Televue NP-127 - Any thoughts

[Profiler (Profiler)]

Does anyone have a Televue NP127?

If so - could you share any insights/experiences you have had with it as I would like to hear some first-hand thoughts on them from locals in comparison to the various often US on-line reviews

I am thinking of possibly buying one myself and I would be very interested to know how they perform in comparison to the range of other 5 inch refractors on the market.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

I too would be interested in this feedback. I'd also value thoughts on what the NP127 would give for AP beyond something like Orion's new EON 130mm ED Triplet Apochromatic, which is less than half the price of the Tele Vue!

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

3 thumbs up on these Peter , I don't have one but an observing buddy of mine in Darwin does and I have looked thru it many times and it is in all intents and purposes perfect ! .
I could not fault it optically or mechanically , awesome at <20x and still crisp at >300x an awesome ( expensive ) top of the heap scope .

The only thing I have ever heard negative about any TV scope is the flocking material on some of the older ones comes loose over time and can only be repaired by TV , expensive exercise , but I think the newer ones don't suffer from this .? .

Yes I have put his against my 127mm Istar and yes it was better , but at $630 compared to $6000 odd , it should be .

Barry , 2 words ' Flat Field ' , these are perfect for AP as well as visual .

Brian.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

My thoughts. Expensive! There I said it. 8K + for a 5" scope. Hot damn is it made from saffron? Silliness aside. Cloudy Nights has a wealth of information on this scope. Its design is fairly unique in the market place. It's extra corrector lens helps to flatten the field considerably. From what I have read even at a focal length of F5.5 it has a very flat field. Excellent for AP. An upshot of it compared to the other high end competition; No waiting list. They seem to be in stock at certain retailers around the world.

Do I want one? Hell yeah! Would I buy one? With money? Probably not. I would consider a Tak first. That's my personal preference.

[LewisM]

Had a chook through one - VERY VERY impressive! But, in the end I decided in favour of my Tak FSQ106ED, and I could not be happier. Less aperture, but I felt just a hint better contrast in the Tak, and certainly making the Tak f/3.6 makes it EXCEEDINGLY attractive from an imager's POV.

[dcalleja]

I have one. I bought it last year when the dollar was much better (but its still expensive). I wanted to move to a widefield scope for imaging after having a Meade LX200 and various refractors and playing with field flatteners etc. So I bought this and a G11.

I don't look through it, only use it for imaging (it does give spectacular views though, very contrasty and sharp).

It is:

1. Flat - edge to edge
2. Optically perfect - at least as far as I can determine
3. Beautifully made overall. Sometimes I just look at it

I am very very happy with it. I could have gotten similar results for less I imagine, but there you go.

Here's a LUM set I took of the HH (no colour yet and low res with no cal)

Cheers
Dan

[LewisM]

Lovely scope.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

Dan, great images - I spent a fair bit of time on your website. What you would estimate your total outlay, for the NP127 + G11 + CCD was? Did you get them all on the international market?

[ChrisM]

Profiler, I support what Dan says, but have mainly viewed rather than imaged through one. Star clusters are superb, as is the Moon is good seeing - very sharp optics, but must admit that I haven't used a Tak. For imaging, the Tak 106 has lots of runs on the board, but then the 127is is made for AP. I hope to do some AP with the TV in the future - so far only some 'quickie' DSLR shots.
Chris

[dcalleja]

Originally Posted by Amaranthus

Dan, great images - I spent a fair bit of time on your website. What you would estimate your total outlay, for the NP127 + G11 + CCD was? Did you get them all on the international market?

I got them locally. Both from BINTEL. And the SBIG from ATS.

Mount - about 5k including some bits, hp worm and gps
Scope - at the time when the dollar was in ascendency - about 7.6k
Sbig - about 4.2k and 650 for the STi

Dan

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

Thanks Dan, so ~$20K investment give or take various exchange rate factors - time to save my pennies!

[SkyWatch (Dean)]

What about the Tak TOA150 for sale in the IceinSpace classies at the moment? Worth a look? It has the field flattener and a bunch of extras too.
(If only I had some spare change...

[PlanetMan]

I suspect it may be related to new and used for what is still a large outlay - for example coatings don't last forever so for large amounts some may possibly prefer to pay the extra and have peace of mind

[brunono2 (Brian)]

NP/FSQ versus TOA 150

Both the FSQ + NP are very portable for their objective size-F5 requiring a FAR smaller mount for accurate astrophotography

A normal 6inch like the TOA150 -F7 -requires a far larger mount as it is 6inch + higher focal length-F7 Its not as portable and also not made mainly for astrophotography-LESS ATTRACTIVE to those involved in this aspect of our hobby.

Visually I have used both the FSQ106 + np127 for some time in the past and both are excellent for viewing planets- BOTH the ones I observed with had virtually perfect optics and no CA-I was very impressed with both