William Optics Megrez 72 essentials?

[boborange]

After my too big a scope for the flat predicament with the celstron xlt 150 im now looking at much smaller alternatives, namely from the obvious brands, celestron, SW etc.

However, I love the look and the well documented build quality of the William Optics Megrez 72 and feel it will be a keeper where something like a meade ext80 will fit the bill but i know it will only be a stop gap to something else. Cost is an issue and realise the price of the WO is just the OTA.

So what I would like to know is what are the bare essentials i need to purchase along with the OTA to get me going and what do you reckon it would cost?

I know i need a tripod and mount so really would like to focus on eye pieces and diagonals. Would just one eyepiece suffice to start with or would I find it frustrating with the lack of options? Also the flexibilty of using the scope for terrestrial viewing has its benefits but would an erecting prism be suitable for astro viewing aswell?

Im interested in viewing planets and DSO and not bothered about imaging; i need to walk before I can run!!!

sorry its long winded and thanks for reading.....

[Demonperformer]

Just a thought ... if cash is short and you only want to do visual, it looks as if this scope could be mounted on a standard 'camera' tripod, without the worry of an astro-head. Guess you would probably want to get something better in time, but that might do for a start?

[rowan46]

the reason astronomy scopes don't erect is because it requires an extra piece of glass to do the job. in the old days optical quality glass was more expensive and not as good but an erecting prism doesn't make it that much worse visually its just convention now. so an erecting prism will be fine on visual, a decent alt az mount and tripod won't cost much more than a decent photographic tripod as for the eyepieces 2 would do you to start with 1 wide low power for dso's and a med- high power for planets about 8-10mm that should be a good start imho

[Sp@ce_d]

Hi boborange

I must admit I felt for you reading your other thread..

The WO Megrez 72 is one of the scopes I'm short-listing for a future shopping spree. However, I'm looking at it from an imaging point of view. I'm not sure it'll give you the views you may be expecting for closer planetary viewing. I'm sure some one more knowledgeable will come along soon and put us right here.

I fear you may be right about the EXT-80. I've had an EXT-125 for a couple of years and with hindsight and if I had discovered this site earlier I probably would have taken a different route. However, I understand your issue with storage space.. as suggested lampshades and vases are always a good disguise

[rowan46]

you can always barlow for planetary

[boborange]

Thanks for the replies. the WO kit looks so good i think it will be something you will keep out just to ogle and be all touchy feely with. (if you know what i mean)

so im really looking at 2 eyepieces and an erecting prism. I can go to a star diagonal later if needed along with a barlow for that extra grunt.(for tripods im liking the berbelech wooden ones)

Is it only me that finds it odd that images are back to front etc?

[hunterknox]

A berlebach tripod is a lovely thing but it seems like overkill for a little m72. You'd need a separate mount head with that too. Also, if you're after mega planetary detail it's not achievable.

I do love my megrez for widefield visual, especially on the andromeda galaxy, but for planets it's easily beaten by my skymax 102 mak cass.

[Demonperformer]

Must admit I am keeping a close eye on FLO at the moment. The scope is listed as "Limited Availability" ... wondering if this means they will be putting the last few in a "clearance sale" at some point ... guess I would have about 20 seconds after such an announcement to grab one!

[neilm]

A berlebach tripod is a lovely thing but it seems like overkill for a little m72. You'd need a separate mount head with that too. Also, if you're after mega planetary detail it's not achievable.

I do love my megrez for widefield visual, especially on the andromeda galaxy, but for planets it's easily beaten by my skymax 102 mak cass.

Another vote from me for the Megrez, very well built bit of kit, it's a shame to take out out into the cold! Agree with the comments as regards planets and DSO, guess it depends what you find more interesting to look at. And, if at some stage you do want to move onto astrophotogrpahy you've got a cracking start.

Cheers

neil

[ollypenrice]

Maybe I have never tried a good enough one, but I have never found erecting prisms anything like satisfactory for astronomical viewing. The image degredation is very pronounced on the Skywatcher ones I have accumulated over the years. I always wanted to use them on the moon so my atlas did not involve mental contortion, but the loss was too great by far. Using high powers on the planets would be the same. You can't lose critical detail like that because you have so little to start with. They are absolutely fine by day - nigh on impossible to distinguish in resolution from a star diagonal - but stars are a cruel optical challenge.

Though fast, the WO will be very limited on DSOs. With only 72mm to play with you won't grasp a lot of light for revealing nebulae. I have a 66, handy little fella and easy to like, but you don't see much. Given that DSOs will be so limited anyway, why go for a fast f ratio? This will greatly compromise the performance on what a small scope CAN do well, the moon and planets, without getting you very far on the DSOs.

What I would go for, without hesitation, is this;

Clearance / Pre-Owned - Vixen A80MF Refractor

The OTA is much longer, which may be an issue, but this will eat a short fast semi apo for breakfast on the moon and planets and the price is incredible. Vixen build quality is very sound and goes deep, well below the cosmetics.

If you do go for the small fast apo I think your choice of the WO is good, but I would try for a bit more aperture by going second hand.

