If you had 3k(+- some) to burn on a refractor

CoFfeX · #1 11-12-2008, 02:46 PM

Not literally. You'd damage the OTA.

What would you choose for astrophotography?
I was eying the William Optics flt-98 after a fair amount of reading, but I'd like to hear your opinions.

Whatever I settle on will get slapped on the business end of an eq6.

Ian Robinson · #2 11-12-2008, 08:25 PM

I get a bigger fast Newtonian (a 14" or 16" f4) just the OTA and tube rings to suit.

My new OTA would be parked on New Atlux in that event , the 10" newt would be either retired / sold / or go back onto the old CG5.

MortonH · #3 11-12-2008, 08:33 PM

Might consider the William Optics Fluorostar 110 triplet. Costs slightly less than the FLT98 but more aperture (you're not paying for the carbon fibre tube).

Morton

AlexN · #4 11-12-2008, 08:38 PM

FLT110 TMB lens model, or a TMB92SS, you MIGHT get a 2nd hand Tak refractor for 3k... And lets face it... Tak is the way to go..

If you're looking for new, I would look towards the FLT98, FLT110, Prostar/Astromaster 127mm triplet...

Any of these scopes will do a great job, However I'd lean towards the FLT110 myself, The FLT98 is a great looking scope by all reviews, however I'd just prefer a lens designed by TMB than "A leading russian designer" who remains un-named by William Optics.

CoFfeX · #5 11-12-2008, 08:55 PM

Bill from accounting.

Kal (Andrew) · #6 11-12-2008, 09:01 PM

Don't get too carried away with the carbon fibre tube. Theres a reason why the high end APO makers don't use CF. CF doesn't contract when it cools down, which is great for minimising focus shift in a SCT, but in a refractor the glass in your lens also contracts changing the focus point, and with an aluminium tube the changing focus point is negated mostly by the contracting tube. CF in a refractor may look good and be lighter, but it won't perform better.

For purely imaging, a tak FSQ-85 would be nice, it will give you a large flat imaging circle of 60mm which will easily cover a 35mm DSLR chip or a large CCD chip. For a non-petzvel scope, you need to factor in a focal reducer/field flattener into the price, and you will usually not get an as large imaging circle, particularly if you are using a 2" reducer/corrector. So think about what size chip you are going to image on.

monoxide · #7 11-12-2008, 11:03 PM

you can get a tak fs102 ota for 3.5k but you'll probably want the reducer too which would bring it up to ~4k

rally · #8 12-12-2008, 12:57 AM

You dont mention if you want wide field or DSO or something in the middle.

Some suggestions

2nd hand Tak FSQ106 in the $3000+ range - add an Extender for your Xmas present.
But you might also consider a 2nd hand Tak Epsilon 160 or maybe even 180 which is also achievable in that price range for a fast widefield option.
All of those scopes can provide a flat image field for 35mm format cameras or other Astro CCDs

acropolite (Phil) · #9 12-12-2008, 08:27 AM

Tak as the others have said.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #10 12-12-2008, 09:00 AM

If I could get a Tak FSQ-106 2nd hand from o/s I'd be a happy chappy. If I didn't already have one, I'd also be more than happy with another fluorite FS-102 or if I could stretch it, a TSA. Both 102's are already very flat.

Stephen65 · #11 12-12-2008, 09:58 AM

The FLT98 would be a good choice for a new refractor. It's been getting good reviews on CN and as an FPL-53 triplet it should have very good colour correction.

CoFfeX · #12 12-12-2008, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kal

Don't get too carried away with the carbon fibre tube. Theres a reason why the high end APO makers don't use CF. CF doesn't contract when it cools down, which is great for minimising focus shift in a SCT, but in a refractor the glass in your lens also contracts changing the focus point, and with an aluminium tube the changing focus point is negated mostly by the contracting tube. CF in a refractor may look good and be lighter, but it won't perform better.

For purely imaging, a tak FSQ-85 would be nice, it will give you a large flat imaging circle of 60mm which will easily cover a 35mm DSLR chip or a large CCD chip. For a non-petzvel scope, you need to factor in a focal reducer/field flattener into the price, and you will usually not get an as large imaging circle, particularly if you are using a 2" reducer/corrector. So think about what size chip you are going to image on.

The CF tube I wasn't particularly bothered about, it seemed more like a novelty with no tangible benefits beyond OTA weight reduction. From what I've been hearing though it's got some of the best optics WO have created. That was my interest in the scope. I'd be using an eos 400d as the camera for now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by monoxide

you can get a tak fs102 ota for 3.5k but you'll probably want the reducer too which would bring it up to ~4k

I've been looking more into tak scopes. I haven't been able to find any Australian distributors yet though, and 2nd hand scopes seem to be hard to come by as well. If they are really worth the extra cash I might be able to live on Maggie chicken noodles for a few more weeks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rally

You dont mention if you want wide field or DSO or something in the middle.

Some suggestions

2nd hand Tak FSQ106 in the $3000+ range - add an Extender for your Xmas present.
But you might also consider a 2nd hand Tak Epsilon 160 or maybe even 180 which is also achievable in that price range for a fast widefield option.
All of those scopes can provide a flat image field for 35mm format cameras or other Astro CCDs

In the middle would be nice. The idea was to have a nice imaging scope that I could also fit in the car and go walkabout with. I'd be using it for visual observing too but not as much. I have a 12 inch dob hanging around somewhere for that.

dannat (Daniel) · #13 12-12-2008, 03:19 PM

Coffex - if you go to the links section here - scroll down to Equipment & where to buy you will see AEC is the local distro for Tak gear

CoFfeX · #14 12-12-2008, 03:22 PM

cheers

NCRAW · #15 22-12-2008, 09:49 AM

Anyone considering the Stellarvue Apos as an alternative? been lookibng at the 90-100 mm range in the Triplets and seems like best value for money would be the WO or SV (like the SV 4" Abo or even the 101 ABV which i think still available)

gregbradley · #16 25-12-2008, 12:01 AM

You really have quite a bit of choice in that price range.

For example here is a good buy - A Stellarvue 90BVT fluorite triplet.

Only drawback I can see with this scope is the 2 inch focuser being a bit small but a fluorite triplet - drool drool. These are about US$1990 new and this one is 2nd hand:

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds...fied_id=602684

Also in Astromart (www.astromart.com) there is a Tak FS102 for sale for US$1500. These are nice but for imaging they give slightly bluish stars.

You could probably pick up a Televue NP101 which is very similar to a Tak FSQ for that money. I have seen a couple around the US$2200 band. It seems the Americans are hurting financially as I have seen a great deal of high end scopes on Astromart for lower than normal prices in order to sell to cash strapped Americans.

I saw an FSQ106N for US$2800 which you may get for US$2500-2600 with some fast talking. Lowest I have seen for one of those beauties.

Depends also on what type of imaging you want to do. But practically speaking anything around 4 inches in the refractor band is going to be a widefield imaging scope. You'll be doing the brighter nebulae etc, galaxies are a bit challenging for smaller apertures.

Astromart is a great way to pick up bargains and keep the cost of this hobby down.

Greg.