Santa’s on his way...

[Peter Ward]

I put my name down for an Astro-Physics traveler in 1998. Seems Santa has finally read my letter and agreed I’d been a good boy.

It’s finally on its way from Machesney Park! (somewhere near the North Pole apparently) :party: :cool: :party:

[Lognic04]

Wow, 20 years!!! Better be a bloody good scope!:lol:

Hope the scope is great!:thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

Don't be surprised when you have a lump of coal delivered

[gregbradley]

Awesome. Another piece of AP magic on its way.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Sounds like Santa is spoiling you. You must be in the nice list. :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

I guess he likes my crayon pictures :)

I’m sure it will be a (Christmas ) cracker of a ‘scope.

No way, my favourite reindeer, Fred-X is on the job.



To be fair, AP stopped making Travelers for over 15 years, and only re-introduced the 92mm this year.

[Peter Ward]

Santa (dressed incognito as a FedEx driver) knocked on the door today :)

Some unboxing shots attached :D

Of course, the weather is forecast to be very ordinary this evening :rolleyes:

[Atmos]

Santa brought the clouds with him to obscure the spy satellites from following him. Nothing to do with a new telescope arrival :lol:

Very comparable in size to the Baby Q. Looking forward to a first light report.

[multiweb]

Wow! Drooling... Really nice little unit. :thumbsup: You'll definitely get some clear nights soon. Target the moon or 47TUC. It's pretty bright and up at the moment or the Tarantula perhaps. :question:

PS: What kind of foam separation is in your pelican case? The edges look different.

[FlashDrive]

Droool ...!!
I hope they threw in the Christmas Tree :xmas:
Freaking Nice ...:)

[Peter Ward]

It comes with a Pelican AIR case...padded dividers you can customise. Probably shoot the moon first to assess the colour correction.



I'll probably sell that Baby-FSQ soon. (PM me if you are in the market for a FSQ 85mm) ..the AP has a bit more aperture and focal length, but is not as fast (well, leastways not in its native configuration) but I did also get the AP reducer corrector which makes it a bit faster than the Taka.

Weight is a smidge lighter than the FSQ85mm...about 30 grams :lol:



Not cheap to be sure...but the package includes rings and Pelican case.

[spacezebra]

Hi Peter

Im after a very small travel scope (as in overseas) - and at the higher end quality scale, what do you recommend?

Cheers Petra

[Peter Ward]

Prior to the AP 92mm Stowaway all roads led to the Takahashi FSQ85...in fact, given the waitlist at Astro-Physics, practically that may still be the case.

The AP is magical, but, how good is the little Taka?

Given the USA total solar eclipse of 2017 was probably the most photographed solar eclipse *ever* it was an image taken with Baby-Q Takahashi that Royal Greenwich Observatory gave a gong to, from around 4500 entrants across the globe (admittedly, only a portion were eclipse images and the 92mm Stowaway didn't exist then ).

Sure, neither ‘scope is inexpensive. Nor are S-class Benz’s...but the build quality and engineering in both is unsurpassed.

[Peter Ward]

It must really be Christmas....clear skies!

I put the little AP through its paces last night...a full moon :( ...so more of a confidence check than serious imaging.

Some show and tell here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery452.html)

Looks like it will be the perfect grab-and-go eclipse 'scope. :D

[MortonH]

So you ordered a 105mm scope and 20 years later they delivered a 92mm scope. I'd be asking Santa some serious questions... :P

[Slawomir]

Congratulations Peter. Using such beautiful instrument for sure makes stargazing even more special :thumbsup:

[The Mekon]

Interesting comment Moreton. I placed my name on the AP 140mm list many years ago. Found out that they were never going to make this model again, and assumed my name would be transferred to another list. A couple of years ago I was advised that AP do not actively do this, so I just went and bought the CFF. I think Peter must have requested a transfer sometime in the past 20 years.

[Peter Ward]

The only list I hadn’t put my name on was the AP160...as I could not see a significant advantage it had over my AP155 EDF (4” focuser).

BTW, I had a chance to compare/test against the FSQ85...the result is the FSQ85 has a flatter field compared to the Stowaway in its native configuration, but add the AP FFC to the Stowaway and that reverses...the AP produced perfect stars right to the edge of the chip, with the FSQ showing a smidge of coma in the corners.

The AP focuser was decidedly more precise and showed no image shift which although tiny, was noticable in the Taka. Colour correction was marginally tighter in the AP. I have yet to test the AP reducer/corrector, as thay have yet to ship the EOS camera adapters which are due to ship in the new year.

[multiweb]

Looks very good Peter. A great little scope, portable yet super sharp. :thumbsup:

[Rigel003]

Lovely looking scope and great first light images, especially M42 under full moon. Lots of people deride the AP notification lists but you have to admire the integrity of a company that follows through with a request made 20 years earlier.