16 replies to this topic

[clusterbuster]

I got a Sky Rover 102mm f/11 Refractor last Saturday.

It has a Dual Speed Focuser.

The Views through this Refractor are just Beautiful.

It is actually longer than my 6" Yard Cannon.

If any of you are or (have been) observing with a Refractor of these specs, please chime in !

Thx Mark

 

This Scope could be producing the BEST Star Points that I have ever seen !

Tomorrow night I am taking it to the Dark Sky Site, where I am sure it will be outstanding !

 

The White one on the right !

Edited by clusterbuster, 14 February 2020 - 10:33 AM.

[clusterbuster]

The Sky Rover just sits on the Twilight Mount when not in use.

I put it on the Meade LX70 when I observe with it !

 Mark

[Xeroid]

Mount it on a Stellarvue M2C ALT-AZ mount with Astro Devices Nexus II and encoders and you will go ga-ga

[helpwanted]

I think that might be the same specs as something Gary Hand sold a few years back, don't remember the brand he carried... someone else might remember it

[MalVeauX]

The Sky Rover just sits on the Twilight Mount when not in use.

I was going to ask about that... I am interested in a long 4" frac for planets, but I was weary that a Twilight I would even handle it, as my Twilight I cannot handle a 120 F8, so I would think a 102mm F11 would also be too much scope for that mount. But, I don't have it to try. Have you tried it? Undermounted on that?

 

Very best,

[k5apl]

Let us know about it after your dark site visit.  I think you will continue to be impressed.

 

I have a 102mm f13 refractor from the past, and it is surprisingly good too.  Many accomplished observers have looked through it and were impressed too.  The general comment was "I didn't think long FL refractors would be this good".

 

I use mine on a Celestron CG5 ASGT mount.  Its a fun scope.

Wes

[Defenderslideguitar]

I have the twilight  and it is fine for my 80mm scopes   all night long. With a 4 inch refractor it vibrates  so I use the LX70  or other mounts for the 4 inchers

[Astrojensen]

I got a Sky Rover 102mm f/11 Refractor last Saturday.

It has a Dual Speed Focuser.

The Views through this Refractor are just Beautiful.

It is actually longer than my 6" Yard Cannon.

If any of you are or (have been) observing with a Refractor of these specs, please chime in !

Thx Mark

 

This Scope could be producing the BEST Star Points that I have ever seen !

Tomorrow night I am taking it to the Dark Sky Site, where I am sure it will be outstanding !

85156660_3022996557733993_3587861846234759168_o.jpg

 

The White one on the right !

I have the ED version of your scope and it's absolutely stunning! Essentially perfect color correction, with superb sharpness, contrast and clarity. It cools down pretty quickly, if the temperature delta is not too large. It's lightweight and very pleasant to handle. I temporarily had it mounted on my Vixen Saturn mount, but that mount now holds my 152mm ED, so the 4" is now back on the Zeiss 1b mount, which is a very pleasing combination. Quite stable, but not too heavy and cumbersome.

 

(Picture is from last year, just after I received the scope; I've since modified it a little) 

 

 

 

Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark

[m9x18]

Such beautiful long-focus refractors! I'm sure the lunar, planetary and double star views are breathtaking!  

[Astrojensen]

Such beautiful long-focus refractors! I'm sure the lunar, planetary and double star views are breathtaking!  

I can assure you, that they are. Mine gives very sharp views of bright double stars at 716x, if the seeing allows it. I obviously don't use anywhere near that magnification on planets and the Moon, of course, preferring instead to use a binoviewer and relatively modest magnifications. 80x - 150x is usually best, about 1.5x - 2x that figure, if I use a single eyepiece (rarely). 

 

Deep-sky is of course all over the place, but a 9mm ES100 (125x) is quite superb on globular clusters and a 17mm ES92 (66x) is insanely good on almost everything. It shows far more details in the Messier objects than you'd expect. I can see the arms in M51, for example (from a dark sky site!).  

 

 

Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark

[bobalex]

Gary Hand sold a 4" F-11 refractor nicknamed "The Planet Killer". I believe the optics were made in England.. I bought one about 10 years ago and it gives fantastic views in lunar, planetary and double star observations.

Bob

[m9x18]

I bought two telescopes from Gary Hand. Such a fun and interesting person to talk to. Very knowledgeable too. I always learned something new from him every time we spoke. I'm glad you still have that scope. There is much to be said and had from these long-tubed instruments. 

[BFaucett]

I think that might be the same specs as something Gary Hand sold a few years back, don't remember the brand he carried... someone else might remember it

 

I think the one Gary Hand sold was branded as Astro Telescopes, IIRC. 

 

Astro Telescopes 102mm f/11 - first light report

Started by bobfowler, Sep 14 2009 08:41 AM 

https://www.cloudyni...t-light-report/

 

 

I have the version that was sold by Stellarvue.  I believe this was the last model of achromat that Stellarvue offered for sale. 

 

My scope:

 

 

FL 1100 mm, 2" single speed Crayford 

 

Cheers!  Bob F.  

Edited by BFaucett, 14 February 2020 - 10:29 PM.

[Bean614]

Gary's 'brand' was Astro Telescopes.   I actually owned the one that was used in that Planet Killer  Review, but sold it when we moved out to Western Massachusetts.  Even when near Boston,  the views were incredible.  Not sure, but I always thought that Kunming had a hand in it.

[JHub]

The Astro Telescopes 102 F/11 sold by Hands on Optics was indeed manufactured by Kunming United Optics, as was the 152 F/5.9. 

 

Kunming has made some very nice equipment.

 

John

[GlenM]

Yes, all the rebranded 4" F/11's were made by Kunming Optics. I used to sell them myself under the Lyra Optic label before retiring. Great scope.

 

Glen.

[Don Taylor]

The Astro Telescopes 102 F/11 sold by Hands on Optics was indeed manufactured by Kunming United Optics, as was the 152 F/5.9. 

 

Kunming has made some very nice equipment.

 

John

 

Yes, this is correct.  (I understand "Sky-Rover" is owned by or somehow closely associated with Kunming United. This has been mentioned in other CN threads IIRC).

 

I actually have the Astrotelescopes 102mm f11 achromat, the Altair Starwave 102 f11 ED scope,  and the 152 f5.9 scope - all 3 from Kunming. I've been very impressed with each of them.

 

As to mounts, I use the 102mm f11 scopes on CG-5 class equatorial mounts as I prefer tracking. I do have a Canadian Telescopes "Duo-T" alt-az mount  (also known as a "Sky-Tee" ) and the 152mm is used on that mount. I did try the 102mm achromat on the Porta II+HAL130 and it was very shaky.