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Skywatcher 100 ED

Rob

By Rob
in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups

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Rob

Rob

Posted
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Thinking about a Skywatcher 100 ED.... not sure if my newly upgraded EQ3-2 (now with steel HEQ5 Tripod) could take the weight?.

Any thoughts?. If not it will be back to plan A - an 8" / 9.25" SCT early next year. Need to sell the 150 newt first!!

Rob

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Ant

Ant

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I've seen really nice images taken with a EQ3 (standard Legs) and a 8" F/5 Newt - the newt weighs in at just over 8KG.

So with the uprated legs I would have thought that mount would easily take the 100ED.

Ant

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Rob

Rob

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Indeed it was fun matey! :). Yeah a range of scopes, these puppys are around 20 ft high on a dob base. Gotta get me one in the future I think (when the kids have left home of course!).

Mind you I think we will need it to beat the light pollution alone!!!

Rob

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Rob

Rob

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Very much thinking of a quality setup now... and nothing too big / heavy, just cant be doing with that at my age!! :)

The 100 ED looks a nice scope, should have good optics + a fair f rating. That along side my 5" mak could work quite well as an all rounder setup!.

Rob

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GazOC

GazOC

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I've been meaning to give one of those semi-Apos a go just to see what all the fuss is about. I think a secondhand ED80 would be the way to go for me, then I could either just sell it or sell it and put the money towards the ED100, depending on my opinion of it.

OTOH I'm not sure they would be worth the money for me, CA doesn't bother me that much unless it's really apparent (ie.150mm-120mm f5).

The other "problem" is high magnification, you see the reviews saying the owners have had the scopes up to x350-x400 and higher which sounds impressive until you figure out that to get those mags and those focal lengths, they must have been Barlowing 4mm EPs!

Gaz

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russ

russ

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Hi Gaz,

I did exactly what you describe. Had the ED80 one week which was enough to decide it wasn't for me. Hopeless on deepsky as you would expect from an 80mm. And to get any decent image scale on the planets I had to barlow a 5mm Lanthanum.

Actually i was semi pleased with it until i took it to the dark site and we did a direct comparison with Rob's 150 Newt. Doesn't seem a fair match up 150mm vs 80mm. But they are about the same weight and length, the ED costs a fair bit more. It was more of a slaughter really, the little 80 couldn't hold it's own on anything. I really thought it would give the Newt a lesson in planetary contrast and sharpness but no.

Anyhow, the 80's real calling in life is a top notch imager and in that respect I never gave it a chance. Which is why i would like another now. Think i'm ready this time.

Russ

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russ

russ

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Just a shame the 100ED is f9. I know Synta had to do this to control the false colour as the aperture increases but the strange thing is, the 120ED is an f7.5 like the 80ED. Does this mean the 120ED will not have the colour correction of it's smaller siblings or have they put a lot more into the lens, other than the obvious extra 20mm. Must have done something special to justify the £700 price hike over the 100ED.

Russ

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GazOC

GazOC

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Russ,

I may be being cynical but I think that the f of the 120mm is also set because the manufacturers/dealers know that if the refractor is too long it will affect sales, going on the 80mm and the 100mm the 120 needs to be around f12-14, this gives a scope about 6 foot long, so then you need EQ6s/G11s etc with extensions to use them. As it is you get away with an EQ5 (I guess) preferabley HEQ5.

Judging by the delays (Sherwoods have lifted the scope off their site) they are having problems getting semi-Apo performance at f7.5, the scope was 'supposed' to be here in the spring, it seems farther away then ever.

Gaz

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russ

russ

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Hi Gaz,

According to the ads in the Sky at Night mag the fl is f7.5. So almost certainly run into problems. And at £1299 for OTA only people are going to expect a damn fine scope for the money. Will it ever make it to retail i wonder?

Russ

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stupot

stupot

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You have to remember the ED range are really aimed at the deepsky imager. With that in mind Synta HAVE to keep the FL down. In reality the 100ED is too slow at f9 and a lot of people baulked at that focal ratio when it was released. Had the 120ED been slower than f9 it would have become a one trick pony scope....a pure planetary scope.

stu

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GazOC

GazOC

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According to the ads in the Sky at Night mag the fl is f7.5.

Got my 'edit' in just in time (1 min!! :))

Stu,

The only scope that looks attractive to me is the 100mm, I don't do too much (well any really) imaging and it would just be a planetary/double star scope, so the long fl would suit me, although paying £600 to get views on those objects a little bit better than my 127mm Mak (even though it probably is a better alround scope) is something I'd have to think carefully about. I think if I was looking at a scope for those objects, for that type of money, I'd sell my 127mm Mak and go for a 150mm Mak.

I think too many compromises are going to have to be made to bring the 120mm in at f7.5, I don't know how this will affect the imaging side (other than exposure time) but for £1200 people are wanting to be able to look through it too!! :) Maybe it will ship with a minus violet filter?????? :)

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Rob

Rob

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I think if I was looking at a scope for those objects, for that type of money, I'd sell my 127mm Mak and go for a 150mm Mak.

Funny you should say this Gaz.... I have not ruled out selling both of my scopes & moving to a 15mm Mak!!. The main reason for asking all these questions is to understand how far I can push weight wise!!. The actual choice on scope is going to be a lot harder.. mind you I'm only interested in the 100ED if going for a Refractor again. But I have been impressed with my 127mm Mak!!

Rob

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GazOC

GazOC

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ant,

They all seem to get bought and sold around the £250-£275 mark. If you could get one at that price you'd get a free trial, they seem pretty stable price wise.

rob,

Instead of a 127mm Mak and a 100ED, how about a 150mm Mak and a 80ED? Works out about the same price and a better pair IMHO?

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