Given their ESPRIT 150MM SUPER APO is already $10K, heck, a 200MM would have to be 3X that, at least...? but heck, it'd be cool to have one
I've always thought, if money was not such a significant stumbling block .. man!.. I'd love to have a 12" F11 APO in a 5.5m dome at Eagleview ...the ultimate visual telescope, both to look at and through ...imagine reclining back on a leather observing chair, tube pointing up near the zenith, peering up through the eyepiece, at a razor sharp image of Mars or Saturn, way up on a mountain top, like an old time astronomer...aaah sigh..Nirvana!
Here's what a 8.5 inch f12.5 would look like, you would need a pretty beefy mount.
At f12.5 it is going to be huge..something f5 perhaps.
I wonder if the builder ever got it mounted...one thing for sure there is no way I would put it on the stuff he used to get a photo of it...crazy.
I have found a manufacturer of 200 and 230 mm but you order and they build it. I don't have time for that and they want near 30000 u $ ..I can't see the value no matter how sharp the image given I have the eyes of a 75 year old... plus it is my personal opinion folk get a little carried away over image quality which I find perplexing ....
So I think I will just buy a staradventurer and build up a little travelling rig...heck the money saved by not getting a 30,000 u $ will pay for a decent second hand four wheel drive as well and motel fees for as long as I will be travelling.
I would love to compare one of these expensive refractors with my good old Newtonian eight inch to see if with my eyes I could notice the difference.
The other problem buying a 200mm is I would need yet another observatory which would be great if I thought the rain may stop ...
But for a mere kilogram of gold bullion, I'll swap you this complete AP system
What a nice thread. So many tangential thoughts.
It maybe “blasphemous” to say this Peter but I always feel that its such a complete and tragic waste to put a camera at the focal plane of such a beautiful set of optics, instead of letting that precious starlight imbibe my retina and have a final resting place in my limbic system.
Here's what a 8.5 inch f12.5 would look like, you would need a pretty beefy mount.
Rick -
Think the caption for that shot should read "So, this is my guide scope..."
Alex -
Don't waste money on a 4x4 with the MX calling, think of the places and payloads you could have if you allocated 30k to helicopter transport instead...
Rick -
Think the caption for that shot should read "So, this is my guide scope..."
Alex -
Don't waste money on a 4x4 with the MX calling, think of the places and payloads you could have if you allocated 30k to helicopter transport instead...
True and I just remembered I have a good 4x4 it is just unregistered cause it was for me to look around the place but with all the gates I have not done so yet.
I have hired a helicopter once for a day (for business reasons) and I must admit they are rather neat ...
It is this continual rain and cloud that is getting to me, I have practiced the guitar so much I believe I can now actually play not too bad and have played with every song in my stack and after hours that would add up to days on the microscopes I need to give that a rest.
Actually I could have a helicopter land on my block here and drop me somewhere...I just want a couple of decent nights imaging.
And I cant get out again and coming in last night near lost the car in the trees, slow but 45degrees slide into the real boggy part how it got out I really dont know..that was in the white car as the red one seems to handle that part ok..maybe rear wheel drive gets it thru.
I have sortta run outta projects plus I cant walk really..
It maybe “blasphemous” to say this Peter but I always feel that its such a complete and tragic waste to put a camera at the focal plane of such a beautiful set of optics, instead of letting that precious starlight imbibe my retina and have a final resting place in my limbic system.
Ah...a purist.
But the AP155 (that superseded the AP152), was first and foremost an astrograph...to quote AP:
"The 155mm f7 StarFire EDF (6.1" aperture) was designed to be the ultimate astrograph while providing uncompromising visual performance"
The 155 was oil spaced, had a faster F-ratio and designed as a five element astrograph system that produced a 4" image circle.
The 160...also awesome...but had an optional corrector that was good over a 3" image circle.
Would I swap my AP155 for a AP160? Maybe not.
Moot in either case, as sadly both are no longer in production.
Certainly for me it is entirely un necessary given my age and ability...
What is wonderful is that the lesser options are not that much of a compromise.
I mentioned guitars coming from China that are on the same level as guitars coming from the US for ten times the price...once in the past the difference was really obvious but these days it is really difficult to pick on a good Chinese guitar and find any fault at all...I have an excellent guitar out of the US and certainly it is a wonderful instrument but I also have a Chinese guitar that I bought second hand that seems, to me at least, just as good...I purchased a small fender strat copy from kmart once for $75 which I converted to a three string slide guitar..the quality was flawless except for the pick ups ...it as perfect..On my Chinese standard guitar it has one flaw.. one fret which is a little too high now that I have dramatically lowered the action ..however I am sanding it down a little each time I play so as to get it perfect...it is the 17 th fret so it really does not matter for the stuff I play...which is sortta the point with scopes I guess..
But I am one of those folk who will not pay multiple times the cost of a unit that will do the job simply to get, what we can identify it seems, 3% better...when racing you do that sort of thing however...just look at the speed difference in any racing..not that great but from first place to last place could be hundreds of thousands difference in the cost of parts.
However I would rather buy a cheaper scope and another sports car...and I can afford any of these scopes but I simply dont see the point.
Like I could buy a 24inch flash set up and spend ten fold my current involvement but I cant use what I have to the limit of the gear...spending a couple of hundred grand wont make my colour blindness go away and let's face it
you do need to be good with colour in astro photography.
However it is good that there are humans who demand better and better as that is of course what carries things forward...
.. man!.. I'd love to have a 
...imagine reclining back on a leather observing chair, tube pointing up near the zenith, peering up through the eyepiece, at a razor sharp image of Mars or Saturn, way up on a mountain top, like an old time astronomer...aaah sigh..Nirvana! 
...need a bigger dome though 
