604 replies to this topic

[Mark9473]

Mike from Astronomics has said that they didn't sell untill the price was lowered to a point where it wasn't economical for them to stock it.

[wrvond]

Personally, I had no interest in a 3" class scope. I'd bought an AT72ED before the AT72ED II came out and didn't really care for it so sold it on rather quickly. When I purchased a Daystar Quark I was unable to get it to work with my SW120ED so started looking for an 80mm as recommended by Daystar. The 80EDL had an attractive price and was in stock so that's what I went with. 

I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the the 80EDL mechanically and optically. As a result I sold the Sky-Watcher and purchased the AT125EDL. Just as pleased with that scope, I went for the AT102EDL as well and was not disappointed. Now I've ordered the AT150EDL and expect great things from it too.

Mike B. has done a fantastic job of delivering an entire product line with the perfect mix of mechanical and optical quality at an eminently affordable price. Quite frankly, IMO the earlier versions of these scopes lacked in some areas but were part of the evolution of the line culminating in scopes where price and performance intersect - lower the price any more and performance is going to suffer, raise the performance level and the price is going to have to go up. I feel very fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time to stumble into these scopes that, to me, represent the apex of the ATxxxEDL line.

 

edited to remove an "as well" or two... 

Edited by wrvond, 10 August 2023 - 09:01 AM.

[Nightskyman]

Is there an online downloadable manual?

[Nightskyman]

Green. laser. pointer.

 

What is the difference and/or advantage of the green laser pointer over a red dot finder?   Pros or cons?

[gstrumol]

I love my AT80EDL. It is my go to scope for CaK imaging with the Antlia 393nm wedge, WL viewing/imaging with a Herschel wedge, and for full disk viewing/imaging of the moon.

[wrvond]

What is the difference and/or advantage of the green laser pointer over a red dot finder?   Pros or cons?

An RDF is a finder you have to look through and align the dot on the target. The GLP is just that, a pointer using a green laser. Just like the RDF, or any other finder, you align it to the scope before dark, then when you turn it on in the dark, it appears to reach up into the sky and "touch" the object you are aiming the scope toward. 

There are several instances when using a GLP is not a good idea, but if it's just you, and no aircraft around, it is the easiest, fastest way to point your scope to a target anywhere in the sky.

 

 

Is there an online downloadable manual?

I don't think there is. However, here is a rather poor scan I just did with my phone that I'll leave available for a day or two. I may try to make better scans of all the EDL manuals at some point, though they should all be identical...

 

https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

 

Here is the Reducer/Field Flatteners Tech Sheet for all the R/FFs:

 

https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

 

Same deal - I'll leave it available for a day or two before closing access to my Google drive.

Edited by wrvond, 13 August 2023 - 10:18 PM.

[Nightskyman]

Got the download, thanks!

[Nightskyman]

I think for a few reasons the GLP isn’t a good choice for me, I guess a question I have is this, while in my bortle 6ish sky I would be unable to take full advantage of the Rigel Qwik Finder or the Astromania Finder Deluxe Telescope Reflex Sight that I am still trying to find more out about, but for even if just pointing to a naked eye star, wouldn’t either the Rigel or Astromania finder still be a good choice at little more cost than just a red dot only finder? At this point starting out as a newbie, pointing to a naked eye star to start with is what I want to do for now. I am struggling just pointing the scope to a naked eye star. I keep the scope mounted and just carry it out to my backyard as a grab and go. And wouldn’t they be ok size wise for this scope?

Edited by Nightskyman, 20 August 2023 - 02:29 PM.

[wrvond]

I think for a few reasons the GLP isn’t a good choice for me, I guess a question I have is this, while in my bortle 6ish sky I would be unable to take full advantage of the Rigel Qwik Finder or the Astromania Finder Deluxe Telescope Reflex Sight that I am still trying to find more out about, but for even if just pointing to a naked eye star, wouldn’t either the Rigel or Astromania finder still be a good choice at little more cost than just a red dot only finder? At this point starting out as a newbie, pointing to a naked eye star to start with is what I want to do for now. I am struggling just pointing the scope to a naked eye star. I keep the scope mounted and just carry it out to my backyard as a grab and go. And wouldn’t they be ok size wise for this scope?

Astromania Finder Deluxe Telescope Reflex Sight

 

That's a mighty important sounding name for such a small device!

The reflex sight is a perennial favorite. It does have a couple drawbacks though. 1. Even at it's dimmest setting, the light is generally too bright for astronomy use; and 2. The focusing glass is tinted and is generally too dark for astronomy use - making it difficult, or impossible, to see the fainter targets. Although I have seen at least one that claims to be made for astronomy and addresses these two issues. Can't remember who makes/sells it though, or if it's even still available.

