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IKI Ikharus 102mm f7

A McEwan

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A McEwan

A McEwan

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Hi all,

While browsin the other day, I found the Ikharus 102mm f7 on this page: Refractors from Ian King Imaging

I'm thinking it might be a do-it-all scope instead of my 127Mak + C80ED.

Does anyone have any performance reports or reviews of this model? It looks very like the Megrez 102 that used to be made, and the Orion USA 102mm f7, which was reported to have a rather poor focuser.

Overall it looks like a nice portage mid-aperture refractor, but I'd like to have some other opinions on it to read through before considering it.

Thanks in advance,

Ant

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A McEwan

A McEwan

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Thanks - The Astro-Professional model looks good too, and is also available from Star Telesscopes at a reasonable price, though more expensive than the Ikharus at Ian King.

If I was to go ahead, the plan would be sell the Celestron C80ED, sell the Skymax 127 Maksutov and buy a mid-aperture ED refractor of good enough quality that I wouldn't really miss the slight loss in apertrure compared with the 127 Maksutov. Also, I would want good enough build quality that it wouldn't need modification, and for it to be fairly portable.

I'm seeking out reports based on the other brands for that tube assembly now: Orion Premium 1q02 f7, Megrez 102, etc.

Ant

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johninderby

johninderby

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Just to sow further confusion there's also Telescope House's 100mm f/6 ED APO. I had one (since replaced by the FLT98) and it was a very nice scope with good optics (FPL-51 glass) and surprisingly compact when closed up. Build quality was very, very good and easily the equal of other scopes in it's class such as the Megrez 102. The 2.7" focuser is absolutely brilliant, and the best Chinese made focuser I've ever used. The photos on TH's website don't do it justice

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/info_S600_E.html

Telescope Service does a version and I believe it's the same as the Avian 100 sold by Ace Cameras.

John

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Probably the easiest way to get a very honest and accurate assessment of the scope is simply to ask Ian King. He will, in my experience and that of many others, give a straight answer. I would beware of assuming that it is the same as this or that other scope. Retailers can call off special specs if their order is large enough.

Olly

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A McEwan

A McEwan

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John, I've checked out that link, and the Avian 100 on Ace Camera's site. It got a good review (93%) in Astronomy Now. Can you recall how good the CA suppression was? Certainly hardly any mention of it is made in the AN review.

Olly, yes - I will send an email enquiry asap to get the low-down on the Ikharus. The name is certainly appropriate for potentially good solar views...

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r3i

r3i

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I bought an IKI 70mm ED a few months ago and have been very pleased with it. It looks to have the same focuser as the 102mm you're interested in. These scopes are manufactured by Kunming United Optics www.united-optics.com Their site appears to be down at the moment for some reason.

They are apparently also re-badged by StellarVue.

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johninderby

johninderby

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John, I've checked out that link, and the Avian 100 on Ace Camera's site. It got a good review (93%) in Astronomy Now. Can you recall how good the CA suppression was? Certainly hardly any mention of it is made in the AN review.

QUOTE]

I did test it out side by side with a Celestron C80 ED one night to see how they compared for CA, and on Vega they were very similar, but if anything the Rev 100 was slightly better. On the moon there was no blue fringing either, so CA was no problem for visual use.

If you want any more photos of the scope PM me with your email address and I'll send you a few.

John

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r3i

r3i

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I just checked out the website provided by r3i and I noted that the 102mm frac has collimation screws which has to be a plus for this scope.

Mark

Hi Mark,

The website states that there are supposed to be collimation screws for the 70mm scope, but I can't see any on mine - should they be viewable from the front of the scope or perhaps hidden underneath a bezel or something?

I noticed there is a picture of the collimation screws on the page for the 152mm Achromat here: 152mm_F-5.9 - it make me wonder whether it's a "cut and paste" oversight on the specs for the ED range?

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johninderby

johninderby

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The collimation screws in many ED or APO refractors are in the side of the lens cell and are for adjusting the lens elements individually and are usually hidden under the felt strips. Perhaps factory collimatable might be more accurate in these cases.

Here's a photo of a triplet lens that shows one set of the three sets of adjustment screws in the side of the lens cell.

John

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r3i

r3i

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The collimation screws in many ED or APO refractors are in the side of the lens cell and are for adjusting the lens elements individually and are usually hidden under the felt strips. Perhaps factory collimatable might be more accurate in these cases.

Thanks John for that info. I unscrewed the dew shield on my 70mm and could see one set of 2 screws similar to those in your picture. There is a self adhesive felt strip that runs all the way around the tube apart from the area where these screws were.

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A McEwan

A McEwan

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Thanks for all the advice here, folks. It's much appreciated. Johninderby's additional info on the Revelation 100 insp[ired me, but then I got an email from Telescope Service about this nice little item: Triplet APO 90/600mm - farbrein - Carbon Tubus - 2" TS Crayford - Teleskop-Express: Astro-Shop + Fotografie + Naturbeobachtung

After some very minor haggling it seems that the prices for the 90mm 600mm triplet and the 100mm 600mm ED doublet are going to be very similar. So now I'm in a quandary.

As far as I can tell the TS triplet is almost identical to the carbon-fibre tubed Stellarvue 90 Raptor, which gets a lot of praise. The 100mm doublet has a tad extra aperture and excellent colour correction, but is a bit heavier.

Analysis paralysis...

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  • 5 weeks later...
Coco

Coco

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I use the Revelation 600/6 ED and its a gem... the skywatcher flattener on FLO's website works a treat with it :)

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-reviews/98035-skywatcher-field-flattener.html

Apparently its the same scope as the Orion Deluxe 600/6 , Avian and a few others.. Ive just married the 314l up to it this evening so here goes :)

Guy

Guy

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