TEC-140 availability in Australia

[issdaol (Phil)]

For optical and build quality you will be very pleased with the TSA120.

The only thing I would say is that the focuser is a little too tight. Adding on the Feathertouch Micro Focuser or Upgrading to the Full Feathertouch Focuser will make it a dream to use.

For a 120mm Triplet APO this scope is very light and easily portable. With a good portable mount you can literally be setup in under 10 minutes.

In terms of the TEC 140 I have only ever read good reports on these scopes. If you can get one the extra 20mm would be better for visual. However I would be surprise if you could get one cheaper than a WOFLT132?? Last time I checked the WO was cheaper.

As for the WO FLT132 I have read quite a few bad reports. They seem to have had a lot of focuser and lens cell problems.

If you are ever in Canberra and want to look through the Tak TSA120 to see for yourself feel free to PM me.

Cheers

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Originally Posted by thomqos

Thanks for the insights guys. The 120mm Tak. might be worthy of consideration as a cheaper alternative to the TOA-130... I'll do some research in that direction.

I used to have a TSA120-absolutely superb!
As for the tight focuser, I added the 7:1 reduction fine focuser, and that solved the problem

[SkyWatch (Dean)]

Originally Posted by Allan

Hi Dean, I would be interested to know how it suffered by comparison. How do you compare 2 scopes that are 16000 km apart?

Any comparison like that is obviously subjective. However I looked at the Orion nebula and in particular the trapezium at around the same power and with the same eyepieces with both scopes over several nights in each case. In France I was in an area with "the darkest skies in Europe" according to my host. Certainly mag 6 stars were easy naked eye. Seeing was steady: could see good detail on Jupiter.
However, my subjective impression was the view was a bit "soft": and I found it very difficult to see the "E" and "F" stars in the trapezium. When I came home I saw both in late twilight with Orion lower in the sky, from a city location looking across the city, and the seeing was not particularly great... maybe as someone said the smaller aperture can cut through seeing easier- but I looked on several nights in France, and had the same problems each time.
We are talking high end optics in both cases here, and the Tec is a wonderful scope, it obviously has a greater light grasp, 140mm vs 102mm: but to my surprise I felt no temptation to "upgrade". I like the sharp, tight stars and great contrast I consistently get in the Tak.
It would be great to do a "head to head" comparison, but I can at this stage only go by my subjective impressions.

Also wrt to the Williams: they can produce great scopes, but in my experience there are sometimes some quality control issues. I returned a Megrez 110 3 times with QC issues. Nice scopes for wide-field imaging.

- Dean

[casstony]

Yes I think those TEC140's are not very good and current owners should offload them in the classifieds, the more the better

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Originally Posted by SkyWatch

Any comparison like that is obviously subjective. However I looked at the Orion nebula and in particular the trapezium at around the same power and with the same eyepieces with both scopes over several nights in each case. In France I was in an area with "the darkest skies in Europe" according to my host. Certainly mag 6 stars were easy naked eye. Seeing was steady: could see good detail on Jupiter.
However, my subjective impression was the view was a bit "soft": and I found it very difficult to see the "E" and "F" stars in the trapezium. When I came home I saw both in late twilight with Orion lower in the sky, from a city location looking across the city, and the seeing was not particularly great... maybe as someone said the smaller aperture can cut through seeing easier- but I looked on several nights in France, and had the same problems each time.

Darkest skies in Europe so many places claim that, in reality you could probably do better an hours drive from Adelaide Europe is so badly light polluted overall, although there are some decent nooks tucked in behind mountains here and there. If the host was keen to promote that, then he was probably pretty happy with his scope regardless...but if bench tested, maybe he had a duff one

All things considered, the Trapezium is at a distinct altitude advantage in Australia, barely scraping up 40 degrees altitude even in southern France (whereabouts was the site?). I don't own anything premium such as that, but for the price tag I'd want the view to be good even at that sort of (object) altitude...

[UniPol]

Having owned an FLT-132, AP 130 Starfire EDF GT and a TOA-130s I found it came down to the scope that I felt most comfortable with i.e. visual image quality, the feel & looks and perceived pride of ownership.

