SW 80mm Achromat F 11.4

[NGC 1365]

I Borrowed an 80mm SW achromat (F11.4) from a friend to test it out and to compare it to my Orion ED 80 (F7.5). I wasn't expecting much from it, it has a plastic lens cell and dew shield and I figured it must be skywatchers bottom of the line scope for beginners. I used Tackahashi prism diagonals in both and compared them at equivalent magnification and exit pupils. I've had my ED80 since it first came out, and love the quality of the view. So comparing this to my ED80, I was pleasantly surprised. The main object was the moon and I was expecting a lot of purple fringing, but it was minimal, a lot less than the 150 F8 Achro, and only slightly more than the ED 80. The seeing wasn't the best so I couldn't go too high in magnification, but comparing the view in both, they were more alike than not. I looked online but couldn't find a single image or detail about it. The clouds rolled in before I could view much else, so I'll try it out again next clear evening. Looking through this long focal length achro took me back to my youth, and the thrill of seeing the moon through my first refrator.
Thanks for reading.

[Don Quixote]

Thank you Ivan for this report and a grand image of the kit with a cloud enshrined moon above it all.
Cheers!

[The Happy Parrot]

Interesting report NGC 1365. Did you miss the fine focus with the SW?

[NGC 1365]

Thanks Mark and HP for the comments and all for the likes.

Interesting report NGC 1365. Did you miss the fine focus with the SW?

Hi HP, the SW has had an after market GSO 10:1 focuser added, the same as what is on the ED80.

[terrynak]

Thanks for the report Ivan. Good to see a long focal length achro tested against a faster APO and noticing the difference was minimal (with the Moon at least).

[coopman]

Thanks. Too bad that you couldn't try high powers. That's when the CA will be at its worst.

[NGC 1365]

Hi Coopman, I got to try it at higher power, it can't compete with the ED80, but still produced a very decent image. I'm still impressed with the quality of the view, I wish I had one of these when I was starting out.

[jrkirkham]

Thanks for the story. You reminded me that one of my all time favorite scopes was a plastic $15 50mm Galileoscope that I got back in the International Year of Astronomy. I had a lot of fun with that little scope. Even though I had more expensive telescopes it became my primary telescope for most of a year.

[helicon]

Sounds like a nice evening and a successful outing to make a comparison Ivan.