115 replies to this topic

[skysurfer]

Well it seems nice, but I am reluctant about quality of AliExpress stuff....

 

I had another idea last year. I use this 65mm APO as a quickie scope. Much more than $99, but I already have it for (astro)photography. Attach an EP and diagonal and voilà ! Brilliant image quality and f/5.6 allows tack sharp to the edges.

 

 

[Astrojensen]

Well it seems nice, but I am reluctant about quality of AliExpress stuff....

A lot what is offered on Aliexpress is exactly the same as sold under names like Explore Scientific, GSO, Sky-Watcher, Bresser, Meade, Celestron, etc... Just under other brand names or directly from the manufacturer. 

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

[premk19]

Where did you read that this Aliexpress/Laida scope used M42 threads for anything other than the connection at the end of the 1.25" eyepiece holder? On the Laida scope it does NOT appear that the optical tube itself, the lens cell, or the Crayford focuser connect to each other using M42 threads.

Furthermore, it isn't that unusual for small scopes and lenses to terminate with M42 threads (I have several that do). In fact, my SVBony 30mm f/4 finder has M42 threads on both ends (at the eyepiece connector and for the lens cell itself). Also, the Feather Touch 1.25" Crayford focuser that is on my Lunt LS50 solar scope terminates with an M42 thread (as well as accepting 1.25" eyepieces). And, for that matter, you can already get a Borg that uses M42 on the camera or eyepiece end of scope. But, admittedly my Feather Touch and any Borg scope is going to be more expensive that this Laida finder from Aliexpress and I do look forward to seeing how users rate the quality of its focuser.

The threads on the tube sections and the focuser (ota side) are standard M48 threads. Got mine delivered today.

[premk19]

Waiting for first light:

 

[premk19]

Focuser drawtube travel is about 35mm, and with my diagonal & eyepiece I was able to get focus at ~17mm so roughly half way. Not an experienced visual observer, but CA on the moon was obvious in the edges (as expected).

 

Build quality is acceptable to good, overall. Noticed some paint flaking off the threads when removing the tube section, but overall it has a nice matte finish. The crayford focuser is smooth, though single speed. Four screws at the bottom holding the drawtube in place can be adjusted for tension. I'm sure it can take much more load that what I had.

Edited by premk19, 27 March 2021 - 01:59 AM.

[james7ca]

premk19, those tube rings and dovetail look completely different than what is shown on the website. In fact, it looks like the name "Askar" is printed on the rings.

 

If you replaced the rings and dovetail can you tell us how the originals of those actually fit or worked? Mostly, did the dovetail fit a standard Vixen/Synta finder shoe?

 

Also, the description on the website says "snap-fit hoop" [hood?]. So, does that mean that some part of the construction is plastic?

Edited by james7ca, 27 March 2021 - 12:37 PM.

[premk19]

premk19, those tube rings and dovetail look completely different than what is shown on the website. In fact, it looks like the name "Askar" is printed on the rings.

 

If you replaced the rings and dovetail can you tell us how the originals of those actually fit or worked? Mostly, did the dovetail fit a standard Vixen/Synta finder shoe?

 

Also, the description on the website says "snap-fit hoop" [hood?]. So, does that mean that some part of the construction is plastic?

Good observation. Yes, the guide rings are from Askar, made for their FMA 180 scope.

 

The stock rings fit the OTA perfectly. Solid option for using this as a guide/imaging scope. The dovetail is standard vixen style, with 6x M6 holes. I just couldn't find a way yet to get it on my ball head mount, so used the Askar guide rings instead. There's enough room for adjusting alignment for use as finder scope (with the Askar rings).

 

Not sure what the 'snap-fit hoop' is, most likely the plastic front lens cap (55mm diameter). It is indeed snap fit like standard camera lens caps, and not threaded.

 

 

 

Edited by premk19, 27 March 2021 - 01:40 PM.

[Bowlerhat]

This would be great! never seen a crayford on guidescope like that. I wonder if the lens from WO 50mm f/4 finder would be better as replacement since it's multicoated. 