I bought the FLT-132 direct from WO when it was offered with free shipping and the $500 FT focuser upgrade. The price landed at that time (2009) was around $4300. I couldn't fault the scope, superb finish, brilliant focuser, great hard carry case and excellent views through the eyepiece. After owing it for over a year a second hand Tak TOA-130s came up for sale at a good price so I thought I would try it out. I was hooked on the Tak right from the start, I thought the FLT images were sharp until I looked through the TAK. The contrast and the absolute pin point sharpness of the TOA really stood out. I subsequently sold the FLT and was very happy to keep the TOA. A couple of years ago an AP 130 GT came up for sale so here I went again to see if this may be a TOA killer. To my surprise it didn't do a lot for me. It was well made, a fair bit lighter than the TOA and more portable. I did a side by side comparison with TV eyepieces on M42, Sirius, Canopus et al and couldn't really see any difference at all, in other words, both superb. Silly owning two scopes of the same aperture so I sold the AP for the same price I paid after owning it for a year. The next scope I thought would be an all rounder was an FSQ-106 EDX so I bought it new from Claude and can honestly say it is the goods. It took pride of ownership to a new level and so the TOA was sold off (for a little more than I paid for it).

I missed my TOA-130s and last year as fate would have it, a 9 month old TOA-130NFB came up for sale here on IIS which I couldn't resist. It is simply brilliant, with the large 4" focuser it is now a better balanced scope and doesn't require the tube balance weight that the TOA-130S or TOA-130NS needs. I still have my 10 year old FS-60c which gives me immense pleasure, very under-rated this class of scope in my opinion.

Anyway, "subjective" is the right word when it comes to choosing the best scope for you, we do what we do as the old saying goes.

[Allan]

Dean, thanks for that. I still can't think of another 140mm refractor that would rival a TEC140 though.

On the other hand you also have one of the best 4" refractors ever made, and you sound very happy with it. Cheers

[LewisM]

Originally Posted by UniPol

Having owned an FLT-132, AP 130 Starfire EDF GT and a TOA-130s I found it came down to the scope that I felt most comfortable with i.e. visual image quality, the feel & looks and perceived pride of ownership.

I bought the FLT-132 direct from WO when it was offered with free shipping and the $500 FT focuser upgrade. The price landed at that time (2009) was around $4300. I couldn't fault the scope, superb finish, brilliant focuser, great hard carry case and excellent views through the eyepiece. After owing it for over a year a second hand Tak TOA-130s came up for sale at a good price so I thought I would try it out. I was hooked on the Tak right from the start, I thought the FLT images were sharp until I looked through the TAK. The contrast and the absolute pin point sharpness of the TOA really stood out. I subsequently sold the FLT and was very happy to keep the TOA. A couple of years ago an AP 130 GT came up for sale so here I went again to see if this may be a TOA killer. To my surprise it didn't do a lot for me. It was well made, a fair bit lighter than the TOA and more portable. I did a side by side comparison with TV eyepieces on M42, Sirius, Canopus et al and couldn't really see any difference at all, in other words, both superb. Silly owning two scopes of the same aperture so I sold the AP for the same price I paid after owning it for a year. The next scope I thought would be an all rounder was an FSQ-106 EDX so I bought it new from Claude and can honestly say it is the goods. It took pride of ownership to a new level and so the TOA was sold off (for a little more than I paid for it).

I missed my TOA-130s and last year as fate would have it, a 9 month old TOA-130NFB came up for sale here on IIS which I couldn't resist. It is simply brilliant, with the large 4" focuser it is now a better balanced scope and doesn't require the tube balance weight that the TOA-130S or TOA-130NS needs. I still have my 10 year old FS-60c which gives me immense pleasure, very under-rated this class of scope in my opinion.

Anyway, "subjective" is the right word when it comes to choosing the best scope for you, we do what we do as the old saying goes.

Agree entirely with Steve's points.

I owned an FQ106EDXIII recently. Absolutely incredible telescope. Only reason I sold it was an unshakeable feeling of guilt with the family. So, I sold it, bought presents for the wife and kids, and still had enough change to buy some stuff for myself. Then the tax cheque came this year, and, well, 2 Taks (FC-100 doublet - ORIGINAL 1980's model - and Steve's FSQ85ED, which is no slouch visually!!!). My only ***** ever about Tak's is the asinine amount and cost of adapters needed for simple tasks. Makes them versatile, but also frustrating.