 

You can certainly use either finder on your AT80, though. 

[Nightskyman]

Astromania Finder Deluxe Telescope Reflex Sight

 

That's a mighty important sounding name for such a small device!

The reflex sight is a perennial favorite. It does have a couple drawbacks though. 1. Even at it's dimmest setting, the light is generally too bright for astronomy use; and 2. The focusing glass is tinted and is generally too dark for astronomy use - making it difficult, or impossible, to see the fainter targets. Although I have seen at least one that claims to be made for astronomy and addresses these two issues. Can't remember who makes/sells it though, or if it's even still available.

 

You can certainly use either finder on your AT80, though. 

I agree about the name!! does the same drawbacks apply to the Rigel qwik finder? For my above listed reasons, is a rdf a better choice?

[wrvond]

I agree about the name!! does the same drawbacks apply to the Rigel qwik finder? For my above listed reasons, is a rdf a better choice?

A better choice than a GLP? Yes, and no.

The GLP is much easier to use than any "look through" finder. However, a GLP isn't always the optimum choice, due to aircraft or imagers in the area, or high moisture content in the air, for example.

 

The type of RDF you use is really pretty much personal preference. 

 

Some finders:

 

 

Here's a regular, inexpensive RDF:

 

 

Here's a "gunsight" finder:

 

 

This is a Telrad finder, it's similar to the Qwik Finder with a different form factor:

 

 

And the green laser pointer. Here it's just a dot across the room, but in the dark, at night, it's a long beam of light reaching up into the sky and touching the target (an optical illusion, of course)

 

[wrvond]

I'm posting this here even though there is another thread about this case, just in case any of you may be interested.  I just purchased this case for $90 with free shipping:

https://www.bhphotov...50_200_300.html

 

Received it today and am quite pleased.

 

scope in case.jpg

 

Interior measurements are approximately  20" L x 9.8" W x 7.4" H.

 

The wall thickness is about .5". The walls on the case are quite rigid, however, and I'm not really using the included dividers as dividers...so you can see in the picture that I just took them and placed them along the walls for extra padding. Between the walls and dividers the total padding is near 1".  The case comes with various sized and shaped pads, some of which you can see I've used around the scope.

 

I did add a layer of closed cell foam I had laying around to the bottom of the case, because the case is exceedingly deep for this scope and I figured that was the area I wanted the extra padding the most.  I may still play around with my arrangement of some of the pads, but this seems like a simple and logical layout for now.

 

(Note that if I didn't put the extra dividers along the sides, I could have just fit the scope in with my 1.25" diagonal attached...but I generally carry accessories in a separate case when I travel.)

 

Lastly, don't worry about that $23 I wasted on the cheap case earlier...It is now the bag for my M2C mount and column

 

Clear skies,

Alan

Alan,

I just now noticed that metal colored finder on your scope in this picture. I don't think I've ever seen them in anything other than black. Could you point me to the source?  Thanks!

[Alan S]

Pretty sure it was from here:
https://www.amazon.c...ob_b_asin_title

Edit - it was about $21 at the time I purchased it!

 

Alan

Edited by Alan S, 22 August 2023 - 05:02 PM.

[Scott in NC]

Pretty sure it was from here:
https://www.amazon.c...ob_b_asin_title

Edit - it was about $21 at the time I purchased it!

 

Alan

I like the gray color. And even though the price has gone up, $32 shipped is still a pretty good price!

[Nightskyman]

I like the gray color. And even though the price has gone up, $32 shipped is still a pretty good price!

Great price, and is stainless steel, is the finder good for astronomy?

Edited by Nightskyman, 22 August 2023 - 08:16 PM.

[rnyboy]

I'm soon to be the new owner of a very gently used AT80EDL.  So, hi guys.    (I wonder what serial number this one will have?)

 

Oh boy, what a read so far, and I'm only up to page 11 of this thread!

 

Well, on rather short notice, I purchased a used AT80EDL with the AT80EDLRF 0.8x reducer/flattener that should be delivered in about four days.  This is thanks to a response wrvond made in a thread I started where he informed me that he had found one in the CN Classifieds.  Before this morning I was looking at either the AT72EDII or AT80EDT with the appropriate 0.8x reducer/flattener as a potential AP starter scope.  The AT80EDL appears to be the big brother of the AT72EDII only with some EDT upgrades.