[guidoforrier]

I'd like to know how the focuser works, since I've had inexpensive Crayfords that had so much image shift when focusing that they were almost unusable except at the lowest possible magnifications. Beyond that it would be nice if this scope had:

 

a.) Decent image quality (but I wouldn't really expect pin-point stars from a typical f/4 achromat).

b.) A rigid, well-fitting set of rings.

c.) A good fit to the typical Synta/Vixen finder shoe.

i have  this scope and took shots of the moon with an T7 (astro camera , clone of ZWO ) . this is only 1,2 mb but the moon did  not show any colour fringing  = looks very good . I ordered a adapter to E Mount (Sony) an i will use this scope for Nebula . the main use will be for auto guiding but maybe also as a broad field scope .The focuser works but there is no 1:10 fine focusing . The T7 is a tiny and light weight camera , so I have to see if the focuser can handle my Sony A7RII ( or my camera can handle the scope!) .

[N-1]

Has this been de-bayered? There does appear to be a fringe around the limb...

[premk19]

Has this been de-bayered? There does appear to be a fringe around the limb...

+1. I see the 'screen door' effect so likely not debayered.

[james7ca]

Well, I finally decided to purchase one of these Laida Optics Store 50mm, f/4 scopes (LD2048A) from AliExpress. The price was just $145 (not including taxes, but with free shipping on a slow boat, expected delivery May 22). Can't really see much reason to NOT buy this scope at the given price. I was able to use PayPal which eliminated my concern about having to enter my credit card number directly to Laida/AliExpress. They have a money back guarantee (if desired) if the scope isn't shipped within six days so it will be interesting to see if it shows up before the end of May.

 

The fact that the focuser apparently uses an M48 thread for attachment was kind of the last factor in my decision. That should mean that I can use the focuser on anything that can attach via M48, like my C6 for which I have an SCT to M48 adatper. Only a 1X focuser, but you couldn't expect anything else for the price. Plus, if it does use M48 threads that will mean that I can use my own extension tubes between the optical tube and the focuser (to tune the backfocus from the focuser's ending M42 threads).

 

As it is, and with the rings that secure via M6 screws I should be able to attach a Vixen dovetail which I'd prefer over a standard finder shoe.

 

I'm going to try it as a small guide scope, but it should also work well as a finder when used with my illuminated crosshair eyepiece (which can't reach focus with any of my existing finder scopes).

Edited by james7ca, 18 April 2021 - 11:30 PM.

[teashea]

There's a nifty little 50/200mm (50mm f/4) mini-refractor on Aliexpress. It has a 1.25"/T2 crayford (!) with a load capacity of 2kg/4.4lbs (!!) and can be configured to use a 1.25" or T2 diagonal!!! The price is quite reasonable and the quality looks decent, especially for a finderscope. 

 

https://www.aliexpre...ou_1213512498.0

 

I wonder when/if we'll see it under brand names like TS, Altair or Stellarvue?

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

very cool.  AE has some interesting things.  

[teashea]

Well it seems nice, but I am reluctant about quality of AliExpress stuff....

 

I had another idea last year. I use this 65mm APO as a quickie scope. Much more than $99, but I already have it for (astro)photography. Attach an EP and diagonal and voilà ! Brilliant image quality and f/5.6 allows tack sharp to the edges.

 

 

Canon L - can't beat that 

[james7ca]

maanT7_stacked.jpg

i have  this scope and took shots of the moon with an T7 (astro camera , clone of ZWO ) . this is only 1,2 mb but the moon did  not show any colour fringing  = looks very good . I ordered a adapter to E Mount (Sony) an i will use this scope for Nebula . the main use will be for auto guiding but maybe also as a broad field scope .The focuser works but there is no 1:10 fine focusing . The T7 is a tiny and light weight camera , so I have to see if the focuser can handle my Sony A7RII ( or my camera can handle the scope!) .

Yes, that image does look a bit odd, either not debayered or perhaps debayered with the wrong pattern. I guess it could also be from a really bad rescaling from the original resolution (is it a screen shot?).

 

That said, for a 200mm focal length the detail on the moon looks pretty good (and from a one-shot-color camera that apparently has 3.75um pixels).

