Well I finally took the plunge and purchased the scope I had been after for a while. Its a 127mm ED Apo triplet that comes with 8x50mm illuminated spotter scope, 10:1 focuser, 2" diagonal, viven mount plate and rings as well as the biggest padded aluminium case I've seen.
I'm being a bit of a tease as I was interested in where it originated and the colour seems to give it away as a much heralded scope from a major supplier that never made it onto the market although its smaller sibling (80mm) did.
I've attached a few photos for your edification.
Now Mark don't you let the cat out of the bag and lets see if the others can figure it out.
I will write up a full description/review of the scope as I have finally finished testing it optically. At this stage I can say that its a brilliant apo triplet, with perfect star test inside and outside focus with only the slightest touch of colour on Sirius at very high magnifications.
Excuse the shaky shot down the throat of the scope, but it was soooo dark down there that I didnt realise it would be a long exposure. The photo at least shows its heavy baffling and coatings.
Regards, Allan
Last edited by allan gould; 14-03-2008 at 10:30 AM.
So Alan - you've lashed out and bought mch62's flourite apo triplet: does this mean as "prize-winner" you're now gunna send it on down to me, you old philanthropist....?
So Alan - you've lashed out and bought mch62's flourite apo triplet: does this mean as "prize-winner" you're now gunna send it on down to me, you old philanthropist....?
No, mch62 did not reply to my message. Anyway the WO scopes are gold anodising whereas if you look closely at the scope its blue anodised aluminium with two machined grooves cut into it at the focuser end and the end of the dew shield.
As a good quess you can have mch's apo - he's a philanthropist.
It looks like the Meade 5" apo that has been so slow to come to the market. I heard that it had been withdrawn by Meade but it is still on their webpage. I thought it was made by GSO for Meade. If it is as good a value as the other GSO scopes they will sell hundreds of them.
What Andy said, except I thought the 127mm Meade ED scopes were being made by a Chinese/Hong Kong company called Maxvision.
Meade have permanently cancelled the 127mm, however I have heard reports that some of the Maxvision 127mm's are in circulation and I wonder if this is one of them?
Yes - non of the Meade 127 mm triplets were sold. Some were made but never made it to the public. I think Meade had trouble with the machineing / tolerances / cost. Maxvision in Hong Kong make / assemble them and they are basically clones of the Meade I believe. They come with the Hoya FCD1 glass - FPL-51 equivalent. Would be very interested in a review of this scope. I just brough the Skywatcher Equinox ED120 . When it became know that Meade could not deliver on the 127 triplet the decsion was easier.
Well I may as well let the cat out of the bag - it is a scope sold by Steve Massey (myastroshop) under his brand name of ProStar. I was interested in the maker and have gone down exactly the same road as you guys. It looks exactly like the early Meade 127mm photos down to the diagonal, unique colour scheme etc and Maxvision is a likely manufacturer. But I still can't say for sure - its all conjecture. But the truth is in the pudding as they say. I've gone over this scope with a fine tooth comb and compared it to the others I've seen and tested. I am going to write a review of the scope and its attachments - but let me say that when I'm using it at high or low power the scope disappears and I just view through it and I have to say that it will stack up against the WO brand name scope. I own one and have looked through others of the same size. But better still its $2400 cheaper than that 132mm WO and all components are CNC aluminium. I haven't foound a piece of plastic in it.
The finish has to be seen to be believed - it has some peculiarities in the finderscope but for $3100 I can't fault it. Optically mine is brilliant and easily took a 4mm eyepiece without image breakdown on Saturn last night.
The above are my opinions - I stand by them with this particular scope. But remember you may be looking for something else than I did. I wanted a good scope with great optics and at an affordable price.
Your desires may be different. It will be going on my Losmandy with the 80mm WO as a guide scope.
Regards, Allan
it will be interesting to see the results of your imaging as thats where the test is..... colour abberations, and wonder what the flatness will be like whether a standard flattener will fit.
3100 for a 127mmm apo sounds like seriously good value. will watch for more details.
Last night I managed to do some serious testing on the moon which was on the meridian by the time I set up. My lasting impression of the session was BLACK. Black, black shadows that I've not seen the like of with my 10" SCT, excellent definition with a plethora of small rilles and craters. Very sharp definition with no flaring etc. Colour? Just the faintest, thinest line of pale blue at high magnifications (ie 6 0r 4mm) on the very rim of the moon that essentially came and went at the point of best focus. That 10:1 focuser is a godend at high power. No colour whatsoever at other lower magnifications that I could discern. There is one disadvantage with a scope like this - the 6mm Vixen lanthum eyepiece I hardly ever used with the 10" or other scopes, it looks like I'm going to have to get a set of fine high power eyepieces for planetary viewing etc. Any suggestions out there? The Baader or Vixen seem OK but do need some advice.
Regards, Allan
For a high power eyepiece I really like the Nagler 3-6 zoom. It has advantages that no other eyepiece can offer. Try before you buy if possible. If eye relief is an issue then you may prefer a Pentax XW.