Olly

PS The Vixen Mini-Porta on the same page as the long FL achromat would tempt me as well. In fact they both DO tempt me but I have too many telescopes as it is!!

[boborange]

thanks for your thoughts. Hunterknox you mention that with megrez 72 you wont be able to get good planetry detail.

So i would like to ask if I would be able to see the rings of saturn and cassini division? It may be a silly question but for me having not seen this yet it really is one of the first things i would like to view and is number 1 in my top 10!!!!!

[ollypenrice]

thanks for your thoughts. Hunterknox you mention that with megrez 72 you wont be able to get good planetry detail.

So i would like to ask if I would be able to see the rings of saturn and cassini division? It may be a silly question but for me having not seen this yet it really is one of the first things i would like to view and is number 1 in my top 10!!!!!

The rings, certainly Yes. Cassini's is asking a lot of a small scope. You need a fair bit of magnification. That is the kind of detail impeded by the erecting prisms I have tried.

Olly

[boborange]

Thanks olly,

As long as i can see the rings that would be the main thing, i suppose a small scope does have limitations.

Do you think with a proper star diagonal and a barlow you could stretch to see them or would that be a stretch too far?

[ollypenrice]

You'd certainly want those items, I think. The rule of thumb is 50x per inch of aperture so you should try to have an EP or EP/barlow that gave you 150X. The useful limit in the UK is usually around 200 in anything and even here with good skies and some big scopes I don't go beyond 250 other than on rare occasions and for a lark!

Olly

[hunterknox]

So i would like to ask if I would be able to see the rings of saturn and cassini division? It may be a silly question but for me having not seen this yet it really is one of the first things i would like to view and is number 1 in my top 10!!!!!

Honestly, I haven't had a high enough powered eyepiece to check the Cassini division until now, and but I'm almost certain that Olly's right. You can't beat the physics. I'll give you an update in a couple of months...

Couple of other things to think about - I use my scope with a 2" diagonal and fairly substantial eyepieces, so the dovetail "shoe" doesn't actually cover the balance point. With some mounts you might have to consider an extra dovetail if balance is critical.

The other thing you have to consider is eyepieces. On an f6 scope you're looking at an eyepiece ~3mm for your maximum useable magnification, and the budget options in that price range are limited. Barlows are an option but again it might make the balance a bit weird.

[boborange]

thanks for all the useful advice. My heart is set on one of these so have been looking around as to where the best place is to buy.

After scratching around on the net I discovered Wonline shop and saw a zenithstar 80 II for around the same money as the m72. still compact enough but does offer that bit of extra aperture.

So a couple of questions if I may; firstly has anyone bought direct from WO, prices seem better as your missing out the middle man and secondly how does the zenithstar compare to the m72?

[Capricorn]

The WO Online shop is I believe based in Taiwan, all the prices I see are T$.

So you could end up paying the import duty and VAT.

Say 30% on top of the price you pay WO.

Pushing a WO M72 to 150x will not be an everyday occurance, and you still only have a 72mm aperture. You will need a very good 3mm eyepiece, Saturn is a long, long way away.

Are you looking at the DDG version or the previous one?

Would have thought that adding an erecting prism would alter the path so you would need a reducer of some sor to take care of the change in the light path.

[boborange]

The prices are also quoted in USD, but appreciate there may be taxes this end. I have bought items from overseas before and no taxes were were added. Obviously its a bit hit and miss but even 30% on the price is still cheaper than here.

i was thinking that for the same price as buying from a UK dealer I could buy direct from WO and get an extra 8mm of aperture plus all the extras are that little cheaper aswell.

[pwalsh61]

I bought the DDG version of the m72 with 2" diagonal from Ian King Imaging in December. Excellent piece of kit and excellent service.

I'll second what hunterknox says about balance. I use my M72 on a camera tripod at the moment and neither of the 1/4" mounting holes in the L-shaped foot are in the right position to achieve balance, regardless of whether I've got my DSLR + field flattener attached or am just using the diagonal.

I'm just on the weight carrying limit of my tripod but I'm looking to get an EQ5 SynScan in the not too distant future anyway so this isn't much of an issue.

One thing I'd point out though is that on a cold night the tube can get very cold, so always handle it with gloves on. The last thing you want is to drop it!

There doesn't appear to be that much difference in price, from what I can see. The m72 DDG is listed on WOnline as US$545. With the USD currently worth approx £0.62 that translates to £337.90 compared to FLO's price of £387. I don't know what sort of import duty might be applied by HMRC.

Another factor to consider is that if you buy from the UK and the 'scope is faulty it'll be easier to return to the supplier! :-)

[kniclander]

Another factor to consider is that if you buy from the UK and the 'scope is faulty it'll be easier to return to the supplier! :-)

good point - I bought a new 72 meg and it was faulty (damaged) - pretty disappointing but the Uk supplier was great about it

seriously, as just a visual scope it's not great - an 80mm scope with a little longer focal length makes a big difference (although the 72 is just lovely to look at....)

[chard]

There's a ylena 85 on astrbuysell.com at the moment.

It's a Russian mak with a longer focal length so better on the planets/moon.

I love mine. It's so sharp. Small and built like a piece of military hardware.