crazyqban
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/16/08
Loc: Miami, Florida
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First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
#5653597 - 01/31/13 04:30 AM Attachment (382 downloads)
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I wish that this was a first light report of MY AP 175 EDF but instead it is of my friend's AP 175 EDF that was just delivered Monday, Jan 28. He does not have an account here on Cloudy Nights (not sure why he does not) so he told me to go ahead and post a report if I wanted. The scope is very imposing and impressive. The scope is mounted on an AP 900 mount and you know that it means business just by looking at it. The seeing conditions here in Miami, Florida today were not all that great since a cold front is starting to work its way down. We observed Jupiter, Sirius, M42, M31, M46, M47, M41, NGC 869/884 & NGC 457. This was just a quick first light and not a very involved session since my friend was sick as dog, had to get some work done at home, we were observing in Greater Miami and the incoming cold front. The best object of the night was Jupiter at the beginning of our session, we were observing it with Mark V binoviewers and various eyepiece pairs (Naglers & Zeiss Abbe IIs). The views were crisp, sharp and full of contrasty detail. My only complaint is the the binos were about 2 feet off of the ground since Jupiter was at zenith. M31 was very disappointing because it was very dim due to the light pollution. I am sure the in a dark site this will be a view to behold!!! This was also the case for M42 and the dimmer star clusters. The brighter star cluster were very enjoyable and we were able to see Sirius B even though the seeing was not very good. All in all an amazing scope both visually and mechanically. Astro-Physics's 4 inch focuser is a pure joy to use. It is beefy and works flawlessly. I cannot wait until we take this puppy out to the Everglades and get it to perform under some dark skies.
Photo #1, Angel the proud papa and his new addition to the family.
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crazyqban
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/16/08
Loc: Miami, Florida
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: crazyqban]
#5653599 - 01/31/13 04:31 AM Attachment (256 downloads)
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Photo #2 - my friend Maykel and Angel's new baby
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crazyqban
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/16/08
Loc: Miami, Florida
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: crazyqban]
#5653600 - 01/31/13 04:32 AM Attachment (236 downloads)
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Photo #3 - The Crazyqban & the Beast
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JJK
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 04/28/08
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: crazyqban]
#5653608 - 01/31/13 04:55 AM
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Trips to a dark sky site will be highly rewarding with that telescope. At the Cherry Springs park (Black Forest Star Party Site), mine nearly kept up with a Tak Mewlon 300 on many faint fuzzies (to be sure, there was a difference in the limiting magnitudes, but not as much as I thought there'd be). The brighter DSOs were pure eye candy. M42, which was about 38 * off the horizon, offered a high contrast and nearly 3-dimensional appearance.
The Swan nebula displayed a detail-ridden bright body contrasting the charcoal black space at the neck - a truly stunning site. That same object obviously looked much brighter in John Vogt's 32" Dob-Newt (in his wonderful scope, the object looked brighter and nearly fluorescent) but the contrast between the darkest and brightest portions of the Swan seemed reasonably similar.
Jupiter was magnificent, with pure white bands contrasting slate blue, brown, and orange features. I was fortunate that the seeing was really good for about an hour and a half. You guys should really take advantage of the better seeing in FL and the higher placement of Jupiter in the sky.
Enjoy the scope!
Edited by JJK (01/31/13 05:03 AM)
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johnnyha
Postmaster
Reged: 11/12/06
Loc: Sherman Oaks, CA
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: JJK]
#5653652 - 01/31/13 06:10 AM
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Nice report Sergio you lucky dog! Your friend needs to add an extension to his mount.
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crazyqban
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/16/08
Loc: Miami, Florida
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: johnnyha]
#5653666 - 01/31/13 06:29 AM
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Tell me about it, I had to get on my side on the floor to view Jupiter!!!
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t.r.
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/14/08
Loc: Upstate NY
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: crazyqban]
#5653769 - 01/31/13 08:06 AM
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Sergio, nothing wrong with piggy backing off someone elses good fortune! My largest instrument views have been through others scopes as well. Luke Legee and I attended a local summer seminar. It was first light of his TEC 180FL that night. I pushed him out of the way and looked through it more than he did!!! 
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bilgebay
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/06/08
Loc: Türkiye - Istanbul and Marmari...
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: t.r.]
#5653776 - 01/31/13 08:11 AM
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Luke is a good guy!
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bilgebay
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/06/08
Loc: Türkiye - Istanbul and Marmari...