 

With the 0.8x reducer/flattener, and now at 448mm FL, I would think the scope should be quite capable of doing wider-field AP, but I haven't found any AP examples in this thread.  That's something of a surprise to me.  I would think there MUST be owners of AT80EDL scopes who use them for imaging on GEMs.  Is it that CA is more of a problem at that FL than I'm thinking?  I know it's not a triplet APO but??

 

I've been doing EAA for over three years now with a NexStar 6se, my first "real" scope. And, as far as first-light visual work goes, I used the scope for one cold night in January before rapidly moving over to doing everything but obtaining the flats remotely from inside my nice warm, or cool if summer, house.  Rochester winters aren't really known for being all that cool (<-- obvious pun) for visual work in the winter anyway. The 6se OTA is now on an AVX mount that is soon to be timeshared with that new-to-me used AT80EDL.

 

Well, thanks for reading, and does anybody here have examples or links to examples of people who use the AT80EDL with the 0.8x reducer/flattener for AP?.

 

Edit:  Scope should be arriving late this coming Friday.   I got that kid-like Xmas anticipation feeling again.

Edited by rnyboy, 23 August 2023 - 07:58 AM.

[rnyboy]

UPS delivered the new baby about an hour and a half ago in excellent condition.  It was carefully packed up in the original boxes and foam.  It looks brand new with a wonderfully smooth focuser. The seller said he only used it twice because it was too heavy for his mount.   He's setting up a backpackable AP setup.

 

I'm all happy happy right now.

 

 

EDIT!  Holy Smokes!  I forgot to get the Serial # to put in this post.  Can you believe this      ...

Edited by rnyboy, 28 August 2023 - 05:42 PM.

[KWB]

rnyboy

 

Enjoy that telescope and don't let it get away as I almost did a few months ago. 

 

I use mine for visual only purposes (mostly as a spotting scope) mounting on a medium duty alt/az mount but now that I have a real high quality 2 inch eyepiece in my possession, this telescope we see a lot more use as a night time observing tool.

 

This telescope is pretty underrated in my opinion. 

[scout]

EDIT!  Holy Smokes!  I forgot to get the Serial # to put in this post.  Can you believe this      ...

Wow! Serial #00001?! That's so cool.

[KWB]

Mine is serial number 11 and it arrived December 26, 2022. I don't think all that many of these branded Astronomics are in circulation.  

[rnyboy]

Kenny,

I read in here somewhere that about 50 where produced.  I would imagine that means 50, since it's a nice round number to manufacture.  I was wondering while washing up dishes if Mike at Astronomics may have possibly had this one tested for meeting specifications.  In the Astronomics' description for this scope it states "The Strehl ratio and Interferometer report looked nothing short of textbook on the first 80EDL we received.".  I'm sure "first" here doesn't necessarily mean SN 00001 though, but hey, you never know, and I can always dream.

 

I'm just glad Warren happened across this in the classifieds.  It would have been in the running for my three final choices if it would have still been in stock.  I was seriously looking at the AT72EDII and thinking I wish they had this as a AT80EDII.  Well the AT80EDL is that scope, only with better hardware, so a win-win.

 

I'm so jealous...  5400 ft in Colorado.  No problem for finding dark sites with you.

Edited by rnyboy, 28 August 2023 - 07:27 PM.

[wrvond]

Mine is serial number 11 and it arrived December 26, 2022. I don't think all that many of these branded Astronomics are in circulation.  

I wonder if the older ones with black focusers were serialized... 

[KWB]

No problem finding dark skies around here if one is willing to jump in a car and drive 200 miles to the east or about 100 miles to the west, as the mountains help mask the light pollution looking back to the east towards metro Denver. 

 

I live along the Front Range Urban Corridor, a 200 mile stretch from north to south along  interstate highway-25 from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Pueblo Colorado. About 5,100,000 people live here and the rough elevation along this stretch is about 5,000 feet in elevation, which is meaningless to dark skies in this region of the U.S.

 

https://en.wikipedia..._urban_corridor

Edited by KWB, 28 August 2023 - 07:40 PM.

[rnyboy]

So maybe now I'm not quite as jealous as I was.

Edited by rnyboy, 28 August 2023 - 07:47 PM.

[KWB]

You are the second New Yorker today that realized their locale viewing conditions were better than mine. To say nothing of the 3 consecutive months of cloudy skies during this past summer.

 

Mean while back on topic..................

 

Warren raises an interesting point about the focusers, which I had no idea of. How much older than serial #11?

Edited by KWB, 28 August 2023 - 07:58 PM.