Telescope Reviews: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo!

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Equipment Discussions >> Refractors

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Kon Dealer
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/05/11

Loc: Cambridge UK

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: mikey cee]
#5552580 - 12/03/12 06:43 PM

I love my Kson102ED f/6 in carbon fibre. The OTA weighs just 2.6Kg. Very little CO and a brilliant travel scope.
I use it alot more than my 6 and 8SE.
Sold in the USA at http://store.smartastronomy.com/ksopmiedapor.html

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Sky Muse
sage

Reged: 10/26/12

Loc: De Soto County, MS

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Levine]
#5552640 - 12/03/12 07:17 PM

Although hardly ubiquitous, and long discontinued, the Takahashi FS-102 with its f/8 ratio is, for myself as a purely visual observer, the sweet spot and without peer, save the rarely-offered, legendary Astro-Physics "Traveler"...

http://www.scopereviews.com/aptak.html

The FS-102 is superior in sharpness and contrast compared to its current successor, the TSA-102, and has been described, albeit biasedly perhaps, as nothing short of "mythical", its only disadvantage being that it leaves one forever yearning for its larger sibling, the FS-152.

Alan

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johnnyha
Postmaster

Reged: 11/12/06

Loc: Sherman Oaks, CA

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Sky Muse]
#5552693 - 12/03/12 07:48 PM

I'd go for the NP101 with your lineup, since you already have the FS128. Otherwise I would also suggest the FS102NSV.

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Moonglum
professor emeritus

Reged: 06/01/08

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! [Re: johnnyha]
#5552777 - 12/03/12 08:36 PM

1st. Lomo 102/800. Mine is Stellarvue's, actually a pretty compact tube. (12lbs) Threaded extension though, pain in the @$#&$$$.
2nd. Lzos 100/800. Just cuz I've always wanted one.

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Fomalhaut
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/16/08

Loc: Switzerland

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Moonglum]
#5553518 - 12/04/12 08:18 AM

The Takahashi FCT100/640 fluorite-triplet which I happen to have been the lucky and happy owner for 20 years now.
This is the one and only telescope I'm sure I'll never sell as long as being able to use it. Here is it (first post):

http://astro-foren.de/showthread.php?13579-Takahashi-FCT-100-640
(just move cursor on images to enlarge)

Chris

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la200o
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 09/09/08

Loc: SE Michigan, USA

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Fomalhaut]
#5553587 - 12/04/12 09:01 AM

Very beautiful!

Bill

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Scott Beith
SRF

Reged: 11/26/03

Loc: Frederick, MD

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Rich V.]
#5554231 - 12/04/12 04:21 PM

Quote:

I would love to have a LOMO 102/800. Too bad this Skylight/LOMO 102/800 is a one-off build; the LOMO OK4 triplet is another example of the very finest 4" objectives.

A really pretty scope! Posted on the Vendor and Group Announcements forum back in July:

Skylight/LOMO 102/800

Rich

My SV102V is the 102/800 LOMO doublet and it is a keeper.

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Scott in NC
Mad Hatter

Reged: 03/05/05

Loc: NC

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Scott Beith]
#5554622 - 12/04/12 08:47 PM

Quote:

My SV102V is the 102/800 LOMO doublet and it is a keeper.

It's just killing me reading stuff like this, since I "accidentally" sold my SV102ABV 102/790 LOMO doublet last week. ARRGGHHH!!!

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chboss
professor emeritus

Reged: 03/24/08

Loc: Zurich Switzerland

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: mikey cee]
#5554855 - 12/04/12 11:29 PM Attachment (19 downloads)

Quote:

I'm very sure that all of the above folks are very happy with their pride and joys. But that's just what they happened to be blessed with at the time and have grown quite comfortable with their use of them. You are starting out. I'd go for the biggest aperture I could handle....seeings how everyone seems to be photon grabbing greedy anymore. Mike

Well Mike I do not know where you want to go with this comment....
But the OP asked for refractor recommendations in the 4" range and thats what people are offering, of course most of them out of their own experience.
The OP owns an FS-128 which I regard as an ideal compromise between transportability and lens diameter. But it always depends of what needs drive him to a 4" telescope.