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: crazyqban]
#5653779 - 01/31/13 08:14 AM
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Great scope Sergio! Enjoy the views!
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R Botero
sage
Reged: 01/02/09
Loc: Kent, England
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: crazyqban]
#5653799 - 01/31/13 08:33 AM
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Great new scope! Make sure you keep that friend - Sergio! 
I know what you say about the 4" focuser being a joy to use. My AP152 EDF is 22 years old and its 4" focuser is as smooth as butter - fantastic craftsmanship. 
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Paul Hyndman
sage
Reged: 07/13/04
Loc: Connecticut Shoreline USA
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: R Botero]
#5653825 - 01/31/13 08:47 AM
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Nice report, Sergio... but just WAIT until you guys put that puppy to work under some stable dark skies: wow-a-ka-zowwa ka-bam!
Enjoy!
Paul
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Madratter
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/14/13
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: R Botero]
#5653840 - 01/31/13 08:53 AM
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I've never looked through one of their 175s, but I have observed with one of the 6" Starfires. While it wasn't the best planetary views I have ever had (that was through my 20"), the views were absolutely stunning and the mechanicals were great. I would absolutely love to have one. A seven inch version would be awesome! Enjoy using it.
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Darren Drake
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/09/02
Loc: Chicagoland
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: Madratter]
#5653865 - 01/31/13 09:08 AM
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Are there many 175s left to be delivered? I heard somewhere that AP may soon stop offering the bigger apos and only make the smaller ones...
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t.r.
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/14/08
Loc: Upstate NY
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: Darren Drake]
#5653897 - 01/31/13 09:26 AM
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Oh, this is it for the large apos. The glass for these 175's is from old stock Roland had. TEC is able to get large blanks still, but it is becoming less likely that these large sizes will be produced much longer. Yuri has stated that the rejection rate is getting higher with each glass shipment he receives.
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vahe
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/27/05
Loc: Houston, Texas
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: t.r.]
#5654050 - 01/31/13 10:41 AM
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Quote:
Yuri has stated that the rejection rate is getting higher with each glass shipment he receives.
TEC is making 180s at this time and there is also word on restarting 200FLs using different glasses.
Check out tec-ug Posts # 23384 & #23391.
Vahe
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Scott in NC
Mad Hatter
Reged: 03/05/05
Loc: NC
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: vahe]
#5654175 - 01/31/13 11:45 AM
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Wow that's huge! I enjoyed reading your report--you're a lucky guy. I wonder if I could talk any of my friends into buying an AP175? That might actually be preferable to owning one myself (as I wouldn't have to worry about it, someone else could set it up for me, someone else could explain to their spouse why they spent so much money on a scope, etc., etc.).
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Joe C
sage
Reged: 11/29/08
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: Scott in NC]
#5654229 - 01/31/13 12:22 PM
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Great first light report Sergio.
Darren, I know of at least one person waiting on their 175. But from what I have seen reports on, there are not many are remaining to be delivered.
Scott, there are no more AP175's left to be had. The production run has been filled and it appears there will be no more in the future. However, you never know what Roland has in in old stock ready for something bigger.
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vahe
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/27/05
Loc: Houston, Texas
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: Joe C]
#5654283 - 01/31/13 01:00 PM
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When AP announced lottery for the last remaining 175s I gave it a serious thought but at the end decided not to participate for two reasons:
1 -I have a 155 F/9EDT with refigured optics, I am strictly visual and this scope offers spectacular performance for its aperture, but paying nearly $17,000 extra for 20mm increase in aperture just did not make sense to me.
And,
2 - In the last fifteen years anything that I tried to purchase from AP ended up going to someone else, no complains here, that is just my luck so why bother?
Vahe
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Darren Drake
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/09/02
Loc: Chicagoland
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: vahe]
#5654318 - 01/31/13 01:23 PM
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Vahe,
To put in in perspective if you subtract the leftover aperture of a 175 mm has over a 155mm and make a scope out of it it would only be an 81mm scope. So the 175mm has the aperture of that of a 155mm plus an 81mm. Good decision not to shell out the extra huge amount of $. Most 80mm apos are only about $500.
Edited by Darren Drake (01/31/13 01:26 PM)
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Tank
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/27/09
Loc: Stoney Creek, Ontario, CANADA
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Re: First Light Astro-Physics 175 EDF
[Re: Darren Drake]
#5654353 - 01/31/13 01:42 PM
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Sergio
Nice scope!
Wonder how the 16" Zambuto would stack up against it in great seeing on Jupiter?
Enjoy
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