190 replies to this topic

[Jon Isaacs]

Renard:

 

Hello and to Cloudy Nights.

 

I hope you are able to resolve your issue with your Svbony. Keep us posted about what happens.

 

Jon

[LDW47]

What were the alternatives at the time?  Takahashi?  AP?  At three times the price.  A 102mm f/5 achromat is ok for low power, but doesn't match an apo, even at low power.  I had a 152mm f/6.5 achro, it had noticeable colour, but was good at low power, nice contrast.  However, had I been under a dark sky, viewing the summer Milky Way against an apo, the difference even at low power would have been stark.  The fast achro would produce greyish backgrounds because of all the defocused blue starlight vs. the apo which would present black backgrounds. 

Grey background with a good, well built achro under SQM-L 22.00 down to 21.50 skies, eh  You are dreaming in grey,eh. Its not what I saw over decades and many size achro's. I used them right along side my apo's, try it some time for real.

[RLK1]

Grey background with a good, well built achro under SQM-L 22.00 down to 21.50 skies, eh  You are dreaming in grey,eh. Its not what I saw over decades and many size achro's. I used them right along side my apo's, try it some time for real.

Agreed, you're going to see a nice black background in the above scenario and even in SQMs a bit less.  If you're not, it's likely a baffling issue and not a false color issue, if you see it at all...

[Polyphemos]

Agreed, you're going to see a nice black background in the above scenario and even in SQMs a bit less.  If you're not, it's likely a baffling issue and not a false color issue, if you see it at all...

I agree as well. I’ve had views through multiple achros that were so black I couldn’t find the field stop. I think for the view through a properly built scope to be gray due to chromatic aberration it would have to be a kaleidoscope or a SvBony 48P 

[LDW47]

I agree as well. I’ve had views through multiple achros that were so black I couldn’t find the field stop. I think for the view through a properly built scope to be gray due to chromatic aberration it would have to be a kaleidoscope or a SvBony 48P 

You are either just kidding or you don't know what the hell you are talking about, eh.  I won't even mention my doubts, lol.

[kgb]

Not sure why you’d think he was kidding. Ba da bump!

[LDW47]

Not sure why you’d think he was kidding. Ba da bump!

I was being very snide, I was the one just kidding, just to be nice, right.

[ayadai]

I agree as well. I’ve had views through multiple achros that were so black I couldn’t find the field stop.

I'll also chime in and say that my SW ST102 has excellent contrast and surprisingly little CA for a F5 Achromat. I'd imagine that the SVBony SV48P 102mm might even have better contrast at f6.5.

[LDW47]

I'll also chime in and say that my SW ST102 has excellent contrast and surprisingly little CA for a F5 Achromat. I'd imagine that the SVBony SV48P 102mm might even have better contrast at f6.5.

My 48P 90mm model sure does put out.

[Russell Swan]

Since you're asking, I have. I bought one in December and I got a lemon with extreme astigmatism. And when I say extreme this isn't hyperbole. The thing is unusable even at 44x. I'm still dealing with customer support right now as I had other things on my mind around Christmas and then kind of forgot about it. I'm from Europe though so it may have been the early version. I'm not sure. Hopefully they get this right this time around and send me decent optics. I'm not expecting miracles, however it should at least work at a basic level.

You definitely received one from the initial flawed production run. They are unusable, and SvBony had no choice but to correct the problem. You should receive a corrected lens assembly, and when you install it do not screw it in tight. Just enough to hold securely. 
 

Pull the dew shield off of the objective cell, and then unscrew the cell from the tube. Screw the new lens on the tube, and push on the dew shield. 
 

New buyers be sure to purchase directly from a SvBony distributor. 

Edited by Russell Swan, 26 March 2025 - 07:52 AM.

[Jon Isaacs]

The first version of the 102 mm 48P brings back memories of the Burgess Optical 102 mm F/6 achromat of more than 20 years ago.

 

Bill was before his time and promised more than he could deliver but many of the things he foresaw came to pass years later. He did see it come to pass in his lifetime. Bill Burgess is up there among the stars, selling 6 inch FCD-100 triplets to the angels for $1200 with a promised delivery of 3 months..

 

The 102 mm F/6 was nothing to much out of the ordinary, just a nice 4 inch achromat with a 2 inch focuser and 2 inch diagonal offered at $200 as a preproduction price. Delivery was 2 months if I remember correctly.

 

It took about a year and when they arrived, they all had flawed objectives. If I remember correctly, at that point, you could cancel the order and receive a refund or accept delivery with the promise of a new objective later.

 

I choose to take the scope. I don't know what the cause of the problem was, the entire image has a yellow cast as well as being astigmatic. The new objectives never arrived .

 

Someone pointed me to an Orion 100 mm F/6 objective on Ebay and I grafted that to the  Burgess OTA and resulted in what I called the Burion. It was a pretty good scope.

