33 replies to this topic

[ronruiz44]

Has anyone had any experience with one of the new Antares long focal length 105mm scopes? They look interesting! Kind of reminds me a little of my first Unitron I had in another life!
Ron

[Bonco]

If you dig deep enough in this forum I reviewed the scope and several others contributed to the thread. The f/15 is a wonderful bargain. Performs beautifully. One owner also has a Unitron and he ranks the Antares ahead of it optically. The scope has exceeded my expectations.
Bonco

[ronruiz44]

Thanks Bonco!
Looks like everyone nowadays is into the short focal length
phase - nothing wrong with that but being a visual observer primarily - I like the long focal lengths we used to have! I did a search on this forum for the topic and got "zero" returns!

Ron

[Herchel]

The Antares 4inch F15 rocks ,, I just bought one a few weeks ago and have been VERY happy with the Vixen spec optics /tac sharp/, and it's way cool looking too as well as a super bargin ,

[firestar]

You guys just like laying on the ground observing cause your too cheap to buy an observing chair!
lol.


I love the whole antares lineup.
You guys have any photos of the monster mounted?

[ngc2289]

What did you mount your scope on?

[Herchel]

naw no laying on the ground cause I would fall , I have a 58 inch peddestal with a Skywatcher HEQ5 , it does need a heavier one like the HEQ6 or a losmandy set up but I could only afford the HEQ5 ,

[Talstarone]

Welcome to Cloudy Nights Ronruiz44.

I am a Big Fan of Long Focal Length Refractors for Lunar and Planetary Use. I would love to have the Antares Elite 105mm F/13 refractor,if I have a mount that can hold the long scope extremely sturdily.

Even though it may lack some aperature it would still be a great instrument for picking out detail on the Moon as well as the banding and moons of the Gas Giants.

I would like a 90 to 110mm APO refractor for a Grab and Go set-up but long tubes found on refractors, are a great choice for an observatory scope.

[Herchel]

A drawing by A.L.P.O Observer Owen C.Ranck in the year 1955 shows a fair bit detail on plant Uranus with a 4inch refractor at 240x

[Herchel]

I love the whole antares lineup.
You guys have any photos of the monster mounted?

<--- sorry I missed the photo bit// yuppers here is some links to the scope http://www.flickr.co...23803852&size=l http://www.flickr.co...48408477&size=l http://www.flickr.co...28453593&size=l

[Bonco]

Here's my f/15 mounted on a Unitron equitorial mount that's intended for a 3 inch scope.
Bonco

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[ronruiz44]

Herchel:
Is that the focuser (in your pics) that came with your 4" f/15?
Ron

[ronruiz44]

Bonco:
That baby looks pretty good on that Unitron mount!
Ron

[ronruiz44]

Talstarone:
Thanks for the welcome! I've been poking around on Cloudy Nights for a year or so! I'm also on Astromart! I'm back into astronomy after a 35 year hiatus! I've got a bunch of binocs but I'm trying to decide on a couple of refractors. A 4" or larger for planetary etc. and an 80mm or 90mm for a grab and go! Compared to the 1960s and 70s there are gobs of choices now. Of course you can also spend a small fortune if you are not carefull. Anyway, I'm looking and I appreciate all the help and advice I can get. Thanks!
Ron

[Herchel]

Herchel:
Is that the focuser (in your pics) that came with your 4" f/15?
Ron

yes I ordered it with a crayford focuser and it comes with a micro aduster too which helps when using a 4mm and a 2.5mm eyepiece. the micro focuser comes into it's own when doing the crazy 2.5mm with a 2x Barlow on VERY steady nights

[SkyscraperJim]

[/quote] yes I ordered it with a crayford focuser and it comes with a micro aduster too which helps when using a 4mm and a 2.5mm eyepiece. the micro focuser comes into it's own when doing the crazy 2.5mm with a 2x Barlow on VERY steady nights [/quote]

That's 1200x (300x per inch)! And people give me a hard time when I want to go over 400x, even in a 12-inch.

[Herchel]

Gamma Andromeda looked a little soft at that power but the primary was a sweet golden ball with some rings but the wierd thing was the secondary was not round it looked like a little elongated blueish bar ??

[Glassthrower]

I'd go for the f/15 and get better color correction. The f/13 and the f/15 both have relatively narrow fields (compared to the popular short focus scopes), so why not go for the best correction?

