!

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  • 5 months later...

Just another data point - found this older thread on a google search and registered to say:

I put my name in for an AP130 in 2001, and, basically forgot about it, as my interest waned over the past five years or so. I got an email and phone call from AP the other day, saying my turn had come, and did I want to execute purchase of the 130GT? I stalled for time and began searching around, including joining the AP Yahoo group and asking them what they thought of the scope. Well, long story short, it looks like that seed planted 9 years ago might sprout and revivify my interest in the hobby. I'm scrambling around trying to find a way to write a check for about 6 large (in this day and age, that's not as easy anymore) and thinking about what I could sell to finance owning a piece of history, as it were.

I never expected to even hear from AP. Oh well, right now the inclination is to go with it. I don't expect to lose anything on the "investment," anyway. That's a good justification, is it not? And, if the scope is as great as everyone is saying, maybe I'll actually dust off those old Naglers and Panoptics and put it through its paces. Just a data point - the "Force" is strong with AP.

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I had the loan of an AP Stowaway for a short while at Kelling last year. Optically, it was probably the best small scope I have ever used. During bright daytime it would handle as much magnification that you could achieve without image breakdown and no hint of false colour. At night, the low power star fields were superb but on Jupiter it was no match for the owners 7" Mak. Re old refractors, I have a self built 5" F15 with a triplet originally by Ross but refigured by the legendary late Horace Dall, it matched an early 6" AP F12 Super Planetary for image quality but the AP had the edge on colour correction, presumably due to better modern glass types. If I was inclined to spend a fortune on an AP I would be quite happy to have an alternative high end model to tide me over until my order came up, at that point I could either sell the alternative or pass on the AP to someone in the queue, possibly at a profit! In that context, is the price of the AP fixed at the point of order?, inflation could run riot in 8 years!

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I agree with you Nick as I too would like to see a head to head with TAK/AP/Tec?TMB with one important proviso. When doing the test, firstly the identity of each scope was hidden (e.g each scope hidden behind a curtain) so that a fair comparison of performance could be achieved without bias either way. I would then repeat this experiment several times in which one of the scopes was replaced with a duplicate of another one being tested in order to validate the consistency of those observing. After all, at the prices these scopes command, there should exist NO variation in performance between two scopes of the same brand!) Just as a one off, wouldn't it be great to put behind each curtain the same, identical make of scope just to see what the results would be?

As a poverty stricken but objective bystander, I would be very interested to see where each make of scope would sit relative to its competitor's performance and whether the difference in price would also correspond with the final results. Just a thought.

Clear skies

James

(p.s I have never read of such a test - I wonder why it has never happened?)

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Just a thought, but, if you were to test say 4 scopes, would it not be better to use a high quality camera on the scopes than to use human eyes?, afterall everyones eyes are different and obtain different views for thier owners, not to mention sometimes when you look at something, a human brain can interperate things as it sees fit at times!

At least with images theres a lot of tests that would be able to be carried out using more scientific procedures than saying..i think this view is better than that view etc.

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An interesting thread this. I have a 6" TMB, same as Rob, and it tends to be my standard against which all else is judged. Comparing it with my Tak FSQ106 the Tak seems to be sharper, although that is difficult to imagine when you take a gander through the TMB. Different magnification (1200mm v 530mm) will confuse the issue. Different eyepieces will sort that out to some extent but then you bring those different eyepieces into the mix. I can compare mine with a 27mm Panoptic on the TMB and a 12mm Radian on the Tak but I am nowhere near qualified to make any kind of definitive statement about the results. For imaging which I mostly do, both are limited by the crappy UK sky.

My AP 1200 shows a tracking error of around 0.3 to 0.6 arc seconds rms which gives me an idea about AP quality. Doubtless their scopes are better than anything else on the planet but can you benefit from it in England? If you view from 7000 feet up in New Mexico or Arizona it might be possible to 'see' the difference between the top makes but even then I feel the Americans are open to the 'emperor's clothes' syndrome. It cost more so it must be better. Buy that expensive scope and you simply cannot cut corners with anything else so diagonals (the Japanese fanatics don't use them) and eyepieces must also be of top quality.

Under our skies I feel it is all a bit academic. Tak, TEC, TMB maybe even Stellarvue or Astro Tech, they are all much the same.

Dennis

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Craftsmanship is a truly wonderful thing always worthy of appreciation.

For insight, my old buddy Ian is one of the very few people left around that can build a genuine 'London Quality' shotgun, by HAND . . . . .

It took a 7 year apprenticeship, for him to even begin to embark on that course (and his custom built knives are works of art to drool over too - that great character Clarissa Dickson-Wright the Chef, has a couple of them).

There are good reasons why a BOSS over and under, costs as much as it does. You have to wait for them too.

I know 'so called' gunsmiths, that replace say firing pins, and are lucky to have them last a year before breaking again.

When Ian does a firing pin, he only has to do it once - it lasts over a lifetime.

A well made, well balanced, well finished, well fitted shotgun, is an absolute treasure to hold in the hands.

Firms that should (and do) know better, spitting out shotguns from CNC's, and selling them for inflated prices because they have stuck a name on them, do their industry a great disservice, by pretending they are in the same league as craftsman finished items. That happens a lot.

Now put CNC output into my friend Ian's hands to get properly finished? Different story. So it is possible to get almost the same output, and still get the benefits of craftsmanship. Priced accordingly, and very little higher than what can too often be junk.

All that said, the best Sporting Over and Under Shotgun I ever had in my hands, that it was almost impossible for me to miss a clay with, was a dead cheap 1960's Spanish Eibargun single trigger non ejector.

