4 replies to this topic

[urright4me]

This ota will spend most of its life on my balcony, and while it does not compare to an ES165mm or 127mm triplet, it is fairly equal to past WO110mm mergrez and SW102mm doublet refractors I had (at least to my eyes). But for ease of use, fine focus, and sharpness of the well color corrected field it’s superb. In the SM80, the surrounding silky black sky (well good contrast, it is Dallas after all) make this an ideal scope for my particular needs.

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[Gork]

There are at least two stories here.  One is very technical that deals with the stresses that come with trying without reservation to shove ten pounds of sand into a five-pound bucket.  It is both entertaining and inspirational observing a human being struggling, but never giving up.  The other story tells of somebody with both a love for the night sky and an undying will to be as close as possible to the heavens.  The latter story tells of the incredible tenacity of the human spirit.  More than the science (art) of astronomy, this story tells that sometimes we simply have to accept the limits that fate hands us and find in our circumstances the beauty of the spirit that never quits.  I love your stories.

[Shed9]

The StellMira 80mm Apo was my first real refractor, whilst I've never used it for AP, for visual it's a keeper for me. Nice to read other opinions on it as I rarely see this OTA mentioned.

 

Nice write up.

[james7ca]

Actually, the Stellamira 80mm, f/10 has been discussed at length here on CN. Plus, I've posted many images from this scope including an image comparison to a Takahashi FC-100DZ.

 

In any case, in the first thread linked below it was reported that FLO had discontinued this scope (sometime in the second half of 2024). I don't know if that report is true but the FLO website now just says "Unavailable."

 

Here are a few links and you can find more images under my user name.

 

 https://www.cloudyni.../#entry11891169

 

https://www.cloudyni.../#entry12531022

 

Lastly, I think the reviewer may have the concept of "fast" and "slow" refractors reversed in the article. An f/6 refractor is faster than an f/10 refractor and the latter is faster than an f/15 refractor. At f/10 the StellaMira is neither particularly fast or slow but it is certainly slower than the f/6 Explore Scientific ES80 (a.k.a. the reviewer's "slower" ES80cf triplet).

Edited by james7ca, 03 February 2025 - 07:47 AM.

[Erik Bakker]

Wonderful first impressions of your StellaMira 80mm APO doublet!

 

Thanks for taking the time to share those here.