[DJDD]

Hello all!

Over dinner tonight a friend asked for my opinion on a range of refractors for imaging. Of course, I have no experience in imaging so said I would post to the forum for advice.

So, the telescopes he was looking at are:

80mm range:
Skywatcher ED80 Pro
SKywatcher Equinox ED80
Vixen ED80Sf
Vixen ED81SWT
StellarVue SV80ED

Megrez 88 Fluorite

100mm range:
Megrez 102 F/7
StellarVue SV102ED (with or without the upgraded focuser?)


My comments were :

- that the Vixen and Skywatcher may come from the same factory so you are paying for the name. I could be wrong.

- the Vixen/StellarVue/Megrez are OTA's only

- he should check if the telescopes use FPL-53 glass not FPL-51. From my research tonight (Google) they all use FPL-53.

- the weak dollar does not help him

- think Mount! Mount! Mount! I am steering him to the EQ6

- I suggested starting small (i.e. the less expensive Skywatcher) but I do not think he is concerned about the cost (lucky bloke!)


Any replies are welcome.

cheers,
DJDD