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TOA are awesome scopes.
Keep in mind 2 things when considering these high end scopes to help differentiate between them. One, the availability of accessories. Tak has a very full range so does AP. TEC makes a dedicated flattener but no reducer. The Tak or AP may work on it but it may not. I have a 4 inch Tak flattener and a 4 inch Tak reducer meant for the FS152 (a doublet) and the flattener works on both my AP140 and my TEC180. But the reducer only partially works on my TEC180 with some star distortions in the corners. The more recent Tak super reducer may work on it but its a US$2200 item.
Also when buying a Tak scope the price includes nothing but the scope. No mounting rings, no finder scope, no mounting brackets for the finder scope, no dovetail plate etc. So add another $800 for all that.
That puts the Tak 150B in the same price league as a TEC160FL.
Hmm there's an interesting shootout. Which is best - TEC160 oiled fluorite triplet with 3.5 inch feathertouch focuser (or now its a proprietary TEC focuser also available with built in electronic focuser unit)??
As a TEC fan I would have to say an oiled fluorite triplet would be hard to beat. Even Tak would agree as they make one - only they want 3X as much as TEC!! But it would be close and perhaps not a lot in it apart from accessories. I would go the TEC myself but that's just me. A custom fluorite oiled triplet will no doubt no longer be made within a few years given the way this industry goes and these scopes will be the AP's of the future in several years. They are already highly prized and the supply of exotic glasses needed for the lenses are already becoming hard for TEC to get. The TEC focuser is excellent as I have a TEC110FL and it is the proprietary TEC focuser and I would rate it as equal to the Feathertouch and perhaps better in some ways. It is better than the Tak competitor focuser.
The 2nd point is these extras are very expensive. A 4 inch flattener is around US$2200 for AP and Tak. A TEC one is US$750 and it works perfectly on a 16803 chip (the current ultimate test).
The Tak extender also works on the TEC as I have used one on my TEC180FL with a Q extender 1.6X and a special custom adapter giving F11.2 and a FLI ML8300.
Tak and AP have more accessories.
The other factor is availability.
AP is only available 2nd hand.
TEC currently have glass for TEC180FL (2 left) and 140ED models. The 160FL not until next year at the earliest. They already stopped prodction of the 200 fluorite, the 200ED and the 160ED due to glass supply problems. So you see my point about these high end scopes.They are destined to be classics.
Tak seems reasonably available although perhaps a wait for a 150B, yu'd have to shop around.
Tricky isn't it?
If you wanted to take a punt (and it would be a punt) Markus Ludes was selling a 150mm APO from China that he claimed was finally as good or better than the top guys. He sells the APM/TMB scopes. He's a bit of a shark but he does sell good gear. I got some custom rings off him for my TEC180. These scopes were US$6995 or so which is cheap for a high end 150mm APO. Leaves money for a nice CCD like a KAF8300 chipped camera or a 11002 chipped camera.
decisions decisions. Not an easy task wading through all this data making a choice of which scope.
The bottomline though is any of those top 3 brands is going to be an awesome scope and the differences are much smaller between the 3 than between high end and lower end.
6 inch APO is the sweet spot for astroimaging. So is about 1200mm focal length. Mike's AP152 is the perfect focal length in my opinion. WIth its flattener I think it was running a little longer focal length and it works out beautifully for many objects. I personally feel F5 is also a sweet spot for imaging if you can get it. So a 6 inch APO, around 1200mm focal length (not that vital, 1000mm would be fine) and F7 with the ability to go to around F5 is what you want. TOA150 is quite versatile in that regard. AP also, TEC can be made to work probably with a bit of research to get to F5.25 (the new APM reducers may do the job for example, they are US$700 + the inevitable adapters $250 +).
My final point, a high quality 6 inch APO with accessories and a good mount with a good camera will last you a lifetime in this hobby. The 6 inch APO is not in danger of being outperformed by some new and exotic design in the future. There will be far less gain upgrading to a larger APO. A 130mm (as good as they are and they are good) may have you wanting a larger scope later and you will lose in the selling/buying process especially if you bought a lighter mount for the 130. Always factor in aperture fever and the costs associated with that. I read recently that the jump from 140 to 160mm is the biggest noticeable jump in APOs visually. Budget rules though at the end of the day.
Good luck with your choice.
Greg.
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