Does anyone have a Stellarvue SVQ100? Or purchased from them?

[Manav]

Hi people,

I like the stats on SVQ100 its just too bad its so damn expensive. Anyone have this scope and think its worth the cash?

Or any recommendations on similar scope?

Please help me.....:/

[barx1963]

I have the SVR102T with 3" Feathertouch focuser and the matched reducer flattener. Went that way as it was in carbon graphite and gave me a choice of focal lengths.
Love the scope and very happy with it. Like you said it is a bit expensive but the build quality is great. Optically it appear excellent, my skills are not up to the standard of the scope ATM, but I think I should start to get some results soon.
One thing that may trip you up is that the online store that SV have is not setup for overseas orders. I found it was best in the end to ring them up and organise. As a consequence of the issue with the webstore I nearly ended up with ordering 2 scopes.
They do have a "Allstars" club that costs $18 to join but gives a 5% discount so make sure you join that before pulling the trigger.

I was very happy with the service and product once I worked out what was happening with their webstore!!

Malcolm

[Manav]

Hi Malcolm! Thanks for the advice! I joined that club a while ago when I originally wanted SV80ST.

The custom duty will be huge is there any way to avoid it?

[barx1963]

Not legally!!

Malcolm

[Manav]

lol love that response! I reckon I might have to give Vic a call and see what he says.

On a separate note does anyone know if William Optics have a similar scope to SVQ100? Any suggestions would be good

[troypiggo]

Have a look into http://priceusa.com.au
Haven't used it for astro but they did help with a product I needed that wouldn't ship to Aus directly once.

[Camelopardalis]

My question is why it is a quadruplet and still needs a matched flattner :confused:

[MortonH]

The SVQ doesn't need a flattener - just plug and play, supposedly.

[MortonH]

Depending on what you read and/or believe, the Stellarvue Quad is the "same" as this:

http://www.astronomyalive.com.au/telescopes/exotic-refractors/sharpstar-100q-100mm-f5-8-ed-quadruplet-flat-field-apochromatic-telescope.html

It's known that Stellarvue have sourced their scopes/components from SharpStar in the past so there is probably not much difference, if any, between them. There was exhaustive (and exhausting) debate on CloudyNights about this some time ago.

[Camelopardalis]

That'll teach me to skim instead of read :lol:

For US$2995 I'd want it to be rimmed with gold though too ;)

[ab1963]

As you already know i have the SVR 102T with 3'' FTF and is as good as it gets in a 4'' Apo IMO and if the budget can stretch to one you have a good balance of a visual and imaging scope

[Camelopardalis]

Toasted cheese sandwiches, Batman! That's $700 more than the Esprit 100 :eyepop:

[barx1963]

Glad to know there is another one in the country!!

Malcolm

[LewisM]

The SVQ100 is just a rebadged Sharpstar 100Q, which is also rebadged as a Teleskop Express 100Q (http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p6478_TS-Imaging-Star-100-mm---f-5-8-Quadruplet-Apo-Astrograph-mit-FPL53-APO-Objektiv.html) - price comes out as 2159 Euro (when you log in and remove the Euro VAT), which is $3199 AUD, add about $100 shipping and then import duty. T-E do offer the Feathertouch option too.

Astronomy Alive's Sharpstar is $3699.

Direct from Sharpstar, with limited QC (reports of dirt and filth on objective and between elements) is around $2900 AUD not inc. post and duty.

You need to decide for yourself if SV's "quality control" is worth the extra cash ($3968 AUD, WITHOUT post).

[MortonH]

Going a bit off topic, it seems that Skywatcher have now released a quintuplet, the Integra 105ED

http://www.astronomyalive.com.au/telescopes/advanced/skywatcher-integra-ed105mm-f6-5-quintuplet-apochromatic-refractor.html

[Camelopardalis]

Interesting, but at f/6.5 I'd say they need to try harder next time ;)

[Manav]

Lewis - The question is quality; I'm not sure what QC Teleskop Express do on their variant but here is what i dug up from Vic himself from Stellarvue Yahoo groups:



What do you reckon? Worth it?

Source - Click Here (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Stellarvue/conversations/messages/132480)

[Manav]

Too risky with a new scope model with limited test data and information :question:

[MortonH]

Fair enough. Although I'd hope they learned from the debacle of the original five-element Esprit scopes.

[Manav]

I think I need to investigate the TS100Q a bit more. The price is good with VAT off, didn't consider that until Lewis highlighted it!

Need to find out what they mean with the statement in red....