 

I eventually gave it to some missionaries traveling to central Africa.  As far as I know, it's still there.

 

That scope, as flawed as it was, began my love affair with faster 4 inch refractors.  

 

 

Things happen much more quickly today than they did 20 plus years ago. Svbony was able recover in a matter of months.

 

As an aside, a be couple of years later, a refund of the $200 price showed up in my account. I never asked for it, it just showed up 

 

The sibling to the 102 mm F/6 was a 127 mm F/8 which was quite a good scope.

 

Jon

Edited by Jon Isaacs, 26 March 2025 - 01:13 PM.

[Renard]

Renard:

 

Hello and to Cloudy Nights.

 

I hope you are able to resolve your issue with your Svbony. Keep us posted about what happens.

 

Jon

Thanks! I will post an update once I'm able to test the replacement lens they're sending me.

 

You definitely received one from the initial flawed production run. They are unusable, and SvBony had no choice but to correct the problem. You should receive a corrected lens assembly, and when you install it do not screw it in tight. Just enough to hold securely. 
 

Pull the dew shield off of the objective cell, and then unscrew the cell from the tube. Screw the new lens on the tube, and push on the dew shield. 
 

New buyers be sure to purchase directly from a SvBony distributor. 

In Europe, RetrevisDirect is Svbony's distributor on Amazon and other platforms. I bought it there because there was a discount and a larger one with free prime. 200€ with VAT wasn't a difficult decision.

 

I'm aware that I shouldn't create pinched optics and that a little rattle is OK but thanks for the reminder.

 

 

I also remember someone saying they were still looking for a purpose that wasn't wide field deep sky viewing for such achromats. I'm planning on using this telescope for solar with a Herschel wedge and a yellow filter to limit chromatism. If the lens I get isn't horrible it should provide decent views.

Edited by Renard, 27 March 2025 - 12:10 PM.

[Polyphemos]

…

In Europe, RetrevisDirect is Svbony's distributor on Amazon and other platforms. I bought it there because there was a discount and a larger one with free prime. 200€ with VAT wasn't a difficult decision.
…

It makes one wonder why many months after defective objectives in the 102mm SV48P were identified and acknowledged by SvBony their distributors were still shipping scopes with defective optics. You’d have thought they’d have put a temporary stop on shipments until all of the objectives could be swapped out.

 

One reason not to stop shipments to swap defective objectives is that it’s expensive. Instead, they could ship as-is and replace only those objectives on scopes owners complained about. Many beginners with defective objectives might not known they’re defective, thereby saving a lot of cost. A smart business decision, no?

[Mike G.]

I was looking for a 102 achro for my brother who has decided he wants a scope.  Picked up the 48P 102 used for a decent price after already owning one of the 90mm 48P and being impressed with the build and performance for such an inexpensive scope.  Apparently, the 102 I bought was an early model with the defective optics.  When I first looked through it I thought that I had purchased a singlet the image was so bad!  I had to go back to the website to confirm it was a doublet.  Then, I thought that perhaps the previous owner had disassembled the doublet and put it back together incorrectly.  But now after reading this thread, it seems I have one of the bad ones.  and it is indeed unusable at anything above 15-20x.  AT 60x on Jupiter, I can see cloud bands but the image in focus (or as close as I can get to it) produces 3 overlapping discs, one white, one blue and one red/pink.  Unbelievable - I have never looked through any scope with optics this bad.  Currently have a support email in to Svbony to see if I can get a replacement cell or purchase one outright. 

Since you're asking, I have. I bought one in December and I got a lemon with extreme astigmatism. And when I say extreme this isn't hyperbole. The thing is unusable even at 44x. I'm still dealing with customer support right now as I had other things on my mind around Christmas and then kind of forgot about it. I'm from Europe though so it may have been the early version. I'm not sure. Hopefully they get this right this time around and send me decent optics. I'm not expecting miracles, however it should at least work at a basic level.

 

[ayadai]

One reason not to stop shipments to swap defective objectives is that it’s expensive. Instead, they could ship as-is and replace only those objectives on scopes owners complained about. Many beginners with defective objectives might not known they’re defective, thereby saving a lot of cost. A smart business decision, no?

Very smart. Not only from the expense standpoint, but also from a marketing standpoint. "SVbony is such a great company! They were really responsive when I reported a problem with my scope! They sent me a free replacement objective right away!"

 

The squeaky wheel gets the grease...

[LDW47]

Whats the last few dozen posts have to do with Ed's great review, eh. Just a good place to complain by the look of it, Ed would shake his intelligent head if he knew or laugh his a*s off, maybe. It sure wouldn't surprise him, it takes the pressure off, ya think. Many threads end this way, right !