[Simon B]

I opted for the version with a 1.25" dielectric diag, good value for only +$25 more

 

I have some plans for different objective lenses I can use with this - Borg may have some competition now   Hopefully Laida and others will catch on and create more M48 compatible lenses and other parts

[guidoforrier]

Yes, that image does look a bit odd, either not debayered or perhaps debayered with the wrong pattern. I guess it could also be from a really bad rescaling from the original resolution (is it a screen shot?).

 

That said, for a 200mm focal length the detail on the moon looks pretty good (and from a one-shot-color camera that apparently has 3.75um pixels).

debayered with SIRIL but maybe with wrong pattern . is use the T7 (CMOS chips: Aptina AR0130CS pixels 1280*960) camera for guiding and not for imaging , so I have no experience with imaging . when the adapter to e-mount arrives I will use this scope for imaging . at a first glance I see no CA .

Guido

[Bowlerhat]

Is this thing available on somewhere else other than ali?

I wonder if you can even pair it with ZWO 304. 30mm, same f ratio.

[james7ca]

I had my Laida Optics Store 50mm scope delivered today (ordered 18 days ago). So, it took less time than estimated to come from China. I was a bit concerned when I learned that Pitney Bowes was handling the final delivery (I've never seen so many bad reports on a company as with Pitney Bowes shipping fulfillment), but it cleared customs last Friday and it "only" took 6 days (5 days with Pitney Bowes and one day with the USPS) for the final ground delivery. Although, I live only about 100 miles from where it first entered the country, package was flown into L.A.

 

I'm going to do a full review on the scope, but my initial impressions are somewhat favorable (a few issues, but nothing really that bad). I can confirm that the Crayford focuser attaches via a well-fitting M48 thread (but, that's not the entire story in terms of the threading, more to come).

 

The below image is near to life size (tube diameter is about 52mm/2in).

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Edited by james7ca, 07 May 2021 - 07:28 AM.

[Bowlerhat]

Is the focuser detachable from the tube? what's the connection?

[james7ca]

Is the focuser detachable from the tube? what's the connection?

As I said in my previous post, "I can confirm that the Crayford focuser attaches via a well-fitting M48 thread."

 

And, noted here:  https://www.cloudyni...2#entry10988591

 

That said, it's somewhat disappointing that the threads on the lens cell are female M52 (seems to fit well to some 52mm filter thread rings that I have). What this means is that you can't simply put an M48 extension tube between the lens cell and the focuser, but the focuser has male M48 x 0.75 threads that seem to fit well to my M48 extension tubes and adapters.

 

The scope itself comes with two tubes, one is about 75mm long and has M48 on both ends (male/female), the other is about 50mm long and has M48 on one end and M52 on the other (female M48 and male M52). Thus, the latter tube must always be used to attach the lens cell to the focuser, but the focuser can attach to any female M48. The longer tube (M48 on both ends) can be used as an extension to the shorter tube if you don't need a lot of backfocus (like when using a camera or when NOT using a mirror diagonal for eyepieces).

 

Thus, the optical tube can be configured in two ways:

 

<Crayford focuser, male M48> < short, 50mm tube > < lens cell and objective, female M52>

 

<Crayford focuser, male M48 > < long, 75mm tube > < short, 50mm tube > < lens cell and objective, female M52 >

 

The picture that I posted above is just using the short, 50mm tube (as it would be for attaching a 90 degree mirror diagonal with an eyepiece, as shown __HERE__ ).

 

However, M48 is a loose standard and not all "M48" or two inch filter threads are interchangeable. You can read about this issue here:

 

  https://www.cloudyni...5/#entry7172313

 

[EDIT]

I had the wrong male/female designations for the focuser and the short tube, the focuser has a male M48 thread and mates with a female M48 tube. I've corrected the above text.

[/EDIT]

Edited by james7ca, 08 May 2021 - 09:55 AM.

[Bowlerhat]

I see, I missed that post. This breakdown is useful. 

[james7ca]

I was able to split the double star Porrima using about 80X via a 2.5mm Tele Vue Nagler type 6 eyepiece. It was easy, more than a figure eight but I don't think I would claim clear dark space between the two stars. Porrima is currently at a separation of 3.1 arc seconds and Dawes' Limit for a 50mm aperture is 2.32 arc seconds. For this and the following tests I was using a Stellarvue 1.25" dielectric coated, 90 degree, mirror diagonal.This requires the removal of the long, 75mm extension tube that I discussed in my previous post.

