PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/14/05
Loc: coastline of Belgium
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: starman876]
#5664791 - 02/06/13 08:25 AM
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Thought we were talking classic refractors/telescopes and wanted to suggest the Americans Alvan Clark & John Brashear, the German Carl Zeiss, the Dutch Piet G Meesters, Japanese Unitron ( sold as Polarex in Europe), etc... 
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starman876
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/08
Loc: VA
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: PhilCo126]
#5664793 - 02/06/13 08:30 AM
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I do not think they make telescopes anymore 
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terraclarke
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/29/12
Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: mikebb]
#5664918 - 02/06/13 10:13 AM
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It is exactly the same telescope as the one I have, (pictured above)- from Hands on Optics with the exception of the labels and 2 & 1/2 inch instead of 2 inch focuser. The price there has gone up from 499 to 599 recently. They are all three made at Kunming Optical, except Vic checks out the scopes at SV and Gary at HOO. Both, btw, were involved in the original design as I understand it, but Vic baled shortly thereafter as he wanted to focus exclusively on apos.
Terra
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PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/14/05
Loc: coastline of Belgium
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: terraclarke]
#5668950 - 02/08/13 12:45 PM
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Just kidding... do You know about Peak2Valley in Great-Britain?
http://www.peak2valleyinstruments.co.uk/ourservices.html
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xavier
super member
Reged: 10/31/07
Loc: Belgium
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: PhilCo126]
#5669665 - 02/08/13 07:42 PM
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Just kidding... do You know about Peak2Valley in Great-Britain?
http://www.peak2valleyinstruments.co.uk/ourservices.html
Very nice people. Contacted them for my Fullerscopes mount. They have classic stock left.
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PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/14/05
Loc: coastline of Belgium
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: xavier]
#5672229 - 02/10/13 12:00 PM
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Check the "New Skylight F15 refractor" topic ...
Skylight refactors:
http://skylight.myshopify.com/products/skylight-gallery
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Jim Curry
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/29/07
Loc: STL
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: nightfisher]
#5684687 - 02/17/13 06:46 AM
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I built an OTA from the Istar 4" f/12. Perfect 1/6+ wave optics. It'll cruise at 200x without effort.
Jim
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Astro One
member
Reged: 02/20/13
Loc: San Bernardino County, CA.
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: starman876]
#5764606 - 03/29/13 12:57 PM
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To me this doesn't seem cheap. I got on the Hands On Optics sight and started shopping for a complete 4" Astro setup. In my cart I put a Vixen PORTA II mount, the 102 mm f/11 refractor, a stellarvue 50mm finder, a SV F2 mounting base, a SV Red Dot finder, and, SV mounting rings for the F50 finder. Total before shipping comes to $1,129.00! Maybe I am just cheap, but to me cheap would be to go with a 6" F8 Orion reflector. With a dob mount, their 8X50 RACI finder the total is 309.98 + tax, so for me it would cost approximately $335.00, now that is cheap to me. Shipping is free right now with Orion. I have a little reluctance with Orion because I owned their 8" reflector six years ago and though the scope performed well it is definitely built cheaply, it is not a piece of beautiful workmanship like my Obsession 15." My interest in one of these set ups is to view double stars. I have a larger scope for my deep sky work. I see myself using this close to home, sometimes right in my back yard complete with a street light near by; less than favorable conditions. Opinions and suggestions please.
Steve
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amicus sidera
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/14/11
Loc: East of the Sun, West of the M...
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: Astro One]
#5764650 - 03/29/13 01:10 PM
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My question is this: why is Kunming is not making that 4" refractor at a longer focal length, such as f/15 or even better, f/20? F/11 is too short for that aperture in an achromat, in my opinion.
If I'm going to purchase a refractor, I want a refractor... long tube and near-zero RCA.
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Astro One
member
Reged: 02/20/13
Loc: San Bernardino County, CA.
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: starman876]
#5764706 - 03/29/13 01:31 PM
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I'm looking into this!
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terraclarke
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/29/12
Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: amicus sidera]
#5764709 - 03/29/13 01:33 PM
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If you haven't looked through one (an AT102/F11), don't judge it. I have one, one of the Hand picked ones and the optics are amazing. No more color than a 4 inch Unitron. And it's a heck of a lot easier to mount than an F20 or even an F15. Using modern glass, coatings, hand figuring, and a well baffled tube, Kunming has come up with an excellent alternative. That's why I've been dragging my feet with my 103/F15 Jaegers build. That one is uncoated btw. Still, glad I have one in the vault.
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Rutilus
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/10
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: terraclarke]
#5764918 - 03/29/13 02:47 PM Attachment (19 downloads)
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The Fullerscopes MK1V mount is clasic solid no-nonsense
piece of kit, it handles my Istar 150mm f/15 (homemade tube)extremely well.
Here is a photo of the mount compared to a Vixen GP, and one of the big scope on the mount.
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Rutilus
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/10
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: Rutilus]
#5764920 - 03/29/13 02:48 PM Attachment (21 downloads)
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Scope pointed at Jupiter.
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amicus sidera
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/14/11
Loc: East of the Sun, West of the M...
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: terraclarke]
#5765083 - 03/29/13 03:58 PM
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Quote:
If you haven't looked through one (an AT102/F11), don't judge it.
I've looked through one. I've judged it. I find it lacking for my purposes.
Of course, it is a refractor, which is basically a glorified spyglass; not like a reflector, which is, of course, wonderfully color-free. Perhaps I was expecting too much from it.
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terraclarke
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/29/12
Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: amicus sidera]
#5765396 - 03/29/13 05:43 PM
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And that is why you need to get what YOU want and that YOU will be happy with. For ME, mirrors are something I like to look at ME WITH, not THRU. I like a telescope that looks like a telescope and not a garbage can
Terra
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amicus sidera
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/14/11
Loc: East of the Sun, West of the M...
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: terraclarke]
#5765405 - 03/29/13 05:49 PM
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I like a telescope that looks like a telescope and not a garbage can
Terra
Ah, I didn't realize that it was all about form over function... thank you for clarifying that.
I still say that Kunming needs to increase the focal ratio on their 4" to at least f/15; of course, if the hand-picked ones have less false color than a Unitron of comparable aperture and of greater focal length (by whatever means they do it - surreptitious use of ED glass, or possibly magical pixie-dust flint and crown elements in their objectives?), then I'll have to start looking for one. 
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starman876
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/08
Loc: VA
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: amicus sidera]
#5765462 - 03/29/13 06:14 PM
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Looks like a gar bage can. WOW strong words. Wonder what kind of war this is going to start 
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PiSigma
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/14/09
Loc: North Carolina
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: starman876]
#5765481 - 03/29/13 06:22 PM Attachment (13 downloads)
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Yea, this is a pretty cr@ppy garbage can!
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amicus sidera
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/14/11
Loc: East of the Sun, West of the M...
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: starman876]
#5765496 - 03/29/13 06:28 PM
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No need for a war of any sort! To each their own... 
Heck, I want a nice glorified spyglass to complement my garbage cans! 
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PiSigma
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/14/09
Loc: North Carolina
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Re: Manufactures of good long focaL length refractors
[Re: amicus sidera]
#5765507 - 03/29/13 06:37 PM Attachment (12 downloads)
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Nothing but diversity here..... 
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