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Refractor swop - is this a downgrade.

Telescope40

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F15Rules

F15Rules

Posted
Posted

Hi John,

I haven't owned the Megrez but all I can say is it would have to be very special to rival the ED100R, which I have...:p

Think the WO might have the crayford versus the ED100 R&P, but mine worked well, very smooth with no slop, so it wasn't a problem for me.:)I liked the F9 of the ED100 too, made it very versatile scope. Have heard that Megrez' can be variable quality, but that is third hand to be fair.:)

I'd stick with the ED or move on up...aperture, aperture, aperture!;)

Dave

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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For visual, no. Why change? A slow semi apo is an an apo these days. But for imaging you need a fast f ratio. What is your intended use?

I do have a WO scope and rather like it but there is a certain amount of 'gloss over substance' in my view. You can't say that about the SW ED doublets which are a very straightforward triumph of quality over price.

Olly

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Telescope40

Telescope40

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Hi. Thanks for all the viewpoints and safe to say a downgrade on aperture is off the cards.

Can I play devils advocate now and ask this.

If you were looking for a frac with more aperture where wud u go from an ED 100 keeping in mind the budget.

Bresser Messier

TAL

Meade LXD55

AR5 - bonkers size from wot I have seen !

Or am I just jawing on about nothing and tell me to keep my Ed100.

Thx John

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Posted
The only refractor better than your C100ED is .....

The Equinox 120ED.

Forget the achro's, more colour than a rainbow :)

The Meade 127 is also excellent. I had one visit recently and owned one myself for two years. The difference in visual use between these and our TEC 140 is really quite slight and the TEC is a truly premium instrument. It does pull away when used for imaging though the Meade has a bigger natural flat field.

Good point about the Dob option but maybe, as I do, you just like nice refractors?

Olly

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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Depends if a little CA bothers you (it doesn't bother me, whereas it clearly bothers Dweller..;)

On the achromat side, which are the models I think you asked about...Bresser Messier 127L if you can find one is excellent...a full 5" achromat, F9.4 so the CA is not at all bad (definitely NOT a rainbow!), in fact on anything much below mag 1.5 you will hardly notice it. The Bresser also comes with a great package including excellent Mon2 mount (I have one) and decent eyepieces, great 50mm illuminated finder and good polarscope (much better than Synta standard ones). There is an ex demo one of these for sale on ebay from Rother Valley optics at £499..

Tal...great scopes, I am a big fan, having owned 5 of them including a 5" which I believe Dweller also owned. I should never have sold it, was very sharp. You will see significantly more with a 5" than with a 4", I would say the most obvious difference is that in dark skies you see many many more faint background stars which enhance the foreground views of the object you're looking at, if you see what I mean:rolleyes:..Unfortunately Tal125Rs are as rare in the UK as hens teeth!

They do have a new Apo 125R out, now available through FLO, but the OTA is c£1500 and I have seen no reports on it yet...my bet is that it will be a corker though:D

Meade AR5..same as the Bresser 127L above, same lens, better standard equipment though. Good sharp optics.

If you cannot stand any CA at all...

a) you are a strange person:p

:p you need another apo and obviously are a very rich person:p

c) you are not colour blind!:)

Your next step up then has to be an ED120 or Meade 127, both will cost you up to £1600-£1700. You can get the Skywatcher DS Pro 120 though, (optically identical to the Equinox) for around £1000.

You pays your money and you takes your choice!

HTH

Dave

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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Posted

Correction...I said "Meade AR5..same as the Bresser 127L above, same lens, better standard equipment though. Good sharp optics."...on re reading this, it may seem that the Meade/AR5 were better equipped than the Bresser, when in facto the reverse is true!

Sorry if I confused you!:)

Dave

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Also there is the old 6 inch achro. One was up for sale recently on SGL for a derisory sum and the low value is why I keep mine. It really is pretty good and the colour is not unbearable to my eye. It is not far behind a 10inch SCT on most DSOs in my view, the contrast compensating for the smaller aperture. This may start a fire but it's based on owning both and is more or less true for me. I'm glad it is almost worthless because that way I can keep it!

Olly

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John

John

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Sorry!.. I stand corrected. The WO70 is FPL-51, the 90 is FPL-53. Its still not worth dropping the apature though

Rob

That's a feature of the WO range of refractors - it's a bit confusing as to what has which and so on :)

Perhaps it's settled down a bit now but it was hard to keep up with the WO range a short while ago !.

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John

John

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....One more curve ball. Skywatcher 120 f8.3 , blue tubed reflector. A few years old I believe.

A step up from my ED100. ?? I'm guessing not.

Is it a "fixed" collimated model .....

I guess you mean refractor :)

The 120 achro captures more light so it will do a little better on deep sky objects. For planetary and lunar viewing I think the ED100 will at least equal it - an 100mm F/9 FPL-53 doublet has very little, if any, false colour wheras a 120mm F/8.3 achro has (by comparison) quite a lot, which does affect the contrast and subtle details I feel.

The blue tube 120 F/8.3's did have a collimatable lens cell I believe.

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Kef9

Kef9

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Posted

Hi

I'm a bit late to this thread but I too have a C100ED. Its a great scope but the focusser is really pants. It started off fine but I think my heavy eyepieces have taken there toll. I think a few of the mods posted by other users are required to bring it back.

The only way I would get rid of my C100ED is if I got a FL-53 triple with a diameter of 120-130mm but the cost increase is ridiculous and not worth it IMHO.

Regarding where you can go for an increase in aperture. I got a Startravel 150 achro for just over £200 squid ex display from scopes and skies. It has quite a bit of a dust problem from being stood around day after day and the lens needs a good clean. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet and I know there will be loads of false colour but to be honest I don't think it will bother me as it will be only used at low mags. Its puprose will be a DSO and throw in the back of the car / holiday travel scope. The lens is flippin massive. :)

My next move is to get an uprated focusser that can be used with both scopes so I can hot swap as required although not too much!

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