Edit - I just emailed Teleskop Express on the above query

[SkyWatch]

What about the FLUOROSTAR F102GTA-DDG f/6.9? A triplet plus a 2 element corrector built in.
You could check with Andrews or Matthew Lovell:
http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/william_optics_telescopes_zenithsta r_megrez.htm (his website is not often up to date, so best to contact him direct.)

[Manav]

SVQ @ f5.8 vs f102 @ f6.9. If only WO made a similar scope to SVQ.

WO seem to have good quality and good feedback mostly which is a positive thing.

May visit AndrewComms tomorrow and get a pricelist.

[Slawomir]

I have TS 102ED F/7 doublet (with their standard reducer/flattener) and it is a fine instrument. Quality wise much better than my Orion ED 80 CF APO, which I found totally useless for the kind of astrophotography I do.


And then there is FSQ-85EDX... :)

[Manav]

Way out of the price range and the size is small for suburban imaging.

By the way TS have responded to my query via email:



So its down to one of two scopes which are pretty much the same thing. And yes I realise the additional QI work Stellarvue do as indicated in the earlier post:

1. SVQ100 - $3757.50 + Shipping which ranges from $220 to $501.23 (For FEDEX).

2. TS APO 100Q - $3181.37 + Shipping $125.21

Stellarvue have a sale on at the moment for SV80ST, 90T and SVR102T ranging from $100 USD to $480 USD for the raptor. Last sale they had in Dec 2015 had SVQ100 with $400 USD off which would have brought it down to $3228 AUD. :eyepop:

Its decision time

[ab1963]

It is a shame Malcolm that there is so few of these scopes around because they are amazing ,when you talk about price mine has a strehl of .974 which is essentially perfect ,build quality can be equaled not bettered and with the FTF ,perfect , i see far higher price tags on scopes to perform as well as this one does.

So are Stellarvue scopes worth it ,absolutely ,had 2 and both great

[Manav]

So if I get a SVQ100 there is a good chance I'll be the only guy in Australia to have one :whistle:

On a serious note the quality and the plug and play setup of the SVQ are the main reasons I'm so drawn to SV.

[ab1963]

That's not the point i was getting across ,it's not a game of my telescope is bigger than your telescope ,you have asked for advice on stellarvue scopes and got feedback from 2 people who have the same triplet that will do the job you are looking for and just that letting you know that if you go down the stellarvue path expect nothing less than a fantastic scope

[Flipster]

Just a quick note - after a lot of researching I bought my SVQ 100 last December direct from Stellarvue when they had the special offer on. This was my second Stellarvue, but my first for astrophotography (my SV110 has since been sold back to the original owner!). To date I have only used a Canon 5D Mk2 with it (weather has been lousy since I bought my SBIG!) but I am extremely happy with the quality, results and also with the service from Vic and the staff at Stellarvue - so much so that I called in to see them while in the USA a few months ago and picked up another smaller one (an SV70T) from them. Vic also made sure I had all the adapters, etc that I needed to use both cameras on both scopes, then gave me a full rundown on how they check they are up to the Stellarvue high standards, prepare their scopes and also on their testing. In short, there is no way I'll part with either of these scopes, and I highly recommend both the SVQ100 (and their others) and Stellarvue's service! By the way, mine was shipped to me using DHL which worked out cheaper, but just as quick. Hope this all helps!

[Manav]

Sorry I think there may have been a misunderstanding; As I said before Stellarvue looks like the likely option at this stage. Wasn't comparing scopes or anything and cause I don't really have one :)

Having said that I do agree SV is the way to go just need to pull the trigger

[Manav]

I wish I could go back in time and take advantage of the bonus offer!

Congrats on your scope I think I've made my decision SVQ100 it is.

[casstony]

Never hurts to ask for a price match given the competition.

[SkyWatch]

Just coming out of left field here. What about a Takahashi FC-100DC f7.4 ($A3215 at AEC), and a 76D reducer ($A635) to bring it to f5.4 with a 30mm image circle?

Total $3850 + delivery from Cleve SA.

There is nothing wrong with Tak optics!

All the best,

Dean

[Slawomir]

+$201 for tube holder... :)

[LewisM]

FSQ-85 worked VERY VERY well for me in red zone suburbia. In fact, I preferred it over the FSQ-106N and ED.

I use a Sky90 now and could not be happier. Even with flattener/reducer (makes if f/4.5), it's around $2000 second hand. And with a tested Strehl of 0.987, it's pretty damned sharp!

[SkyWatch]

Speaking of Sky90's: there is still one (new) on the AEC website for $1995. I am sure Claude would like to clear his stock...