 

It will be interesting to see what Lyra's double-double star will look like with this scope, being that the widest pair of those stars is current separated by 2.3 arc seconds. For that I'll probably need to use a barlow, since I have a 2.5X barlow that can be paired with a 4.5mm Tele Vue Delos eyepiece (giving a magnification of about 111X).

 

I looked at Castor (separation 5.4 arc seconds), if was easily and cleanly split with two separate Airy disks surrounded by some wavering diffraction rings.

 

The scope does show a little color on the very brightest stars, but I don't think it really detracts from the view. However, there seems to be a very slight warm coloring on bright stars, so they look very slightly yellow rather than white. That said, I never had completely dark skies and the marine layer clouds arrived before the start of astronomical dusk. I was able to find the globular cluster M3 (again before full darkness) using 80X with the Tele Vue Nagler (M3 imaged __HERE__ from a few weeks ago). Not much to see -- visually -- on M3, just a faint, hazy glow surrounded by some dim field stars.

 

I also tried to look at the star cluster M44, the Beehive, which I photographed using a 24mm Nikkor lens a few days ago ( __HERE__ ). Unfortunately, the marine layer had arrived before I got to that target and the only thing I could see through the clouds were the four keystone stars. In this case I was using a 24mm Tele Vue Panoptic eyepiece giving a magnification of 8X and a field of view just over 8 degrees wide. That field allowed me to frame both Castor and Pollux in one view, since those two stars are separated by about 4.5 degrees. At that wide of a field and with the stars equally spaced to both sides of the view there was a bit of a flare on both stars (neither was really a point of light, but not really that bad, and I don't know how much of this distortion was from the scope, or the eyepiece, or from my own eyes).

 

Overall the optical quality looks pretty good (for an f/4 achromat), easily good enough for a finder or guider. The focuser also worked well, but given that it is a 1X mechanism you have to have a pretty light touch when focusing at high magnifications.

 

Shown below, the Laida Optics 50mm scope on a Celestron AVX mount pointing toward the star Sirius (yes, it was still light outside as I started as early as possible because of the threatening marine layer clouds). In this case I was using a Baader 24mm, illuminated reticle eyepiece with a correct image, 45 degree prism diagonal.

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Edited by james7ca, 08 May 2021 - 02:52 AM.

[james7ca]

I should probably note the following for anyone who may be thinking about buying this scope.

 

[IMPORTANT]
The shaft on the Crayford focuser that rides against the metal draw tube is made of hard, stiff plastic (see attached photo). As previously noted, the tension for the focuser can be adjusted by four small allen/hex head screws that hold a metal plate that presses against a plastic half bushing that then contacts the plastic shaft which then turns against the flattened part of the aluminum draw tube. Whether or not this kind of design will hold up over a long period of use is unknown. It could be a good design or something that will fail after some use. If the shaft is made of really hard plastic like Delrin then it may be more than just okay (like in pretty great), but I kind of doubt that the shaft and bushing are made from that material (more likely a cheaper and easier to obtain alternative).

 

Thus far I've only had a little over two days of use and after the initial tension adjustment the focuser still seems fine. It's consistently smooth and well-tensioned over its full range of travel and it easily handles the loads I've used and it's tight enough that you can pull and push on the end of the scope and the focus does not slip. Plus, there is absolutely no wiggle or detectable sag when the focus draw tube is fully extended. I guess only time will tell (but, it's probably fair to note that even my expensive Astro-Physics Mach1GTO mount uses one plastic gear, in this case almost certainly made of Delrin).

 

So, given the scope's low price and the quality of the other components (which seem quite good) I still consider this to be a good buy.
[/IMPORTANT]

 

Lastly, I had made a mistake on how I described the male and female threads on the scope in post #46, I've now corrected that error.

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by james7ca, 08 May 2021 - 09:54 AM.

[ihf]

What is the weight of the scope with diagonal? Ali states 120g, but that can't be right.