Last week I took delivery of my new, "lifetime" telescope. I wanted a portable, high quality visual and imaging scope that would be a clear step up from what I'm used to. Enter the Stellarvue SVR102T.
I image with a Nikon D7000 that was modified by LifePixel for Ha, and already own their flattener/reducer made for this scope and all f/7 refractors. I chose the Stellarvue focuser instead of the Feathertouch upgrade. My DSLR is not too heavy, and I've heard great things about the Stellarvue unit. For visual, I enjoy planetary the most. Though at only 4" I've had enough experience to find this aperture as the sweet spot for me in terms of reach and portability, not to mention stability on my Losmandy GM-8 mount.
The delivery came, and multiple layers of boxes and foam shielded the scope in its standard padded case. The case itself is wonderful. Light, rigid, and cradles the scope with room to keep a few eyepieces in via a velcro divider. I keep my Nagler 6-3 Zoom, my recently acquired 10mm Delos, and upon measuring my yet-to-be-recieved 17mm Ethos (Very excited for that one!). The scope itself is beautiful; the sheen of carbon fiber against the seriously robust rings and beastly focuser make for an instrument that looks like it means business. We shall see under the stars.
Inside the case a pamphlet held the manual, warranty card, and interferometric report. There was also a sticker initialed for three levels of quality control and a fourth initial for a star test. Plus a hand-written ".969" was just under that. I figured that was the Strehl ration of the objective. Sure enough, the interferometric report states the Strehl as 0.969, PV 1/7.6 wave and RMS 1/35.6 wave. The data is flanked by an MTF, PSF, and Ronchi image. I myself am still learning these optical parameters aside from Strehl. All tests are done at 532 nm. They also list values for low-order astigmatism, spherical aberration, and coma. I don't have an idea of what quality the values represent, but I figured a good old star test would tell me what I need to know. Another interesting bit is that the objective has a separate serial number than the scope, and that the two are explicitly differentiated. Serial number for the objective is 0169, and the scope is 0308. I'm going into detail here because there are some questioning the transparency and honesty of SV, and whether their products are really "hand crafted telescopes." From what I see so far, even if these are Chinese objectives and assembled in America ("Assembled in America" is labeled on one of the boxes), it should make no difference in the quality. I was promised a top notch instrument, and initial impressions definitely agree with that.
The focuser is beautiful. I've never had a Feathertouch and I'm sure it would make the SV focuser look relatively sub-par, but for my needs this is overkill. The operation of coarse and fine focus are buttery smooth. The rotation is wonderful. Past scope's rotatable focuser was so bad the only way to keep the focuser square was never rotating it at all. Using a laser collimator and a cheshire, I confirmed the optics were perfectly collimated and the rotatable focuser was square in every position. Very precise piece of hardware. Even the knobs to tighten the compression rings, focuser lock and tension, finderscope, and retracting dew shield had a wonderful feel. Nothing is jiggling, loose, or stripped. It takes an appropriate amount of effort to turn anything.
The business end was flawless. A deep, beautiful purple and blue adorned the FPL-53 triplet glass, surrounded by etched optical info. Tonight, I got to put it to the test. The weather wasn't perfect; seeing was poor as dusk fell but improved as time passed. So far, here's the results:
Moon: I popped in the Delos and focused on the wonderful crescent Moon as Earthshine crept into view. Wow. The definition immediately set itself into the "ahh I made the right purchase" sigh of relief. Absolutely no color at 71x, and even with the seeing boiling the image somewhat, the features were so sharp and 3D-like I couldn't turn away. Finally I did, and swapped to a Nagler 6-3 Zoom. At 240x, the image was affected by seeing, but the definition was still very apparent. Tiny details in ridges and valleys slithered between cavities of darkness and illuminated on the other side by the peaks of ancient impacts. I've been doing this since I was 7, and I can honestly say it was the best view of the Moon I ever saw. I even went overboard and used a TeleVue 3x Barlow with e Nagler at 5mm, yielding 428x! Obviously the image was soft, but actually usable! And still not a trace of color.
M27: Back to the Delos I observed the Dumbbell. Stars, in all eyepieces, were beautiful jewels. There really is nothing like stars seen in a good refractor. I could make out the shape, and distinguish between two lobes. Mind you, I set up in my red/white zone backyard. I don't expect much from DSO's with 4" and an orange sky.
Double Cluster: Ditto on the jewels reference. What a sight- perfectly framed in the Delos, a nice dark background, and a myriad of tiny points of brilliance dancing in my window.
Star Test: I did as thorough a test I could do in the conditions, but this scope showed excellent even concentric rings and wonderful "snap to focus." The only astigmatism present was due to my eyes. A crammed awkward look through the Nagler with glasses revealed no astigmatism. I did not explicitly test for spherical aberration, but the snap to focus was so apparent I feel it should be negligible. With better conditions I will follow up on that.
I'm very much a happy camper right now. This scope has already given me the best views of the Moon ever. I'm patiently waiting for Jupiter and Mars to make their way back. In the mean time I can't wait to test out my camera and reducer and start imaging again. I'm sure the Stellarvue SVR102T is not Tak or AP, but it surely delivers incredible views I know will keep me busy for a while.
