11 replies to this topic

[Jeff B]

Actually sample 3 of the objective if you count my Celestron 100ED sample.

 

This sample was lent to me by a local friend.  He's the first and only owner of it, purchased from Orion in ~2007 or 2008 and was his workhorse scope for 10 years. 

 

The OTA and glass looked brand new really.  Speaking of the glass, I did see one immediate difference between this scope's objective and my other two samples.  The lens element spacer system is a ring, instead of the three plastic tabs of my two samples.   

 

The focuser action was smooth however, the laser fired down the tube towards a mask over the objective was off center by ~1/4 ", or roughly .4 degrees.  I consider that a lot and used the attachment screws on the focuser casting to align it to within 1/16th inch.  Examination of the reflection dots off of the element's rear surfaces are now aligned on top of each other forming a single dot via my Cheshire "eyepiece".

 

So here are the DPAC results for this sample.

 

First, my usual inside and outside of focus color montages made with a white LED and then separating out the blue, green, yellow, and red lights with software filtering of the white light "master image".  

 

As you can see, except for that slight turned edge, this sample is an excellent performer with an essentially neutral spherical correction in green with well controlled spherochromatism (the ronchi lines curving in opposite directions in the blue and red).  The focus points for the individual colors are really close to each other.  In the white light master image, you see only slight red & green fringing around the outer lines, further proof of the excellent color correction.

 

The at focus image in green had its contrast hyped a bit to bring out detail and shows a mild center zone (which you can catch out with the above images as subtle disturbances in the ronchi lines) and a smooth polish.  

 

A very nice lens which the owner, Joe, says is really close to his 100mm Tak doublet in image quality with the Tak pulling slightly ahead at higher powers (over 150x), seeing permitting.

 

Jeff

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Edited by Jeff B, 17 October 2022 - 12:01 PM.

[Jeff B]

But that narrow turned edge bugged me.  So I masked the lens to ~96mm by applying a thin ring of sticky backed felt to the ID of the front lens retaining ring and moving the first tube baffle forward a little.

 

And it worked very well indeed, completely eliminating that "bug" with only a 4% hit in aperture and 8% hit in light grasp. 

 

Here are before and after shots, taken inside of focus.

 

Jeff 

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[Jeff B]

So here's a comparison of the three samples I've tested.  They are taken inside of focus, with Joe's sample stopped to 96mm.

 

I've also included at focus green images.

 

I'm not sure what time spans these samples represent but they are remarkably similar, right down to the mild center zone and smooth polish.

 

I did not have the time to do a complete star test for coma or astigmatism on Joe's sample, but, in DPAC at least, I saw no overt signs of either.

 

Joe is going to, at some time, make some more direct comparisons between his Tak 100 doublet and his modified Orion 100ED.  Joe, if you're looking in, please post your findings here.....and bring over your Tak too 

 

Jeff

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Edited by Jeff B, 17 October 2022 - 12:28 PM.

[peleuba]

Actually sample 3 of the objective if you count my Celestron 100ED sample.

 

Another excellent Synta ED.  Upgrade the tube and focuser and it gives the FS102 and the TeleVue 102 a real contest.

 

The couple I've had apart all had the ring spacer.  Its a similar spacer to the Orion 120mm F/5 Achromats that we've tested.

Edited by peleuba, 17 October 2022 - 02:21 PM.

[Wildetelescope]

Quite a few folks whose opinions I respect have always said that the Synta 80 and 100 mm EDs generally had excellent optics.  Your results do not come as a surprise to me.  

 

JMD

[HARRISON SCOPES]

I have to say they are excellent I have an older 100ed with the three black spacers and it is a fantastic optic. I have had it next to my FC100DZ and unless the seeing is near perfect I cannot separate them.

[25585]

Another excellent Synta ED.  Upgrade the tube and focuser and it gives the FS102 and the TeleVue 102 a real contest.

 

The couple I've had apart all had the ring spacer.  Its a similar spacer to the Orion 120mm F/5 Achromats that we've tested.

My 100 Equinox is a great scope, perhaps helped by being F9.

[John Huntley]

I had one of the very early ED100's in the UK. It had the blue and black colour scheme which was quite quickly changed to gold and cream by Skywatcher and the range designated the "Pro" tag.

 

Mine was an excellent scope as well and was the 1st non-achromat refractor that I owned.  

 

Edited by John Huntley, 19 October 2022 - 02:48 PM.

[Eddgie]

I have owned both the Vixen and Orion versions and each had excellent optics. 

 

You could spend 5 times the money on a 4" class refractor and not see anything that you can't see in these telescopes. 

[Jeff B]

These breed of scopes is why I no longer recommend a 4" F10 to F12 achromat (except F15) unless it's for a young kid just starting (who will be thrilled with just about anything) and/or the buyer wants to keep costs as low as possible.  The most I paid for one of my Orion samples was $450 USD, but it included a nice 2" diagonal and soft case.  I see the SW branded samples go for anywhere from ~$550 to $700+ and typically include the case , diagonal and the usual suspect stock accessories.  Still excellent deals IMO and I'd love to test a sample of that SW kit.

 

Jeff

[Wildetelescope]

These breed of scopes is why I no longer recommend a 4" F10 to F12 achromat (except F15) unless it's for a young kid just starting (who will be thrilled with just about anything) and/or the buyer wants to keep costs as low as possible.  The most I paid for one of my Orion samples was $450 USD, but it included a nice 2" diagonal and soft case.  I see the SW branded samples go for anywhere from ~$550 to $700+ and typically include the case , diagonal and the usual suspect stock accessories.  Still excellent deals IMO and I'd love to test a sample of that SW kit.

 

Jeff

 

It has been interesting to watch the evolution of the hobby over the last 20 years, which is when I started making enough money to actually buy a real telescope.  I took my first trip to Company 7 here in MD to check out the scopes.  At that time Orion had JUST started selling these 80 mm and 100mm scopes and I remember clearly Marty going on and on about how amazing the quality of the optics were relative to the price.  Ultimately I was dazzled with the 10 inch intelliscope, which were also brand new, and ended up going with that.  I remember clearly seeing these little Orion's displayed by the door, next to the AP and Televue scopes:-) 

 

Synta DEFINITELY shifted a paradigm with the introduction of these scopes, where you could arguably get 90% of the performance(or higher) for half the cost of the competition.  The TV102 I own now(bought used) was a wopping 2000 dollars or so at the time, and I remember wondering how anyone in the world could possibly justify spending THAT much money on a telescope.(Yes I recognize the irony that is present in my current signature:-)   But the Orion refractors gave me some hope that I could one day afford something similar.  They brought high quality refractors with excellent color correction with which you could image or use visually to the average person.  The hobby has certainly grown and flourished as a result of their introduction.

 

JMD

[Illinois]

I have Orion 100ED f9 for about 10 years now and I love it. Sharp pinpoint stars , Mara look good at around 200 power and easy double-double stars in Lyra at around 100 power.  I keep my Orion 100ED f9 for life! 

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