I too thought that WO's were good, until I looked through similar sized Tak's and an APM. Hate to say it, but a quality doublet is better IMHO than the WO's - my good ol' Vixen FL102S is superb with incredible colour correction and a sample test of 0.975 Strehl, and my FC-100 (serial 8111) has a sample measured Strehl of 1/8 wave, or better than 0.98 Strehl, all factors included. (incidentally the FSQ85ED comes in at 0.975 Strehl - identical to the FL102S)

I am absolutely delighted with the selection of scopes I have, and only crave an FSQ106N - the fluorite version of the newer ED series. Just that bit better in terms of controlling scatter and better QC - I will hound Marc until he relents

Anyway, have a look here - there may be someone who wants to sell their AP Gran Turismo 130: http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/46.../#entry6020074

And:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/47.../#entry6161626

Like Steve, I could see no perceivable difference between the AP's I looked through, and Taks. Both also seem t image equally as well (though I do tip my hat to the AP R-H, which seems to be an incredible platform)

Actually, the Skywatcher EON120 and the SW Esprit's come up quite favourably in independent interferometry testing - perhaps consider them also? Price is more than the WO. Basically, the Esprit is a "hacked" FSQ106 clone, just a triplet (seeing the Chinese didn't/couldn'tseem to sort out the collimation woes of the original quads) and in varying sizes.

[SkyWatch (Dean)]

Originally Posted by Camelopardalis

Darkest skies in Europe so many places claim that, in reality you could probably do better an hours drive from Adelaide Europe is so badly light polluted overall, although there are some decent nooks tucked in behind mountains here and there. If the host was keen to promote that, then he was probably pretty happy with his scope regardless...but if bench tested, maybe he had a duff one

All things considered, the Trapezium is at a distinct altitude advantage in Australia, barely scraping up 40 degrees altitude even in southern France (whereabouts was the site?). I don't own anything premium such as that, but for the price tag I'd want the view to be good even at that sort of (object) altitude...

Actually the sky was pretty dark: SQM around 21.6 which isn't bad at all- and the site is tucked away in the mountains about 140km N of Marseille, very little light pollution. See "Sun Star France": http://www.sunstarfrance.com/. Great spot for astro-photographers on holiday! Ollie (the owner) has lots of "toys" you can use, including a 20" dob if you just want to look, and he is very obliging and on hand to help out.
M42 was 40 degrees up, vs 50 degrees when I was looking at home. Not a huge difference really.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

The owner might be right about the skies there then, there aren't much of that kind of darkness over there at all. Too many people in too little space

[PRejto (Peter)]

As a double TEC owner I'm sure my opinion is biased. But, I have to say that my TEC140 is a gem. My first view of Saturn on a particularly fantastic night of seeing was jaw dropping. Sometimes one reads criticism about TECs when used with a CCD as supposedly the oil spaced optics are figured for visual use in comparison to AP scopes. But, again I can't discern any disadvantage photographically whatsoever. Considering the demand and resale price of these scopes it seems a worthy investment. Certain lesser scopes might suffer when it comes time to sell.

Peter

PS Whilst the large TEC focuser is fine (it's on my TEC180) I think I prefer the FT focuser solution. Still an option if you just order the scope from Yuri less the TEC focuser and buy the FT direct from Starlight. Unfortunately the flanges are different so you cannot just swap out the TEC focuser. In any case both are very good and the TEC now has at least 3 automated focusing solutions (Starlight Instruments model will lift 50+ pounds, Optec (25 pounds) and Microtouch (probably about the same as Optec). The first 2 mentioned have bipole motors, the Microtouch unipole.

[thomqos (Russell)]

Love your rig Peter! Boy, that TEC-180 has me salivating!

How did you get your scopes? I presume you dealt directly with TEC?

[omegacrux (David)]

I'm with you Russell
Wiping the drool off my keyboard !

David

[PRejto (Peter)]

Originally Posted by thomqos

Love your rig Peter! Boy, that TEC-180 has me salivating!

How did you get your scopes? I presume you dealt directly with TEC?

Well, got to say that the TEC180 was a very lucky find for me. I wasn't shopping for one but was trying to decide what to put on my new MEII mount. I was contemplating an Orion Optices scope and the guy selling the Orion was closing down an observatory at Coona where he had this TEC180. I immediately asked if he would part with the TEC180 and he said flatly "no." A few days passed and I decided that I didn't want to procede with the Orion scope purchase and he came back to me with an offer to sell the TEC180. The rest is history!!

But, I did buy the TEC140 directly from Yuri a few years ago. I carried it back through customs after a business trip to the USA. No dramas there and it traveled in baggage in the normal TEC case.

Peter