My recommendation in the 4" range would be the FS-102 for visual with its f8 focal ratio. Pure experience going back to 1997.

Thanks go to Formalhaut letting me look through his marvelous FCT-100 at the time.

best regards
Chris

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Tom S.
member

Reged: 02/16/07

Loc: Benicia, Calif.

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Levine]
#5555077 - 12/05/12 04:08 AM

Quote:

Celestron 14" XLT
Meade LX200 12" ACF
CotoSKY 8.25" f/6 Achromat
Takahashi FS-128 (128/1040: f/8.1)
Zeiss Telementor II (63/840: f/13.3)
Coronado PST f/10
Canon IS 15 X 50 Binoculars
Discmounts DM-6, Sky Commander, StarBeam
Collins I3/Astronomik H-a/Starsweeper
...and some nice glass

Dude, you already have 6 telescopes and 1 pair of binoculars. That's 8 optical tubes! And you want a 9th?

You don't need another 'scope - you need to check yourself in to the Betty Ford Center to recover from your addiction!

(Just kidding)

Edited by Tom S. (12/05/12 04:22 AM)

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Paul G
Post Laureate

Reged: 05/08/03

Loc: Freedonia

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Levine]
#5555304 - 12/05/12 08:55 AM

I bought my AP Traveler back when they were $2850 and there was no waiting list. Only 19" long, 9 pounds, built like a tank, super optics, sweet scope. If airline portability isn't an issue and you can accept a little false color the FS102 would be a good choice.

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Levine
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 03/24/06

Loc: Wabash, Indiana

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Tom S.]
#5555396 - 12/05/12 10:07 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Celestron 14" XLT
Meade LX200 12" ACF
CotoSKY 8.25" f/6 Achromat
Takahashi FS-128 (128/1040: f/8.1)
Zeiss Telementor II (63/840: f/13.3)
Coronado PST f/10
Canon IS 15 X 50 Binoculars
Discmounts DM-6, Sky Commander, StarBeam
Collins I3/Astronomik H-a/Starsweeper
...and some nice glass

Dude, you already have 6 telescopes and 1 pair of binoculars. That's 8 optical tubes! And you want a 9th?

You don't need another 'scope - you need to check yourself in to the Betty Ford Center to recover from your addiction! (Just kidding)

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MrGrytt
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 07/28/05

Loc: Upstate New York

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Doug Culbertson]
#5556471 - 12/05/12 09:34 PM

Add another vote for the TMB/APM/LZOS 100/800.

Harvey

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ukcanuck
Vendor (Skylight Telescopes)

Reged: 11/07/06

Loc: London, UK

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Rich V.]
#5556965 - 12/06/12 07:07 AM

Quote:

I would love to have a LOMO 102/800. Too bad this Skylight/LOMO 102/800 is a one-off build; the LOMO OK4 triplet is another example of the very finest 4" objectives.

A really pretty scope! Posted on the Vendor and Group Announcements forum back in July:

Skylight/LOMO 102/800

Rich

Quite a surprise to find a link to me in a thread about APO's...

That LOMO was a great optic with a wonderful star test (that scope was actually quite hard to let go of in the end). However, it did take awhile to cool down. As the OP mentioned cool down time in the opening post, I would look towards one of the premium doublets over a triplet if local climate makes this a key point...

Just my two

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Rich V.
Post Laureate

Reged: 01/02/05

Loc: Lake Tahoe area, Nevada, USA

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: ukcanuck]
#5557245 - 12/06/12 10:38 AM

I couldn't help it, Richard; the build was so pretty!

Yes, the LOMO objective cells have a lot of heft to them and acclimation can be a bit slow. The views are stunning and well worth it though.

Keep up the beautiful work!

Rich

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StarStuff1
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/01/07

Loc: South of the Mason-Dixon Line

Re: The ubiquitous, wonderful 4" Apo! new

[Re: Rich V.]
#5557417 - 12/06/12 12:15 PM

I bought my Celestron C102f used about 10 years ago. Yes. it is "old school", an f/8.9 flourite doublet, single speed focuser, some color in out of focus images etc. However it is light weight and throws up fantastic images. If I sold it I would only get a little over half of what I paid. Sure, there are "better" new 4-in apos today but none so much better that I would be willing to trade up.

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