Mike Loffland
Web Guru (Astronomics)
Reged: 09/03/04
Loc: Norman, Oklahoma
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Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
#3393088 - 10/16/09 02:16 PM
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Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
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SteveG
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/27/06
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: Mike Loffland]
#3393238 - 10/16/09 03:40 PM
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Excellent report Karl!
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dlapoint
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 08/18/03
Loc: Moncton NB Canada
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: SteveG]
#3393254 - 10/16/09 03:49 PM
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nice to hear this scope sounds like its a good value. I thought it was f5.9
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hfjacinto
I think he's got it!
Reged: 01/12/09
Loc: Land of clouds and LP
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: dlapoint]
#3393266 - 10/16/09 03:54 PM
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After that review I would consider this scope.
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Mark Costello
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/08/05
Loc: Matthews, NC, USA
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: Mike Loffland]
#3393403 - 10/16/09 05:26 PM
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That's a really nice write-up of your shake-down of the new ES 6" F6.5. That one is a bit too heavy for my fancy but you've got me thinking about its 5" little brother....
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Jeff Morgan
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/28/03
Loc: Prescott, AZ
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: Mike Loffland]
#3393690 - 10/16/09 09:18 PM
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Nice write-up Karl. I used to own a Jaegers 6" f/5 refractor. It was great at lowest powers (21x with a 35 Panoptic), but was pretty awful much above that (83x with a 9 Nagler). It sounds like the ES maker is paying much more attention to figure.
Edited by Jeff Morgan (10/17/09 12:33 AM)
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galaxyman
Vendor - Have a Stellar Birthday
Reged: 04/04/05
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: Jeff Morgan]
#3393766 - 10/16/09 10:10 PM Attachment (218 downloads)
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Thanks.
Here is the focuser.
Karl
E.O.H.
Chesmont Astronomical Society
Telekit (Swayze optics) 22" F/4.5 Dob
Homemade (Parks Optics) 12.5" F/4.8 Dob
TMB 8" f/9 Refractor”The Beast”. One great achro
ES 6" f/6.5 achro. New
Orion 4" f/6 Refractor. Also not bad for an achro
Celestron 10x60mm Binos
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galaxyman
Vendor - Have a Stellar Birthday
Reged: 04/04/05
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: galaxyman]
#3393771 - 10/16/09 10:12 PM Attachment (169 downloads)
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The nice metal case.
Karl
E.O.H.
Chesmont Astronomical Society
Telekit (Swayze optics) 22" F/4.5 Dob
Homemade (Parks Optics) 12.5" F/4.8 Dob
TMB 8" f/9 Refractor”The Beast”. One great achro
ES 6" f/6.5 achro. New
Orion 4" f/6 Refractor. Also not bad for an achro
Celestron 10x60mm Binos
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galaxyman
Vendor - Have a Stellar Birthday
Reged: 04/04/05
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: galaxyman]
#3393781 - 10/16/09 10:18 PM Attachment (183 downloads)
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The meat of any scope...optics
As you can see the coatings have very little reflective properties, and are fully multi-coated.
I'm taking this scope down to West Virginia this week, and hopefully to get it under some of the darkest skies in the east.
Karl
E.O.H.
Chesmont Astronomical Society
Telekit (Swayze optics) 22" F/4.5 Dob
Homemade (Parks Optics) 12.5" F/4.8 Dob
TMB 8" f/9 Refractor”The Beast”. One great achro
ES 6" f/6.5 achro. New
Orion 4" f/6 Refractor. Also not bad for an achro
Celestron 10x60mm Binos
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pollux
artiste
Reged: 04/01/04
Loc: Burnaby Canada
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: galaxyman]
#3394539 - 10/17/09 12:43 PM
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nice review
the first few paragraphs made me laugh 
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Arizona-Ken
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/31/08
Loc: Scottsdale, Arizona
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: pollux]
#3394737 - 10/17/09 02:45 PM
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Good Review!
A real good thing about your review is the side-by-side with the APM. It is good to understand that a lot of good performance is available for a modest price, and that although premium optics are worth the cost, differences can be incremental rather than massive.
Arizona Ken
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Al Miller
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/25/08
Loc: South, Texas
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: Mike Loffland]
#3395448 - 10/18/09 12:12 AM
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Mike,
Where did you get this scope? It's not on Explore Scientific's or Astronomics' website. I would sure like to check one of these out for myself. Thanks!
