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New scope from William Optics

Doc

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John

John

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Interesting - same spec as the Skywatcher ED120 / Equinox 120 (very similar in all ways to the latter). I wonder what that price will convert to when the scope is available over here - around £1,500 possibly ?.

With the TAL Apolar APO (when it makes it here from Siberia !) there will be some interesting options in this price / scope type niche.

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johninderby

johninderby

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Looks like an interesting alternative to the Equinox 120. Shame about the focuser though. The 3.5" DDG focuser is without doubt the worst piece of utter rubbish I've ever used. You can twist the drawtube sideways by nearly 1/4" with just gentle pressure as there is no support for the drawtube except on the bottom of it. So what's the price going to be of a Megrez 120 with a MoonLite or Feather Touch focuser?

A week after I got my FLT98 with the 3.5" DDG focuser I ordered a Feather Touch R&P focuser and now I love the scope.

John

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Doc

Doc

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So what sort of figure are we looking at to place a moonlite or feather Touch on one of these John.

It amazes me why a company like WO would make a sub standard focuser when by just looking at it's competitors it's pretty easy to make an excellent focuser.

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johninderby

johninderby

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I would think a MoonLite would be about £400.00. The Feather Touch R&P is about £600.00. Although I had doubts about spending that much when I ordered one, after fitting it and using it the first time it was definitely worth every penny. MoonLite Crayfords are very nice but a FT R&P is perfection.

When I first got the FLT98 the focuser wouldn't even hold the weight of a diagonal and it took lots of disassembling and adjusting to get it right. I've never encountered a crayford with more flex. The rest of the scope was fantastic both in build quality and optics. Ian King has put the FT on his FLT98 and someone else I was speaking to last week has just ordered one for his FLT98.

I'm very surprised that WO doesn't offer the FT as an option as I'm sure many would go for it.

John

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russ

russ

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I had a play with a couple of WO scopes at Astrofest and was less than impressed with the feel of the focusers. The FT looks a work of art but at £600 is worth more than my entire setup (scopes, mounts and eyepieces). :D

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johninderby

johninderby

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BTW the Megrez 120 is the same price as the FLT98.

http://www.iankingimaging.com/show_products.php?category=64

The focuser comes as a complete kit from Ian King Imaging. The FT adaptor simply screws on in place of the WO adaptor so its a two minute job to replace the standard focuser. The FLT98-DDG OTA tube is actually different to the older ali tube FLT98 and requires it's own specific adaptor. Ian King had to send his own FLT98-DDG OTA to Feather Touch for them to design the correct adaptor so Ian has the worlds first FLT98-DDG with the FT and I have the second. There's a full photo of my scope with the FT on Ian's website. http://www.iankingimaging.com/show_products.php?category=65

John

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Darth Takahashi

Darth Takahashi

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I had the same problems with my Zenith star 105 a while ago now. The focuser slipped under the weight of the diagonal / eyepiece. The problem was the finish was the high gloss paint and it slipped easily under load.

The later focuser seem to have solved this issue, correct?

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Our TEC140 has a big Feathertouch and, as the saying goes, anything else is less.

WO have some great ideas but they do also go for gloss over substance to a slight extent, I think. (I have a ZS66 and while it has substance it still has slightly more gloss, maybe?)

Olly

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Takahashi

Takahashi

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WO have some great ideas but they do also go for gloss over substance to a slight extent, I think.

Where the DDG focuser is concerned, "Bling Over Logic" certainly applies. I still can't believe that any astronomer was involved in the decision to include a blindingly-bright blue LCD backlight for the focuser readout. It's such a dark-adaptation killer it's almost farcical. You can of course just point a red-light at the non-backlit LCD, but that kinda defeats the point of it being lit at all. Why on earth didn't they make it red?!?

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oceanheadted

oceanheadted

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Interesting to see all these negative comments about the DDG. I saw an advert for one and wondered what its value was. It's a shame that it has been implemented at the expense of the basic functionality of the focuser. From the comments here it sounds like you would be better off going for the cheaper skywatcher!

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Doc

Doc

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I don't know about that...

Apart from the focuser the William Optics are built very well, and have great optics, it's just the focusers that have always let them down.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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From the comments here it sounds like you would be better off going for the cheaper skywatcher!

Well it's a good point in all seriousness. There's not all that much of a gap between the SW and the likes of Tak and TEC for visual observing, so the marketing gap for a slight improvement on the SW is not all that large.

Olly

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johninderby

johninderby

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The various scopes that WO produce are a curious mix. There are a couple of them that are brilliant both mechanically and optically (except for the focusers :p) but some of them do leave something to be desired with some "cost cutting" evident in the internal components. It's as if WO has the OTAs made by a couple of different scope manufacturers and then they put their own focuser on them. My FLT98 has slightly better optics than the TMB I used to have, and the quality of the OTA and lens cell are every bit as good as the TMB. Now with a proper focuser it is a great scope. :D

Now if only WO would bring out deluxe versions with either a MonnLite or Feather Touch already installed.

John

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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To second John, I heard that TEC made an early batch of lenses for the WO110 but stopped doing so when called upon to make too many too fast. I can't confirm this story so don't take it as gospel.

One thng's for sure, though; if I thought that a used WO110 had a TEC lens I'd grab it fast!

Has anyone out there ever encountered the WO152? I was tempted in principle but with so little first hand info it was too big a risk.

Olly

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NickH

NickH

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Meade 127 triplet is less... optics on that are first class. And it's hard to keep up with the no. of WO products that seem to trickle out.

WO are using Russian lenses in some models though like the FLT98 and they are very very nice

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Euan

Euan

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Now if only WO would bring out deluxe versions with either a MonnLite or Feather Touch already installed.

It amazes me that a manufacturer has cottoned onto this.

If you buy one of these scopes there is a good chance you are going to be hanging some pretty heavy tech on the back of it.

So many people upgrade focuser's that it makes it a waste making the original one in the first place, they could lose that cost and cut a deal with Moonlite and have theirs pre-fitted, but raise the cost of the scope accordingly

If Skywatcher did that, even as a "deluxe" option it it would be a smart move as it may convince a lot of people who would otherwise choose a more high-end brand

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