• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

My new telescope.

dennilfloss

dennilfloss

Past Lifer 1957-2014 In Memoriam
Lunt 102mm ED refractor. Gift from my dad. 🙂

I'm getting back into astronomy after a hiatus of a decade.

First the mount: Skywatcher AZ-4 altazimuth mount. No slow-motion controls but really smooth and steady.

http://i.imgur.com/VYE8QQd.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/FYlh8mw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2kcd9HY.jpg

The scope box closed. It has a spring-loaded handle.

http://i.imgur.com/F6WBehY.jpg

Box open. No place to dig holes in the foam for 2" eyepieces or the diagonal.

http://i.imgur.com/piJYg6O.jpg

The retractable dew cap. Has just the right amount of friction. Also has a little lip to act as a stop when you retract it. I love the cute logo.

http://i.imgur.com/SU8YF86.jpg

The dovetail and rings that come with the scope.

http://i.imgur.com/aSXP8II.jpg

The dual-speed 2" focuser. Feels nice. No stickiness but not too loose either.

http://i.imgur.com/dH1tc83.jpg

Angled view showing that one of the screws sticks out a couple of millimetres for some reason (my guess is to attach a finder bracket). Doesn't seem to have an effect so maybe it's better not to try and tighten it. Will leave well alone.

http://i.imgur.com/50Iyzgp.jpg

The screw-on dew cap lid is metallic and surprisingly thick & heavy.

http://i.imgur.com/vXLDQBW.jpg

If I ever lose it, I found that the transparent cover of a 25-DVD stack fits nice and tight over the lidless dew cap.

The objective end, part of it hidden by the dew cap lip when retracted fully. ED glass doublet with very little chromatic aberration but not a full apochromat, more like a quasi-apochromat.

http://i.imgur.com/PFr1dWL.jpg

Another view showing also the scope mounting rings.

http://i.imgur.com/MazTt1f.jpg

Interior of the optical tube assembly showing baffle and matte paint.

http://i.imgur.com/JFn6WQp.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/KeNp8fH.jpg

Dew cap fully extended.

http://i.imgur.com/C4B7pgH.jpg

OTA length with dew cap extended vs retracted.

http://i.imgur.com/4j7JwNK.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3E934XR.jpg

Celestron Luminos 2" 2.5x barlow.

http://i.imgur.com/aBqFQzh.jpg

Two Baader Hyperion 2" eyepieces.

http://i.imgur.com/NPdpPPJ.jpg

William Optics 2" dielectric star diagonal.

http://i.imgur.com/vdscPZ8.jpg

The ensemble mounted in lunar/planetary mode (I don't do deep-space objects much). For wide field & finding, the 36mm Aspheric (yielding 19.8x and a 3.5 degree true field of view) will replace the 8-24mm zoom, and the barlow will be removed (it's used mainly to achieve higher magnification, up to 223x in this case). 🙂

http://i.imgur.com/rd0MrPB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/cAQJRvI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/u2JisSu.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/CnhpwJj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jj03Cbj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/C9eMRcb.jpg

Total gear list.

Lunt 102mm ED doublet F/7 refractor on steel-legged Skywatcher AZ-4
2" William Optics dielectric diagonal
Baader Hyperion Aspheric 36mm 72° 2" widefield (& 'finder') eyepiece
Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Mark III 2" zoom eyepiece
Celestron 2.5x 2" Luminos barlow & Celestron 2" UHC nebular filter

My previous piece of kit from the late nineties was an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain with a short-tube achromat riding piggyback: http://i.imgur.com/zLRGJ39.jpg .

I also have a Celestron Ultima 80mm spotting scope I use on a videocamera tripod for birding/terrestrial observation.
 
Last edited:
Very nice! For the money though, I would probably went with a Dobsonian instead. 🙂

Clear skies!
 
gevorg said:
Very nice! For the money though, I would probably went with a Dobsonian instead. 🙂

Clear skies!
Click to expand...

I'm a frac nerd, closed tube, no collimation. Dobs are just too bulky for me as a grab n' go and I like to sit while observing. 😛
 
Seems like overkill to me for only a 4" lens, especially when you have a spotting scope that's almost as big. But the price may have been right.

Edit:
gevorg said:
For the money though, I would probably went with a Dobsonian instead.
Click to expand...
This.
 
Nice, good to see that you've gone back looking at the "heavenly" bodies. :awe:

Had a 3" refractor in my late teens and loved looking at the Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Over the years I'm been thinking of buying a portable 8"/12" Dobsonian
that I can bring to remote/no light-polluted places to view the heavenly skies. Of course I'll be limited to the planets and other bright objects, not the nebulas/galaxies
(deep sky) that long exposure photography would require.

Best-Offer-Celestron-S11700-Sky-Watcher-Dobsonian-Telescope-50ed4_image_file_41UyQgFrk9L.SS472.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-S117.../dp/B004Q78OII
 
SKORPI0 said:
Nice, good to see that you've gone back looking at the "heavenly" bodies. :awe:

Had a 3" refractor in my late teens and loved looking at the Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Over the years I'm been thinking of buying a portable 8"/12" Dobsonian
that I can bring to remote/no light-polluted places to view the heavenly skies. Of course I'll be limited to the planets and other bright objects, not the nebulas/galaxies
(deep sky) that long exposure photography would require.

Best-Offer-Celestron-S11700-Sky-Watcher-Dobsonian-Telescope-50ed4_image_file_41UyQgFrk9L.SS472.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-S117.../dp/B004Q78OII
Click to expand...

get you one of these. http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/telescopes/25/
 
One thing to consider: those big dobsonians take a long time to equalize with the atmosphere, particularly as the mirror lies close to the ground. You're gonna have tube currents for an hour before the image steadies. A 4" doublet refractor will cool down in 10 minutes.

There is no perfect scope that will do everything amazingly. You have to weigh in your targets, your style of observing, your finances, your location, the scope portability, etc...
 
Last edited:
I do like sort of the middle ground with SCTs but I eventually want to get one of these super high quality refractors. Planetary objects are really the best to show friends anyway since grey dust balls get pretty boring after a while for non-astronomy people.

I personally wouldn't get a Dob either. They are bargains in terms of the pure mirror size you can get for the dollar, but they would be an absolute pain in the ass if you were actually looking at deep sky objects. I'm too spoiled with having a tracking motor on my scope (or hell, just an equatorial mount with a hand cable) to go full manual. I love my Go-to control drive, but I could probably do without it. I think I would go nuts without a tracking drive.

I'm not really familiar with the refractor world, but wouldn't you still want to have a nice equatorial mount unless you were doing mostly terrestrial observation?
 
Now you need a GoTo EQ mount to take some photos!

I have a Televue 102 and 76 with a Celestron CGEM mount I use quite effectively for astrophotography.
 
rockyct said:
I'm not really familiar with the refractor world, but wouldn't you still want to have a nice equatorial mount unless you were doing mostly terrestrial observation?
Click to expand...

IMO, manual EQ mounts are a super pain. AZ rules if it's not GoTo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top