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coopman
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/23/06
Loc: South Louisiana
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: Al Miller]
#3396546 - 10/18/09 04:18 PM
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See here:
http://store.explorescientific.com/doubletachromaticrefractortelescopes.aspx
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BillP
Postmaster
Reged: 11/26/06
Loc: Vienna, VA
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: galaxyman]
#3397014 - 10/18/09 09:02 PM
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Great review! Since you had the Antares, optically how do you rate the two? Any differencees? btw, the lens housing between the tube and the dew shield...what is it made of? I believe on the Antares with the fixed dew shield it was either a hard plastic or a brittle base metal (mine cracked!).
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DLB242
Mr. Warmth
Reged: 07/29/08
Loc: Pen Argyl, PA
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: Mike Loffland]
#3399981 - 10/20/09 11:24 AM
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Nice write up Karl. The focuser looks nicer than the Antares/GSO two speed and the multi coated lens make a nice upgrade from the Antares 1529.
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joelimite
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/01/08
Loc: Fayetteville, AR
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: DLB242]
#3400924 - 10/20/09 07:45 PM
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Excellent review! Looks like a terrific scope for DSOs. Explorer Scientific seems to be pumping out some quality gear, what with their 100 degree eyepieces, ED refractors, and now fast achros.
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galaxyman
Vendor - Have a Stellar Birthday
Reged: 04/04/05
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: joelimite]
#3404196 - 10/22/09 01:36 PM
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Quote:
Excellent review! Looks like a terrific scope for DSOs. Explorer Scientific seems to be pumping out some quality gear, what with their 100 degree eyepieces, ED refractors, and now fast achros.
Thanks
Yes, they do seem to have something going here, as long as they stay on track about looking over the products for quality assurance.
Just got back from West Virginia, and was able to use the scope for two nights. One night (Monday) from Spruce Knob 
Pollux - I believe I've been telling my wife that this was "the last" scope since the early 1980's. I believe there has been twelve since, including the 22" dob and the 8" refractor 
Bill - It seems to be a overall upgrade of the Antares 6" f/6.5, that is solidly built. Not sure at this moment about the lens housing between the tube an dew shield. The scope does fit in the case with the shield left on, so I haven't pulled off the shield. The lens cell is made of metal, with no rattling of optics, and the scope keeps it's collimation in tacked during transporting. Optically the difference between my Antares (a good one) and this particular Explore Scientific is close, though the coatings are better in the ES. In fact the best I've seen in an achro except my APM 8".
David - The focuser is better than the GSO on the Antares, as is the coatings.
Karl
E.O.H.
Chesmont Astronomical Society
Telekit (Swayze optics) 22" F/4.5 Dob
Homemade (Parks Optics) 12.5" F/4.8 Dob
TMB 8" F/9 Refractor”The Beast”. One great achro
ES 6" F/6.5 achro- NEW
Orion 4" f/6 Refractor. Also not bad for an achro
Celestron 10x60 binos
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Mike Holland
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/22/06
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: Mike Loffland]
#3407183 - 10/23/09 10:13 PM
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Nice review, Karl! Thanks for writing it.
What color did you see on Jupiter? Was it mainly on the disk itself, or also in the space around it?
Mike
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galaxyman
Vendor - Have a Stellar Birthday
Reged: 04/04/05
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: Mike Holland]
#3407315 - 10/23/09 11:23 PM
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Quote:
Nice review, Karl! Thanks for writing it.
What color did you see on Jupiter? Was it mainly on the disk itself, or also in the space around it?
Mike
Thanks Mike
A bit of color around the disc at 330x, but the large disc itself was sharp and not fuzzed out (good optics). Some detail on the belts were seen with moments of steady seeing. It was seriously bright (something I'm not use to).
As you know from the article that planets are not my forte, but it would be interesting to see what planetary filters or other types that are available would do.
I believe some of my club members own such filters, so maybe some time I will try one and see the results.
Karl
E.O.H.
Chesmont Astronomical Society
Telekit (Swayze optics) 22" F/4.5 Dob
Homemade (Parks Optics) 12.5" F/4.8 Dob
TMB 8" f/9 Refractor”The Beast”. One great achro
ES 6" f/6.5 achro. New
Orion 4" f/6 Refractor. Also not bad for an achro
Celestron 10x60mm Binos
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Mike Holland
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/22/06
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Re: Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
[Re: galaxyman]
#3413082 - 10/26/09 10:25 PM
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Thanks, Karl. I appreciate all of the info.
Mike
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