Regards and clear skies,

MikeG

[rogerry]

I saw a Vixen 4" f/15 (proto type) at a star party I attended over the weekend. The views were awsome but the thing really jiggled when I tried to focus it, so much so that I had a difficult time getting a sharp focus. I am wondering if an f/13 might be a little steadier? Would it be giving up a lot in terms of color correction? The f/13 and the f/15 are both listed as ultra low dispersion. I have a TV Gibraltar and I was thinking about using a WO EZ Touch on the Gibraltar tripod (maybe a small pier extension also).

[ronruiz44]

Did you get the PM I sent?

[ronruiz44]

Antares also has an "ultra low dispersion" 105mm 1000mm f/10 and a 90mm 1000mm f/11 to go with the 1500mm f/15 and 1300mm f/13. I believe they call all of these "Vixen Spec."
Oh the choices!!!!!!

[rogerry]

Somone on these forums mentioned that sticking with a f- ratio of at least 3 times the diameter in inches would give decent color correction. This would make the f/13 and f/15 most desireable (not perfect). I have an 80mm f/11 which gives me good color correction. I really have to look hard to see any CA. If one is willing to give up wide field views it seems like the Antares 4" f/13 or f/15 would be pretty darn good for visual. It makes me wonder if it would be worth it to spend the extra money for a doublet. By the time one adds rings and plate to a 100ED it is about double what the Antares would cost. Plus the f/15 I saw at the star party just looked so cool, it drew me over like a magnet!

[Herchel]

[quote name="SkyscraperJim"]
[/quote] yes I ordered it with a crayford focuser and it comes with a micro aduster too which helps when using a 4mm and a 2.5mm eyepiece. the micro focuser comes into it's own when doing the crazy 2.5mm with a 2x Barlow on VERY steady nights [/quote]

That's 1200x (300x per inch)! And people give me a hard time when I want to go over 400x, even in a 12-inch. [/quote] you can go ALOT higher than 400x with a 12er on a steady night ,, let me know how high you went.

[SkyscraperJim]

I saw a Vixen 4" f/15 (proto type) at a star party I attended over the weekend. The views were awsome but the thing really jiggled when I tried to focus it, so much so that I had a difficult time getting a sharp focus. I am wondering if an f/13 might be a little steadier? Would it be giving up a lot in terms of color correction? The f/13 and the f/15 are both listed as ultra low dispersion. I have a TV Gibraltar and I was thinking about using a WO EZ Touch on the Gibraltar tripod (maybe a small pier extension also).

For these long scopes I would opt for a good, solid GEM with a pier instead of a tripod. With such a long focal length you're going to want tracking.

[jrbarnett]

Late to the party as usual.

I have one of the Antares Elite "Vixen Spec" refractors; the 105/1500 to be precise. I don't call it an f/15 because as best I can tell the clear diameter of the objective is closer to 102-103mm, which makes it something shy of f/15. My unit has the dual speed Crayford option (made by GSO by appearances).

I have the notes for a comparative write up evaluating this scope against the Orion (Synta) 100ED, but I never seem to have the time to create the finished product. Drawing on that research I would say that the Antares, like any affordable refractor, has its flaws and that it is up to the observer to decide whether those flaws are material based on intended use.

The high points for this refractor include excellent optical figure with nice concentric, very smooth rings in the star test, great depth of focus making achieving critical focus a piece of cake, a proper length dew shade, nice dark backgrounds yielding good contrast and a classic look that is hard to beat with a stubby tubed APO.

The low points include tricky focuser friction adjustment (teeter-totter 2-screw design), some obvious chromatic aberration at high magnification on bright targets, and extreme length (though modest weight) making stable mounting, easy transport and comfortable viewing position all somewhat challenging.

For me, the pros outweigh the cons, and several of the cons are readily addressable. For extreme length issues, I did the following: acquired a 48" Antares Pier for the CG-5 GOTO head, use VSPs on the pier feet, acquired a long Vixen-style dovetail bar, acquired a Cat's Perch Pro observing chair, acquired a Subaru Forester for astro-gear transport. For the finicky focuser issue, I simply messed with it until found a setting that gave me ample friction, but smooth focusing; it took some time. For the chromatic aberration, I ignore it on bright targets (say anything over 150x on Vega or Jupiter) and don't see it on dimmer targets like DSOs and 2nd magnitude and dimmer multiple stars.

Last March I completed a partial Messier Marathon with this scope bagging 80 or so objects before calling it a night. The superior contrast was a huge help in detecting the Messier galaxies and the Owl under magnitude 5-ish semi-suburban skies.

For me, she's a keeper. Here's a shot showing the scope set-up for an evening of double star observing:



Regards,

Jim