Long Perng refractors

[Chris85 (Chris)]

Hi
I'm currently in the market for a grab-and-go ED refractor around the 80mm mark for visual and light photo work and in my searches I'v narrowed it down to 3 so far. The first is the TS ED APO 80/500 and noticed that it looks very similar to the 80/500 Long Perng that Andrews Comm sell. Are they both are the same with the TS just a re-badge? If so I feel the Long Perng is far better value.

The second is TS ED APO 90/500 which they sell and same again, looks exactly like the one offered by LP, however both Andrews and TS do not mention what glass it uses. If it's FPL51 I'd imagine there's a bit of CA, being such a short focal length?

Third is the TS 80/480 Triplet which I'v read a lot of good reviews of, but maybe pushing what I want to spend. A big maybe that is . I beleive the Orion CF 80T being offered by Bintel is the same scope.
Would anyone like to post their thoughts on any of these scopes, or suggest any that I my want to look at instead?

Also can anyone recommend a couple of eyepieces that would work for both my 8" Dob and any of the above scopes? I hear ES are on sale atm?

I tried emailing Andrews with the above questions but they don't seem to reply to emails.

Thanks!

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

just ring them they will talk to you personally , ask for Luke he is great to talk to .
On the LP scopes , I have just sold my 90mm LP ( family issues ) and for the price it was awsome , good build and optics , the same as the TS , and other scopes sold under differant names world wide .
Brian.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

I had a LP90mm, and while it had good optics, there was a lot of false colour. The lens is FPL51 and being so fast, false colour is unavoidable. I would suggest you contact North Group-they make very nice triplet apos at a very good price.

[Chris85 (Chris)]

Thanks Brian. I find it a bit hard to call sometimes as by the time I get home from work Perth time, they've closed for a good few hours. Also IMO, email should be a very important part of a businesses communication with potential customers, and should be dealt with just as promptly.

And Laurie thanks for the review. I have contacted Gilman before regarding the 80mm triplet, but the US $245 quoted delivery price seemed a bit rich, and I'v yet to get a reply asking if there is a cheaper option. Staying with the NG, is the FPL51 triplet better corrected than a FPL53 doublet?

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Yea Chris I have the same problem being here in Darwin , daylight savings dont help ??
On the FPL53 question , I just sold my Saxon ED80 doublet with FPL53 ( awsome little scope ) and it was as good as my FPL51 LP ? on CA correction , Yes better , but the extra 10mm really stood out in the CA stakes .
The ED80 was better corrected CA wise but the extra 10mm of the 90LP is a lot at this size , much brighter images , more detail seen on all objects so its a bit of a trade off , some people like me aint bothered by a little CA ( the 90mm is very good considering its design ) , yet some like Laurie are bothered more ( we have PM'd on this subject as we both had our LP90's at the same time ) , so mate each to his own .
If I had to have one scope and had to pick between the sweet ED80 FPL53 or a LP90 with FPL51 , I would take the LP90 because of its extra light grasp , shorter f/l and better build quality all round . .Nice scopes .
Again Chris , my 5c worth .
Brian.

Originally Posted by Chris85

Thanks Brian. I find it a bit hard to call sometimes as by the time I get home from work Perth time, they've closed for a good few hours. Also IMO, email should be a very important part of a businesses communication with potential customers, and should be dealt with just as promptly.

And Laurie thanks for the review. I have contacted Gilman before regarding the 80mm triplet, but the US $245 quoted delivery price seemed a bit rich, and I'v yet to get a reply asking if there is a cheaper option. Staying with the NG, is the FPL51 triplet better corrected than a FPL53 doublet?

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Hi Chris-I bought a NG 102 triplet and the colour correction is very good-so far I have seen no colour error in it. By the way, I paid $175 for freight by TNT-delivered to your door-maybe it costs more to where you are.
As Brian has said,we exchanged a lot of emails about the LP90mm-but the reason I sold mine was the colour error.
All I can say is, if colour error bothers you, buy a triplet

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Laurie , you would have seen the brighter images jumping from 90mm to 102mm , as I said its quite easy to see at this apateure .
Brian.

