Purchasing first Refractor

fo.manush · #1 19-09-2009, 12:06 AM

Hi Guys,

I have had a long term interest in photography and in recent months I have taken an interest into Astronomy as well.

I am therefore considering taking the plunge and buying a telescope and mount. I have narrowed my search down to Refracting Telescopes due to their excellent image quality/ color quality and low maintenance and cost. Furthermore they can be utilized for terrestrial viewing and photography.

Right Now: My aim in this hobby is to enjoy visual and astrophotography of planets and DSO's (nebula and clusters). To make this happen I will need a good Refractor (100mm-120mm ??) and an equatorial mount with Go-to functionality (CG5-GT, CGEM, EQ5Pro???).

In Future: I may wish to get a CST (8inch) for better viewing, but most likely this will be long time in the future.

However I need you advise on how good refractors are for visual and astrophotography of DSO (nebula and clusters). Secondly I need your advise on a good tripod with room for a little growth.

Finally my budget is roughly $2000AU for the tele and the mount and this budget is pretty rigid.

I hope you guys can guide me.

Dewang

andrew2008 · #2 19-09-2009, 09:23 AM

Welcome to IIS

I'd recommend the HEQ5 for mount. CG5 is great for visual but doesn't have the tracking accuracy of the HEQ5, this will be even more important as it doesn't sound like you will be able to guide. CGEM will cost you over $3k i'm afraid. APO refractors will be fine for what you want to image. Start with an ED80. Orion, skywatcher, saxon etc will all be fine. Just be aware you will prob only get around 1min exposures without guiding on a HEQ5, prob less on CG5.

Heq 5 is about $1500, grab an ED80 for about $700-800 or look 2nd hand and you'll be close to budget.

Manav (Yugant) · #3 19-09-2009, 10:39 AM

Welcome to IIS, To complement Andrew’s post; BINTEL have the Skywatcher Pro OTA ED80 Refractor for 800 AUD. Outside Australia you can get Vixen ED80SF - 80mm f/7.5 APO Refractor OTA from OPTCORP for 700 USD (postage and handling will be 50-60 USD). Andrew Comms has the whole package of PROED100 ED (carry case) + HEQ5 for 2500 AUD. If there is any other cheaper places in Australia or outside I'd like to know as well. As far is the mount is concerned I think the HEQ5 is fine as long as you can control your apertaure fever down the track. Good luck!

fo.manush · #4 19-09-2009, 07:51 PM

Thanks for the replies guys.

I am thinking of the EQ5Pro/ HEQ5 (equatorial with goto) for the mount as it gives me some room for growth and should be able to track and allow long exposures (is this fine Andrew).

As for the Refractor I still need heaps of help and guidance.

I have some preliminary scopes to consider and would like your opinions.

1) Saxon 120mm x 600mm F=5 AZ3 Refractor

2)Stellarvue SV110ED-A - 110mm ED Astrophotography Refractor

3)Explore Scientific 152mm f/6.5 Achromatic Refractor with Case & Accessories (i don't know about this one though)

Any thoughts ...

DavidU (Dave) · #5 19-09-2009, 08:03 PM

With Achro's they will naturally throw a violet ring around anything bright.
The thing is that a long focal length like an f12 to f15 will have a lot less of this violet fringing.
Here is the catch ,those short achro's are going to have a lot more fringing.
Some folks find this objectionable. I have a 150mm f7 which is excellent but the same thing in an f5 I would not like.

DavidU (Dave) · #6 19-09-2009, 08:07 PM

I found this one an f8.3 at andrews communications for your budget

120 x 1000 with HEQ5PRO (white)heavy duty "Go-To" computerised mount and V3.0
"Go-To" hand controller

fo.manush · #7 19-09-2009, 11:32 PM

[QUOTE=DavidU;496107]I found this one an f8.3 at andrews communications for your budget

120 x 1000 with HEQ5PRO (white)heavy duty "Go-To" computerised mount and V3.0
"Go-To" hand controller[/]

Thanks for that, I will definately include this one in my options.

DavidU (Dave) · #8 19-09-2009, 11:36 PM

Skywatcher
Under telescopes/skywatcher 60% down the page.
cheers!

mithrandir (Andrew) · #9 19-09-2009, 11:39 PM

[QUOTE=fo.manush;496159]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidU

I found this one an f8.3 at andrews communications for your budget

120 x 1000 with HEQ5PRO (white)heavy duty "Go-To" computerised mount and V3.0
"Go-To" hand controller[/]

Who is the manufacturer? I could not find it on the site.

