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tall 100rs or skymax 180

mason

By mason
in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups

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mason

mason

Posted
Posted

hi, does anyone have any experience an opinions of either a skymax 180 or the tal 100rs for planetary imaging.

I know the skymax has the longer cool down time, and larger appiture, but have heard the tal takes some beating.

Which would produce the sharpest and best contrast image?

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Jon65

Jon65

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Agree with Nightfisher the Mak with the longer focal length should produce better imaging results on the planets.

Though the ota costs over 2.5 times the price of the Tal 100 RS ota.

A similar priced Mak to the Tal 100 ota would be the SW 127mm Mak,but I've had no experience witth them.

Jon

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Aha - well I have both and so does someone else I know who is elling a 180 Pro right now :)

The 180 will in theory be a planet killer - in practice mine has never been used in over a year. Why is that ?

1/ Cool down time - cool down time on the Mak is heading for 4 hours, cool down time on the TAL is typically under 10 minutes. UK weather - we can have summer come and go in four hours :o

2/ Weight - Both about the same but for me the TAL is easier to handle and store than the 180. I guess that depends on the shape and size of you car and storage space at home.

3/ Mount up - The TAL can run on a lighter mount than the 180 which also cuts the weight down for transport and cuts the cost down when you have to buy.

4/ Accessories - the TAL wins this one hands down, better quality diagonal (certainly than the one that came with my 180) and better quality eyepieces out the box.

5/ Usability - the TAL needs not much at all. The 180 on the other hand is the worlds largest dew magnet - budget for dewshield and heaters which adds to the weight and bulk and slows set-up down.

6/ Image shift - cant say for the 180 as I have yet to get to use it. Some people say its terrible. The TAL has a nice snap to focus.

7/ Cost - the 180 (especially if you chuck in a solid enough mount) is going to be a lot dearer than the TAL. Yes it will undoubtedly provide better results under great conditions, after a 4 hour cool down, on an EQ6. How often will we have great conditions in the UK I wonder.

Do you have the time, patience and cash to support the 180 in its lavish (in terms of time and needs) lifestyle ?

8/ Looks - ooer - in the style dept the TAL 100RS is a classic whereas the gold tubed 180 on a white EQ6 has lots of techno techno techno about it.

The TAL is more me in my Arabian style household but the 180 on a white mount in a room with a natural wood floor would look good :(

9/ Devotedness and love - the TAL wins it hands down - theres something weird about it - I just love it as a scope. Its woners can become a bit weird like that so beware of its charms ;)

As ever the best scope is the one you will use. A TAL 100RS you use will be a better investment than a Skymax 180 you dont.

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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hmm a rather passionate reply from ab, but i do agree in essence with the issues regarding cool down and which scope is likely to get more use, i have to be honest i grab my 100rs more than my omc140 and the omc is kept in a chilly celler!!!

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

Posted
Posted

Not terribly passionate - just a comparison really. I have both scopes (and a few others beside) but the TAL gets the most use. Mostly because its the easiest scope to cart about.

An 8" Newt is a handful solo on an HEQ5 (15kg of weights for a starter), Likewaise the 180 needs two weights whereas the TAL only needs one - thats all assuming they or on the HEQ5. If I take the TAL mount its lighter still.

Its just practicality is all - the 180 and the 200 Newt both require extra gubbins, more weight, more bulk - a lot depoends of course on whether your going to operate from you bhack garden or whether you have to tote stuff around.

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great_bear

great_bear

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I'd go for the Mak - since I already have one :) - although I only use mine for visual and have no experience of astrophotography in any shape or size.

