Mike Loffland
Web Guru (Astronomics)
Reged: 09/03/04
Posts: 2080
Loc: Norman, Oklahoma
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Explore Scientific 6" f/6.5 Refractor
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SteveG
sage
Reged: 09/27/06
Posts: 237
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Excellent report Karl!
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WO Megrez 110 ED on SP Mount
10" Meade LightBridge
Orion ED 100 on Polaris Mount
6" f8 Edmonds reflector on GP Mount
4.5" F8 Orion EQ Reflector
Astroscan
Meade 226 2.4" f11.7
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dlapoint
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/18/03
Posts: 529
Loc: Moncton NB Canada
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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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Derek
Orion 72mm Eon
Orion 100Ed (Back again)
C4.5
Naglers 16mm T5, 9mm T6
Orion Planetary ep's 5-6mm
Antares 3 Element Barlow
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hfjacinto
Almost got me
Reged: 01/12/09
Posts: 2080
Loc: Union,NJ
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After that review I would consider this scope.
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C9.25 ASGT 9*50 MM Finder,FT Focuser & 2" Diagonal
Meade LXD 75 6 Inch SNT w 9*50 MM Finder
5,6,9,14.5 MM Zhummel Planetary EPs
13,17,21,24,31,36 MM Baader Hyperion
6.7,8.8 MM Meade UWA & 11 MM Nagler T6
Planetary, OIII and Narrowband Filters
Thousand Oaks Dew Control w Kendrick Heaters
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Mark Costello
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/08/05
Posts: 1311
Loc: Matthews, NC, USA
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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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Mark Costello
Matthews, NC
Wife, son, three daughters, two dogs, ... and
Souped up & Tuned Burgess 102mm refractor on a CG5 & Celestron 7X35's
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Jeff Morgan
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/28/03
Posts: 1985
Loc: Prescott, AZ
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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.
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Jeff Morgan
Prescott, AZ
Wile E. Coyote School of Telescope Making
Edited by Jeff Morgan (10/17/09 12:33 AM)
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galaxyman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/04/05
Posts: 1471
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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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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So many galaxies, so little time!
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galaxyman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/04/05
Posts: 1471
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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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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So many galaxies, so little time!
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galaxyman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/04/05
Posts: 1471
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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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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So many galaxies, so little time!
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pollux
artiste
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 6853
Loc: Vancouver Canada
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nice review
the first few paragraphs made me laugh 
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Pentax 105SDP
Vixen VMC200L
Vixen VMC260L
Pentax XW eyepiece (complete set)
Personal Web Site
Telescope Comics
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Arizona-Ken
sage
Reged: 08/31/08
Posts: 307
Loc: Scottsdale, Arizona
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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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"Considered as a collector of rare and precious things, the amateur astronomer has a great advantage over amateurs in other fields ... the amateur astronomer has access at all times to the original objects of his study; the masterworks of the heavens belong to him as much as to the great observatories of the world. And there is no privilege like that of being allowed to stand in the presence of the original."
--Robert Burnham Jr, Burnham's Celestial Handbook
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Al Miller
sage
Reged: 08/25/08
Posts: 408
Loc: San Antonio, Texas
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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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Meade 10" LX200 Classic
Celestron C8 XLT OTA
Orion XT8 Classic Dob.
Meade AR-5, f/9.3 refractor OTA (LXD55 version)
Antares 4.1", f/12.4 refractor w/EQ5
Orion 110ED, f/7 refractor OTA
Orion ST120, f/5 refractor OTA
Orion ST80, f/5 refractor OTA (guidescope)
Meade DSIc, DSI IIc and DSI II Pro
Celestron NexImage (x2)
Orion StarShoot autoguider
Atlas EQ-G mount
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coopman
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/23/06
Posts: 1544
Loc: South Louisiana
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See here:
http://store.explorescientific.com/doubletachromaticrefractortelescopes.aspx
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Regards,
Clay
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalms 19:1
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BillP
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 3928
Loc: Vienna, VA
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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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Bill Paolini
XT10i Dob---TSA-102 S-APO---APM80/480 S-APO--- P.S.T.
TMB Supermonos---Meade UWAs---TV Panoptic---AT Titan II ED
To your own eyes be true...
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DLB242
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/29/08
Posts: 545
Loc: Pen Argyl, PA
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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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David B
10" f/5 DOB
6" f/8 DOB
Celestron C8
Antares 1529 6" f/6.5 MoonLite Focuser
Orion ShortTube 130mm f/5 Reflector
Stellarvue SV102BV f/8.7 LOMO Doublet APO
Stellarvue SV90T f/7 Fluorite
Synta ShortTube 80
Stellarvue SV70ED
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joelimite
sage
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 234
Loc: Fayetteville, AR
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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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Orion XT8 Dob w/ Moonlite 2-speed Crayford focuser, Vixen A80MF w/ GSO 2-speed Crayford and Porta Mount
32mm Televue Plossl, 31mm Hyperion Aspheric, 24mm Meade SWA, 17,13,8mm Hyperions, 6,5,4mm TMB Planetary, 5mm Baader Genuine Ortho
Garrett Optical 20x80 UL Binoculars, Nikon Action Extreme 10x50 Binoculars
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galaxyman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/04/05
Posts: 1471
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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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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So many galaxies, so little time!
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Mike Holland
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 12/22/06
Posts: 877
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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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NP-101/FeatherTouch/Gibraltar/Naglers and Panoptics
_______________________________________________
Optiphile [OP-teh-FILE] -noun, one who appreciates or obsesses over fine optical equipment, generally telescopes, binoculars, binoviewers, or photographic lenses.
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galaxyman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/04/05
Posts: 1471
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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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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So many galaxies, so little time!
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Mike Holland
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 12/22/06
Posts: 877
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Thanks, Karl. I appreciate all of the info.
Mike
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NP-101/FeatherTouch/Gibraltar/Naglers and Panoptics
_______________________________________________
Optiphile [OP-teh-FILE] -noun, one who appreciates or obsesses over fine optical equipment, generally telescopes, binoculars, binoviewers, or photographic lenses.
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