Originally Posted by Larryp

Hi Chris-I bought a NG 102 triplet and the colour correction is very good-so far I have seen no colour error in it. By the way, I paid $175 for freight by TNT-delivered to your door-maybe it costs more to where you are.
As Brian has said,we exchanged a lot of emails about the LP90mm-but the reason I sold mine was the colour error.
All I can say is, if colour error bothers you, buy a triplet

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Yes Brian-its a big jump. The comparison is an 80mm scope is about 131x the light gathering of a human eye(7mm pupil), a 90mm scope is about 163x and a 102mm is about 212x.

[Chris85 (Chris)]

Thank you both again for your replies.

Brain when you said you'd choose the 90 over the 80, were you referring to the LP ED80? If so wouldn't the quality be the same if they come form the same factory?
I understand the the extra aperture would be pretty sweet, but I'll be using the scope on my eq 3-2 so weight is an issue.

And Laurie with NG did they give you that option to use TNT?

Any thoughts on eyepieces as mentioned in my original post?

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Chris, NG did not give me an option on freight, but I did not ask them for one either. I figured TNT was a secure and safe way to send it, so I accepted it.
Eyepieces are dependant on how much you want to spend. I have Televue Naglers and a Televue barlow, and love them, but they are expensive.
Sending you a pm

[MattT]

Hi Chris,
I'm a refractorholic like Brian Ihave a 100ED Saxon ED, which is light and brilliant, next to no 'false' colour. Nice scope. I see you are after a short frac...any reason other than it's easy to pick up and go? I would say get a Badder semi-apo filter to go with a short frac. I use mine in a 6" f8 achro and it turns the moon a creamy white colour and no false colours anywhere to be seen. Ditto Jupiter. Everthing else in the sky needs no filter. I suppose that 'false' colour does not bother me at all ...would rather use my 6" refractor than my 8" f5 reflector. So I would go for the largest lens you can get.
As for eyepieces, ES are the ultimate value for money...while on sale. Mine are 82* 6.7/8.8/11 and 68* 16/20 and 28mm... great eyepieces if you don't need eye relief.
Hope this is of some help.
Matt

[Chris85 (Chris)]

Hi Matthew,
Cheers for your input! Yeah small for grab and go, easier on my mount, more practical as a tele lens, and being smaller looks less "expensive" to the other half! :-P Soon enough I won't have much time to do any astro work, so a fast scope is needed.
You say ES has a small eye relief, is there an eyepiece you'd recommend that is the best in their line for really nice wide field views? Or should I be trying a different brand? Would a baader with 20mm ER be a better choice?
Thanks! :-D

[MattT]

Yep Chris gotta keep the other half happy for sure! My favourite ES is the 20mm 68* one. Nice wide views without pin cushion. The 28mm gives a lot of PC on my f5 short tube and a tiny bit on the f8 so best to avoid that one.The 24mm 68* gets really good reviews but I can't say as I haven't got it. Baaders,Hyperions I assume??? I wouldn't use em in a fast scope IMO. I have tried and liked a GSO 32mm plossl which was quiet good all the way across the FOV, about 3 degrees in the f5 102 achro. The only way to avoid aberrations is $$$$$$$
Matt

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

No my Ed80 was the origonal ED80 made by Synta , these are considered to be the APO bargian of the century ( they started it all around the year 2000ish) , up there with the Celestron C8 had been the game changer in amateaur astronomy ..
Before the ED80 there was not an APO at 80mm to be had under $1500us , the Ed80 was $900 , then $600 , a bargian .
LP and others jumped onto the band wagon , using Chineese FPL53 , ( The 1st Synta ED80's used Japaneese FPL53 , then went chineese ) which is just as good .
But todays ED80's have a better buid as I said before , like the 90mm LP's , the build is awsome nice scopes built to last , cant be faulted Chris .
Go the 90mm , or 102 as Laurie said ,
You wont go wrong mate ..
Oh yea your EQ3,2 will hold either of these with ease .
Brian.

