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Ikharus 102mm ED Unboxing

ribuck

By ribuck
in Member Equipment Reviews

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ribuck

ribuck

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Hey Longjohn,

you wont regret it, it's a fantastic scope. Did Ian ask why you decided on that scope or where you had seen info about it ?

If you mentioned my thread he might help get my focuser fixed quicker......lol :)

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LongJohn54

LongJohn54

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Hey Longjohn,

you wont regret it, it's a fantastic scope. Did Ian ask why you decided on that scope or where you had seen info about it ?

If you mentioned my thread he might help get my focuser fixed quicker......lol :icon_eek:

Yes, I rang Ian and mentioned Tom (Albireo380) had bought one and was pleased with it plus your review here. :) He did say tripping over it was probably not the best thing to do. :rolleyes:

I'm looking forward to hanging my Olympus E300 onto it and seeing what I can get. I'll be reading the Imaging forums of SGL in great detail for tips. The first tip I've acted on is ordering a copy of Making Every Photon Count from FLO. :p

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mobi

mobi

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Well I bought one, I made the order through Ian Kings website, and said I heard about his site on this forum, I guess I will have to see if he had any in stock when I made the order, June 18, but if not I don,t mind waiting, as long as Ian picks me a good example I,ll be very much chuffed.

I have never used a refractor or even had the chance to look through one so this is uncharted territory for me.I will let you know how things turn out for me.

Longjohn54, Congrats on your decision also, please let us know how everything goes for you.

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ribuck

ribuck

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Hi Mobi,

Hey mobi i'm sure you'll love it, it's a great scope. I'm not sure what you type of scope you used before, but i had a 8" newt and i loved it but struggled with collimation and getting enough back focus, so i could never seem to get perfect pin point stars.

Unfortunately i still don't have mine back yet, as the morning i was supposed to get it back ian rang and said he wasn't happy with the repair and needed to order some more parts that are going to take several weeks to arrive.

I'm disappointed that the manufacturer is going to take weeks to get spare parts sorted, but i'll just have to wait patiently, so the rest of you will probably be up and running before me :), so i'm looking forward to seeing some of your results.

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Martin-Devon

Martin-Devon

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I've had my Ikharus scope (also from Ian King imaging) now for 3 weeks, and so far it's been great - very smooth focuser & pin-sharp stars. I've just started astro-imaging, so am a complete beginner here, but after just 3 evenings of getting used to the scope & kit the Ikharus produced the view attached of the Veil nebula.

post-20603-13387762012_thumb.jpg

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mobi

mobi

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Hi Rich , sorry for my slow reply.Had to walk to shops.

Rich, sorry to here your wait for repair has got longer, Can,t Ian king just get a whole focuser and just replace it with the faulty one on your scope and get a replacement from the manufactuer?

You get your scope sooner and Ian king gets the replacement from the manufactuer?

Or am I misunderstanding something?

Rich I doubt I will be getting up and imaging any quicker than you, I do not have a mount yet nor do I have a DSLR, I am still saving for those.So the Ikuras I get will be sat in it,s case for awhile.

Martin that Veil nebula photo is very impressive, what make of HA filter did you use & which CCD or DSLR did you use martin?

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ribuck

ribuck

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Hey Mobi,

Ian can't just replace my focuser as I damaged it, when i tripped in the observatory and the focuser took the brunt of my fall, all 15st of me, so it's a repair job instead of a replacement job.

He sent it off for repair, but it came back feeling very rough, which was due to the bottom metal plate being badly scored, due to the fall. I'm waiting for a replacement bottom metal plate at the moment.

It's a shame really as i dont get many great really clear nights but there have been a few that i've missed in the last few weeks :)

Rich

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mobi

mobi

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Hello Rich, Right I understand now.Hopefully you will get back a much more smooth & precise focuser unit.

If a professional repairer is building it back up by hand it should possible be more well assembled than the original?

Hello Martin.

Thanks for letting me know the type of filter you used.Your photo really shows the bright dark pink/red of the Veil nebula, very impressive.

Martin are you using the "DAWN" ATIK Image Processing Software to take & process your astro-photos?

I was looking at this DAWN software on the Atik website, do you know if it will work with other brands/make of CCD cameras? It looks pretty straight forward layout which is good for myself , I am hopeless at complicated software apps.

One look at Maxim-DL for me and I knew I would never understand or get it to work, same for AstroArt when I tried the trail versions.

I need an astro processing app that does it all for me, for a simpleton like me it would help alot!

Martin is your Atik314 the single shot Colour or mono version?

Could you tell us what you think of your 314 for ease of use & the quality of the image it produces for you please and anything else you like or dislike about your 314? I like to get feedback from people who actually use the item I,m interested in.The Atik 314 is the type of CCD I would look at if I was buying a dedicated astronomy CCD camera.But right know it is out of my price band at £1100. I am looking at the Canon DLSR 1100D camera right now it,s dark noise looks really good similar to the 500D, I was looking on Gary,s Honis website and the noise comparison photos he took showed the 1100D & 500D to be the best for low noise during night astro photo taking and in dark frames,

Good luck with your future astro photo taking with your Atik 314 & Ikharus telescope, please post some more shots when time alllows.

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Demonperformer

Demonperformer

Posted
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I used a H-alpha filter only. There was no guiding either, I just a dozen 30 sec H-alpha subs and it was not a particularly good night for viewing either - several subs had to be rejected due to clouds.

30 SECOND subs with a 5nm Ha filter

:)

That is seriously impressive

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Martin-Devon

Martin-Devon

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Hi DP - yep, these were 30 sec subs, although I had the X2 bin on as well. I initially tried to image the nebula in just luminence and saw virtually nothing, and thought I had nothing to lose by trying the H-alpha filter - I was stunned when the detail & depth popped out as the Ikharus/Atik downloaded it's 30 sec autoloop. My processing skills are at "Mickey-Mouse" level though at the moment and serious imagers will see/recognize many flaws - so I still have a long way to go here.

Mobi, I'll answer you questions in a "pm" later today - I don't want to de-rail Ribucks original thread, which this is in danger of doing.

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  • 2 weeks later...
mobi

mobi

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Hi Rich any up date on the repair progress of your Ikharus & when you will have it back with you?

Apparently Ian King has none in stock right now, awaiting suppliers shipment apparently!

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ribuck

ribuck

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Hey Mobi,

Unfortunately no progress, i'm still waiting. I spoke to Ian over a week ago and he is still waiting a shipment from the manufacturer.

I think something's up, as apparently the shipment has been in transit for a few weeks now.

I've bought a few things from china on ebay, and they have always arrived within about a week, so not sure what's going on with Ian's shipment.

I guess i'll just have to keep waiting......... :hello2:

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ribuck

ribuck

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I'm going to give Ian a few more days and then call him back. It's just a little disappointing how long it's taking to get spare ports and new scopes in stock.

I know this is not Ian's fault, and it's down to the manufacturer / supplier, but you would think if that if the manufacturer / supplier is serious about building up the reputation of a new brand, then they would have a good supply chain and aftersales service in place.

Just my 2 cents............

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jnc71106

jnc71106

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Your experience with the scope recently is the one thing stopping me from placing an order

I'm sure the scope is a great bit of kit but slow after sales is something I have had trouble with before and it does make me a bit hesitant

Jake

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LongJohn54

LongJohn54

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The day after ordering mine (10 June) Ian emailed to say shipping wouldn't be this month. Having spoken to him before ordering I was aware that he had none in stock so I wasn't too bothered. Hopefully not long to wait now.

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