100mm APO - do you get wot u pay for - Discuss

[Telescope40]

Hi All. Recently parted company with my C80R with a view to an upgrade to a 100 mm model. The 80 was great on planets and the moon but as usual, I'm wanting to see a bit more, I own a binoviewer. Really fancy the C100R FLO have at the mo or possibly a secondhand SW 100 ED ( couple for sale on ABS ). Then here comes the curveball. Saw advert on ABS w/site and on here for a WO 102 plus case. This is pushing the budget envelope as usual Made an enquiry or two. Its gone now and I'm kicking myself a little for hesitating.

My Q is - if by flexing the plastic for the WO option, a (98 or 102) or any other suggestions, am I going to see a marked performance increase with the WO in comparison with the Celestron/SW versions. Seen a few complimentary reviews on all the scopes mentioned but really puzzled if the extra spondoolics will be worth it. My skies are fairly light polluted but a quick trip in the car can solve this most nites.

Any views/advice readily recieved. Thx in advance as always. John

[GazOC]

For the money I don't think you can go wrong with an ED100 in one of its guises. The f9 may be an issue with imagers but for visual they are great value for money.

[brianb]

For the money I don't think you can go wrong with an ED100 in one of its guises.

Providing you have a mount that will handle it. It's heavy & being long is harder to handle than a shorter scope with the same length. Great optics though ... the only way you'll beat it significantly is by going to a triplet; the TV 102 doublet is about twice the price & has a nicer finish, the optics may be marginally better but I think you'd be hard pushed to tell in anything approaching normal use.

[John]

I've owned Williams Optics and Skywatcher ED refractors and, performance-wise, they were equally as good. Personally I think you would have to spend an awful lot more than an ED100 costs to see any difference in performance and even then it would be a miniscule difference. I've heard that the ED100 performs optically as well as a Tele Vue 102 for example the the latter costs 3-4x as much (new).

My Vixen ED102 performs as well as a Skywatcher ED100 (but no better) and it's list price was around £1200 for just the OTA when it was on the market.

[GazOC]

Providing you have a mount that will handle it. It's heavy & being long is harder to handle than a shorter scope with the same length. Great optics though ... the only way you'll beat it significantly is by going to a triplet; the TV 102 doublet is about twice the price & has a nicer finish, the optics may be marginally better but I think you'd be hard pushed to tell in anything approaching normal use.

The basic (non Equinox) ED100 is fine on a EQ5, I've even had mine on an AZ3 for quick looks.

[johninderby]

Or just to complicate things a little bit there is the new SkyWatcher ED90 /900. Not sure when it'll be available in the UK.

John

[GazOC]

Not heard of that one John. Have you got any other details or a link?

[johninderby]

I came across it this morning on the Telescope Service website, never heard a single word about it before but it sounds quite interesting as the OTA only weighs 4.3KG so it should work on a lighter mount.

John

Skywatcher / Acute ED 90/900mm

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p2984_Skywatcher-ED-90-900mm---8x50-Sucher---2--Zubehoer---ALU-Koffer.html&ei=njOBS7_WPIyI0wTo8sy2BA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAwQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dskywatcher%2Bed90%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4PCTC_enGB350GB350

[dweller25]

If you want to see a bit more planetary detail the Skywatcher 100ED would be a good choice - £629 new.

If you want to see a lot more planetary detail the Skywatcher 8" reflector would be a good choice - £224 new.

[Andrew*]

For planets, I think the Skywatcher 100mm f/9 is unbeatable for its price. Most ~100mm scopes you see around are appealing to deep sky imagers by having a small focal ratio. The shorter you go, the more difficult it is to correct aberrations, so a 100mm scope will likely be more expensive because it's faster, not because it's better!

Therefore if you really are only interested in observing planets with it, then you're even better with the Skywatcher. The longer focal ratio has the advantage that you don't need such small focal length eyepieces. For example, a 100mm apo will probably manage 250x, but while an f/9 will give 250x with a 3.6mm eyepiece, an f/6 would need a 2.4mm. In this range the selection of usable eyepieces drops off dramatically!

Andrew

[ollypenrice]

In visual use I doubt that you would detect any significant difference between the SW and the premium scopes. The f9 doesn't give you a superewide view but if you don't mind that then I would put the extra saving into a good EP or two. I did enjoy the 4 degree field available in the f5 Genesis I sold to Richie but you are keen on the planets so why worry?

Olly

[A McEwan]

I'll go along with the general concensus here. The SW and Celestron models work admirably at delivering near colour-free sharp images on all objects, and if combined with a wide angle eyepiece can give great low power widefield views too.

I've no experience of WO scopes, but I have read quite a few negative reports of them in the past, where people had expected more of them. In my experience with SW, I've always had the impression that I got MORE than I expected.

Hope this helps.

Ant

[Coco]

I use a Revelation 100mm ED f/6 and am thrilled to bits with it..

With the SW Flattener none reducer it works a gem..

[Telescope40]

Hi all and thanks very much for the advice. Along the lines I was hoping for. An order has jsut been made this afty for a Celestron ED100R from FLO. Think I'm in for a treat. Cheers John