Originally Posted by Chris85

Thank you both again for your replies.

Brain when you said you'd choose the 90 over the 80, were you referring to the LP ED80? If so wouldn't the quality be the same if they come form the same factory?
I understand the the extra aperture would be pretty sweet, but I'll be using the scope on my eq 3-2 so weight is an issue.

And Laurie with NG did they give you that option to use TNT?

Any thoughts on eyepieces as mentioned in my original post?

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Originally Posted by brian nordstrom

No my Ed80 was the origonal ED80 made by Synta , these are considered to be the APO bargian of the centuty ( they started it all around the year 2000ish) , up there with the Celestron C8 had been the game changer in amateaur astronomy ..
Before the ED80 there was not an APO at 80mm to be had under $1500us , the Ed80 was $900 , then $600 , a bargian .
LP and others jumped onto the band wagon , using Chineese FPL53 , ( The 1st Synta ED80's used Japaneese FPL53 , then went chineese ) which is just as good .
But todays ED80's have a better buid as I said before , like the 90mm LP's , the build is awsome nice scopes built to last , cant be faulted Chris .
Go the 90mm , or 102 as Laurie said ,
You wont go wrong mate ..
By the way, LP90 uses FPL51 glass, not FPL53
Oh yea your EQ3,2 will hold either of these with ease .
Brian.

Hi Brian-got my Stellarview Nitehawk Next Generation 80mm ED today-very impressive. Had a quick look at the moon and Beta Centauri, and I could see no false colour up to 100x, and lunar image was razor sharp
By the way, LP90mm uses FPL51 glass, not FPL53

[Chris85 (Chris)]

Thanks Matt i'll take your recommendations on board Have you used tried any of the ES 82's? Any good for fast scopes? You're not wrong there, everything in this hobby cost $$$$$$$$$$$! I love it

And thanks Brain, I have read countless good things about these Synta ED's but just think its a bit 'slow' for what I want. If I try my hand at astro work on my EQ3, I know its limitations, and so I want a light and quick scope

[Visionoz (Bill)]

Chris

I own the TS 80/480 Triplet - yep it looks similar in build to the Orion's CF one except mine is aluminium, solidly built with collimatable lens cell (of course you wouldn't want to fiddle with it unless you know what you're doing) - it's a good one to use, razor sharp and no false color - mine comes with a 3" focuser though (as it's for astro-imaging) and the tube diameter is bigger than your normal ED 80 - worth the dosh I paid for it!

AFAIK Long Pern does some of the William Optics range too (based on past information gathered due to my wanting to purchase a new focuser for my Equinox 80 which I found out was actually made by LP for Skywatcher since the SW factory asked me to call LP direct to source a replacement; in the end I fitted the MoonLite as replacement instead)

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by Chris85

Hi
Third is the TS 80/480 Triplet which I'v read a lot of good reviews of, but maybe pushing what I want to spend. A big maybe that is . I beleive the Orion CF 80T being offered by Bintel is the same scope.
Would anyone like to post their thoughts on any of these scopes, or suggest any that I my want to look at instead?

I have the above scope and I still love it. Needs a Field Flattener but as do nearly all of these scopes.

I have loads of photos shot with my DSLR 450D un moddified.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10992...00960667427185 The scope itself

https://plus.google.com/photos/10992...88960234508561

Some of the photo in the above directory are from the scope same are from camera lens and couple from my DOB.

I am too busy with Uni at the moment to do any more imaging but exams coming up soon and after that a nice long break to catch up

[Chris85 (Chris)]

I "bit the bullet" and ended up ordering a ed80 triplet from north group and will hopefully get it in a few weeks :-)
Thanks for everyones opinions, I really do appreciate it.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

I think you will be happy with it Chris