Nonetheless there are some valid comments:

  • I don't think total cooldown time is as long as 4 hours. It's more like... ahem... three... [*cough*]
  • Image shift: Yep - it sucks. Best to buy another focuser. I make do with it, but it's not good.
  • Older (gold-tube) ones do indeed come with a really poor diagonal
  • I wouldn't travel regularly with this scope and mount - no way
  • "the 180 on a white mount in a room with a natural wood floor would look good"
    Strangely enough, I have natural wood floors in the new house.
  • "Devotedness and love - the TAL wins it hands down"
    Oooh I dunno - I love my Mak 180 quite a bit and will never part with it...
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Damo636

Damo636

Posted
Posted

HI Mason. I bought a used Tal 100RS after reading Astro Baby's review. It is an excellent performer imho. A neighbour who owns a SW ED100 was stunned when he looked through it. He admitted his scope was only marginally better optically at almost 3 times the price! I have no experience with the Mak but the cool down period would be too much for me. I think a lot of the time the window in the weather could be lost waiting on the beast to cool.

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Space Beagle

Space Beagle

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Given the right seeing conditions, both scopes cooled down etc etc! :)For planetary imaging I don't think it'd be much of a contest tbh! The big Mak should easily win!

However!:) For all the reasons AB stated above, I still prefer my own Tal, as I only do visual observing (for now!) and it is such a good and easy scope to use for that!

The person who is buying my 180 (a felow 'SGLer', im relieved to say!) is delighted at the deal, as, I think, he will be using it for imaging at some point and i'm sure he'll get some fantastic results with it - can't wait to see them on this 'ere forum!:o

Doc

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Posted

Yes it was Space Beagles one in the for sale column.

I wont sell mine because I want at least one look through the wretched thing. If it lived up to its promise I might keep mine and carry out a load of mods to reduce the cool down and fix some of the scopes issues.

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mason

mason

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cheers guys, great website astro baby, i read the review on the tal, and have just perchased one from sherwoods. Im now looking forward to looking throught it and hopefully get some images of jupiter before it dissapears!

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great_bear

great_bear

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Absolutely! - The fact is you just don't use it in the way people seem to be suggesting.

You don't think "Oh, let's do some astronomy!", pick up the Mak from it's position in the living room next to the log fire, and then plonk it on the mount outside and waste four hours doing nothing whilst it cools down.

Instead, you keep the thing in a secure place in the cold (a garage, or a basement, or the shed), and when you want to do astronomy you just go do it!

In real life, you adapt to such things, and use the device appropriately.

(that said, I can understand how - for Astro_Baby - a city flat probably isn't the best kind of home for a Mak. Nonetheless, there's still tricks you can do, such as leaving it in the bathtub with the bathroom window open, for cool air to trickle down into the tub - as I did with great success in my last flat).

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Space Beagle

Space Beagle

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Yep, it was my 180 Mel was on about and it is awaiting it's new owner to come and collect it soon! I'll let him reveal himself as the new owner when he wants to!:) It took a while to find someone to buy it, but I think the new owner is really going to use it well and i'm really pleased it's going to a fellow SGLer!

I'm sure if i'd given it more time to prove itself to me I would probably want to keep hold of it, but at the moment I feel that it ought to be owned by someone who'll use it more than I have.:(

I really can't ever see me selling the Tal 100RS and would say it's really worth waiting for someone to get them in stock!:o

Doc

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great_bear

great_bear

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Thanks for your reply Great Bear... could you not just heat both the corrector plate and the mirror? Or is that a big no no?

:rolleyes:

Wrong way around :) - you want the mirror to be cold, not warm - and that's why people add (or modify) scopes to have cooling fans in the back.

For what is quite possibly the longest thread in history about the benefits of cooling fans - not to mention surely a definitive text on the refractor vs. reflector argument, start here <click>

- just make sure you've lit the fire, put your feet up, and got a very very big mug of tea before you start - it's quite a read! :eek:

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John

John

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I don't think I've ever seen anyone using a dew heater on a Newtonian. Someone will no doubt chime in if they do...

I've seen a secondary heated slightly but not the primary. I use a dew sheild on the top of the tube but mostly as a light sheild.

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