It is under "Skywatcher". You can use this link, but the frames on the site mean it doesn't render well. http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

fo.manush · #10 20-09-2009, 09:40 AM

Ok, so I have done some more research and my favourite at this stage is the Stellarvue 102mm APO (SV102ED)

However I can't seem to find a retailer in Aus. Can you guys recommend a good retailer?

DavidU (Dave) · #11 20-09-2009, 10:53 AM

This is the only Stellarvue dealer in Aust
http://www.sdmtelescopes.com.au/

Manav (Yugant) · #12 20-09-2009, 12:53 PM

I recently got a F80M finderscope from them; email sales support as SDM webshop is not quite up to date.

fo.manush · #13 20-09-2009, 01:06 PM

Yeah the Webshop showed no scopes, so I emailed the owner with the scope I wanted (from the Stellarvue website).

I will now await their reply.

citivolus (Ric) · #14 20-09-2009, 02:25 PM

The SV102ED may be in short supply (waiting list), as the US dealers I checked had no stock. While not all that well known here, the brand does have a good following in the USA. Being US made, though, you may end up paying a premium price.

fo.manush · #15 20-09-2009, 03:35 PM

I had a feeling that this would be the case Ric. The website said that a delay of 3-4 months can be expected.

As for the premium price, it is a bit of a concern for me. However, I read the review for the 102 on the Stellarvue website and was pleased with the visual and astrophotography potential that this refractor offered.

I am open to any suggestions for 100-110mm refractors from other manufacturer which perform as good as the stellarvue. I am new to the hobby and do not know all the companies.

However I have looked at Saxon and it was ruled out because it was f5. The stellarveu is f7. The skywatcher is f8 but I don't know about the Build quality or the quality of the optics.

I want to get a high quality product even if it means increasing my budget slightly.

Any thoughts...

DavidU (Dave) · #16 20-09-2009, 03:48 PM

The Skywatcher optics are quite good. I have been testing my 6" and looks good.The focuser is average.

Benny L (Ben) · #17 20-09-2009, 04:21 PM

Hi Dewang

Welcome to IIS

For a refractor I'd suggest taking a look at the range from William Optics. I have had the pleasure of imaging and viewing through a friend's FLT110

http://www.williamoptics.com/telesco...0_features.php

My dad and I have a Takahashi TSA-102 which is used for primarily photographic work and it easily maintains a flat field across a 35mm sensor with crisp stars, funnily enough i haven't observed with it in the 2 years we have had it because there is always a camera strapped to the back lol!

For a mount I would recommend the Losmandy G11 I haven't had any experience with anything else, except a Losmandy Titan, but it has always given us a good run without any hiccups

fo.manush · #18 20-09-2009, 04:46 PM

The triplet Williams optics scopes are a bit on the expensive side and this is why I am going for a good doublet.

As for skywatcher refractors I am a little confused by all the models they make. They have plain refractors, black diamond series Eds, and short tube refractors I don't know where to start comparing. I also don't know which are the best ones. Confusing.

dpastern (Dave Pastern) · #19 20-09-2009, 04:50 PM

Hi Dewang,

I'd recommend a SkyWatcher 80ed, which you could get here for $799:

https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=7290

optically very good, it's also an APO, rather than an Achromat. Should help remove most, if not all of the fringing, etc. Pretty well built, reasonably good quality without spending silly money imho.

and a HEQ5PRO mount, which you can get here for $1699:

https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=7349

Firstly, the HEQ5PRO will take a bit more weight, which will come in handy if you want to put something heavier on the mount. It's also a sturdier mount than the standard HEQ5. It's not too large, nor too heavy, and is easy to assemble.

If you want a larger OTA (optical tube assembly) later on, you don't necessarily have to buy a SCT package - you could just get at SCT OTA and put that on the HEQ5PRO mount! I wouldn't go any larger than 8" though, larger would be too heavy for that mount imho. Some OTAs (Meade) could be had from here:

https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=7163

8", so decent aperture. ACF (advanced coma free) mirror, so pretty good quality optics too. $2300 at the moment. Should be OK on the mount that I recommended.

I've made the suggestions (mount/SCT OTA) because if you want to do astro imaging etc, I honestly think you'll be able to do more with an equatorial mount, than a fork/wedge mount that typically comes with a SCT package. Just mho.

I've also recommended Bintel, rather than Andrews for a variety of reasons. Please PM me if you want to know specifics. Price is not everything, and I don't want to publically get into vendor bashing on IIS.

Dave

Lost In Space (Blake) · #20 21-09-2009, 08:43 PM

I'm in the same boat as you. I was going to get a reflector, but I'm thinking a refractor would be better for astrophotography and portability.

Let me know what you end up doing!