That shotgun has had well over 1,000,000 cartridges through it now, and the only problem along the way, was the thin forend wood cracked which Ian repaired.

So, if AP 'scopes are put together by someone like my friend Ian (a vanishing resource), and you can afford it, go for it, treasure it, and enjoy it to the full. :)

I'll be looking for the Eibargun equivalent. :icon_scratch:

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The TEC will almost match the AP??? Fighting talk! In all honesty, at this level you are going to struggle to tell the difference but I bought a TEC140 after seeing a couple of guest TECs on a fairly regular basis over a two or three year spell. I feel that optically and mechanically it is nothing short of miraculous. The AP will be the same - almost as good as the TEC!!! I am congenitally incapable of all forms of waiting (and a bit old for an 8 year list!) but I know that to settle on a dream bit of kit is a nice thing to do. Enjoy the wait and enjoy the instrument. We are so lucky to have this gear available.

Olly

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I've been on the list for 6 years now for the following AP scopes:

130mm Starfire the telescope has changed spec a few times since, and I'd assume they've upgraded me to the 130 GT.

105mm Traveler which I think has been discontinued though I've got a TMB92 which does the same job and has better colour correction anyway.

and finally a 160mm Starfire F7.5 which has also changed spec but still appears to exist.

I was on the list for an AP900 but cancelled after a couple of years as my G11 seemed to do manage OK - but only after two rebuilds and an ovision worm upgrade.

Since then, I've changed address 3 times, changed carreer, changed cars, and bought a Mewlon which outperforms all these scopes in every department (INMHO having tested them all), but I'm still hanging on regardless, because well an AP is an AP, and I want an AP! What can I say? I hope they're worth it. :)

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The TEC will almost match the AP??? Fighting talk! In all honesty, at this level you are going to struggle to tell the difference

Agreed Olly,

And after recently speaking to Yuri at TEC the waiting lists for certain models of their scopes are beginning to stretch into 'many months' as well.

Both quality scopes, I'd be happy with either to be honest.

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  • 3 years later...

Gentlemen,

I am lucky enough to own the prototype of the TEC 200mm fluorite, and despite the general problems with UK skies, I think, with what experience I do have of apochromats and the comments of others that have used it, it is unlikely to be surpassed by any other make of apochromat of the same size.

Clear skies to you all, and I'm sure that anyone who waits for an AP won't be disappointed.

Chris

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Hi, Gedan,

Yes, it was just a lucky situation of being in the right place at the right time when I worked for Telescope House in London. It's certaInly my pride and joy and has killed off any aperture fever issues, partly because it would be nigh on impossible to get a larger fluorite and even if I could, the cost would be unthinkable, the dome and mount would also need to be larger and the whole project would be largely unecessary because as the aperture got larger there would be fewer and fewer nights that it would operate at its full potential. There does appear to remain a slight fifference in contrast and light intake in favour of a triplet fluorite version of an apochromat, so trying to improve it by going to a triplet ED system would necessitate an even larger upgrade. No, I'm aware of how lucky I am and I'll stick to what I have!

Clear skies - what 'scope do you have, by the way?

Chris

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Interesting to read this old thread. Two people appearing on it have been discredited for fraudulent selling, since then. Roland Christen isn't one of them, nor is Yuri Petrunin!

I just received a flattener for my TEC140. It is a terrible price but, wowser, it is a big bit of lensery!!!

I now need the ada^pters, which will doubtless take months.

Olly

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Hi, Gedan,

Yes, it was just a lucky situation of being in the right place at the right time when I worked for Telescope House in London. It's certaInly my pride and joy and has killed off any aperture fever issues, partly because it would be nigh on impossible to get a larger fluorite and even if I could, the cost would be unthinkable, the dome and mount would also need to be larger and the whole project would be largely unecessary because as the aperture got larger there would be fewer and fewer nights that it would operate at its full potential. There does appear to remain a slight fifference in contrast and light intake in favour of a triplet fluorite version of an apochromat, so trying to improve it by going to a triplet ED system would necessitate an even larger upgrade. No, I'm aware of how lucky I am and I'll stick to what I have!

Clear skies - what 'scope do you have, by the way?

Chris

added scopes to my signature plus I have a tec140 on order!

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I also would love someone to do head to head with an AP, Tak and TMB and other high end refractors. You have to ask why no one has ever done this and published the results? After all, if this was done in the most thorough way, we would all then know and we could all stop talking about it, lol.

Part of me wanders if someone has waited that long, and paid that much, would they really want to put it to the test? Imagine waiting nine years and finding out your prize AP is out performed in some way by another scope you could have bought within a week or two!

Mind you, I know myself that it's possible to have a particular affection (obsession?) with a particular telescope or manufacturer that almost defies logic. There's also the thrill and enjoyment of using a top performing well engineered telescope that is hard to explain to someone who my not yet have had this pleasure.

And finally, think of the pulling power! If you turn up at Kelling Heath in the Autumn with an AP160 I can absolutely guarantee that you will instantly make numerous new chums who will think the world of you. By the way, if YOU are thinking of taking an AP160 (or any AP come to think of it) to Kelling please send me a private email - I would like to become your best friend! I promise faithfully not to let on to anyone else so you're not bothered with long queues of folks waiting to look through your scope.

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Shame you're not closer than West Yorkshire. I'm not far from the Southend coast in the south east. I could have invited you round to use the 200mm TEC fluorite and you wouldn't have had to wait for Kelling Heath!

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