[Mike W]

Whats the last few dozen posts have to do with Ed's great review, eh. Just a good place to complain by the look of it, Ed would shake his intelligent head if he knew or laugh his a*s off, maybe. It sure wouldn't surprise him, it takes the pressure off, ya think. Many threads end this way, right !

Grow up Suzie!

[Refractor6]

  I know I wouldn't be to happy if I received one these bad samples.

 

Back in the days of the dinosaurs I personally tested each scope I ever got at an actual brick and mortar shop using a artificial star test sources in the daytime in front of the shop or at night with events the owners attended with scopes in mind for a purchase.....lets just say those days are gone just like the dinosaurs....  If the scope didn't measure up when star tested no sale for me back then.

 

 Now you order online and hope for the best. Good to hear the company is trying to make amends and hope everyone who got a dud gets things resolved to their liking....

[LDW47]

  I know I wouldn't be to happy if I received one these bad samples.

 

Back in the days of the dinosaurs I personally tested each scope I ever got at an actual brick and mortar shop using a artificial star test sources in the daytime in front of the shop or at night with events the owners attended with scopes in mind for a purchase.....lets just say those days are gone just like the dinosaurs....  If the scope didn't measure up when star tested no sale for me back then.

 

 Now you order online and hope for the best. Good to hear the company is trying to make amends and hope everyone who got a dud gets things resolved to their liking....

If you are an up and coming top line company you give top line service, never changes, ever.

[LDW47]

Grow up Suzie!

Sorry if I mentioned you by name, eh.  Betty !

[Polyphemos]

If you are an up and coming top line company you give top line service, never changes, ever.

If you are an up and coming top line company you don’t ship multiple defective lines of telescopes.

 

Between the 90mm SV48P’s focuser and miss assembly issues, their Mk105 Maksutov’s spherical aberration debacle, and now this 102mm SV48P’s strong astigmatism/pinched optics and gritty and grainy focuser problems it’s apparent that quality control/quality assurance is secondary to costs and profit. And despite assertions that interested buyers should accept compromises commensurate with cost savings, as Renard observed, “… it should at least work at a basic level.” Far too often SvBony scopes fail to reach even this low bar.

 

This isn’t the blueprint for an up and coming top line company, it’s the business plan for a low to mid level shop that carries everything at attractive prices aimed at beginners and bargain hunters. It’s the common and ever popular volume over quality model. Nothing wrong with that, but if I want something “top line” SvBony is not where I look and I don’t see anything changing that perception anytime soon.

[LDW47]

If you are an up and coming top line company you don’t ship multiple defective lines of telescopes.

 

Between the 90mm SV48P’s focuser and miss assembly issues, their Mk105 Maksutov’s spherical aberration debacle, and now this 102mm SV48P’s strong astigmatism/pinched optics and gritty and grainy focuser problems it’s apparent that quality control/quality assurance is secondary to costs and profit. And despite assertions that interested buyers should accept compromises commensurate with cost savings, as Renard observed, “… it should at least work at a basic level.” Far too often SvBony scopes fail to reach even this low bar.

 

This isn’t the blueprint for an up and coming top line company, it’s the business plan for a low to mid level shop that carries everything at attractive prices aimed at beginners and bargain hunters. It’s the common and ever popular volume over quality model. Nothing wrong with that, but if I want something “top line” SvBony is not where I look and I don’t see anything changing that perception anytime soon.

Its top line to many, thats what counts, eh !  Just watch their future, ya think. They are part of the new kids on the block, while the old tryed and true are fading, fast, maybe through greed, just maybe, eh.

Edited by LDW47, 27 March 2025 - 08:25 PM.

[ayadai]

If you are an up and coming top line company you don’t ship multiple defective lines of telescopes.

I certainly would not classify SVBony as a top line company; that's not their niche. They are instead a discount provider with the attendant philosophy and risks.  There's a reason why I have so much of their stuff, and it's not because of personalized customer hand holding service .

[LDW47]

After all that I have bought from them, amoungst every thing I have bought from the older brands, they are as top line as any. My idea, my definition of that may be different than the other so called ....... talkers but I don't really care. At the end of each day they'll be there !

Edited by LDW47, 27 March 2025 - 10:38 PM.

[kgb]

Personally, I hope they step up their game because we need a quality entry level provider. Not making a better effort to resolve the lens issue indicated above is a bit problematic. I think that has the potential to turn off a lot of experienced people and I am often asked for scope recommendations and that gives me some pause. Lemons happen, but how it is dealt with is what makes the difference.

The only SVBONY product I own is a 30mm guide scope. The helical mechanism is a little off (to put it mildly), but it is functional and was cheap. Oh wait, I have a couple of Vixen dovetails too and UV/IR for a planetary camera.

I do want them to succeed, but personally I am not buying any of their scopes because they don’t fill any of my needs.

Edited by kgb, 27 March 2025 - 10:51 PM.