Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
- mikemarotta
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Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Here is my list as of this morning.
What should I add?
Astro Physics
Takahashi
Questar
Svbony
Explore Scientific
Lunt
TALteleoptics - (In Michigan, they claim, but I think that they are Russian)
Vixen
Antares (Lady Fraktor speaks well of them, but are they available in the USA?)
Skywatcher
Bresser
Stellervue
Celestron
Orion
Meade
(I realize that Explore Scientific is both a maker and a reseller. That is a separate topic. Similarly, the National Geographic brand is made under contract for them by Bresser just as Celestron makes the 4-inch tabletop for Astronomers Without Borders. I will cover those aspects under their manufacturers, rather than the labels.)
Also, this is NOT going to be a compare-and-contrast shoot-out. Only a listing with info from their own websites, quoted, cited, summarized, and re-worded in order to help people understand the range and depth of the marketplace. My over-arching advice is this:
Take your hourly pay rate.
Take how much you can reasonably afford as disposable income for the telescope.
PRICE / PAY = hours you should spend reading and shopping before you decide.
Bottom line: within reason, all makers compete well on a price-performance basis.That advice came from Stuart Parkerson of Astronomy Technology Today (another resource that I will recommend - see here - https://astronomytechnologytoday.com) who said that the market is so small that junk does not survive long and everything is pretty much quality for the price. (Our horror stories above notwithstanding.) I will not go much into technical details, but I will give broad examples as guidelines.
I usually do these articles in 1500-2000 words.
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
- Lady Fraktor
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Astro Physics - Premium refractor and Maksutov USA
Takahashi - Premium refractor and Cassagrain Japan
Questar - Maksutov very good but a bit over-hyped USA
Svbony - Rebranded refractors suspect quality at price range China
Explore Scientific - Good to very good rebrander USA based**
Lunt - Solar telescopes USA, co-owned by APM Telescope (Germany high quality to premium)
TAL - High quality refractors and Cassagrain made at Novosibirsk Instrument-Making Plant Russia
Vixen - Cheap to premium refractors and Cassagrain Japan
Antares - Very good refractors (Canada) Available Canada/ EU/ UK
Skywatcher - Good to very good, house brand of Synta Chinese**
Bresser - Good to very good importer/ rebrander Germany
Stellervue - Premium refractors USA
Celestron - Poor to very good Synta line Chinese**
Orion - Poor to very good American rebrander
Meade - Good to very good rebrander USA owned in China**
Meade (JOC), Celestron and Skywatcher (Synta) do not make their own refractors only certain sizes of
They outsource for refractors from Hi-Optic, Long Perng, Kunnming United Optics,
In the past the majority of Explore Scientific refractors were made by Hi-Optic.
I do not know if they still are or not.
Antares are a combination of Japan and China lenses with mechanicals and assembly done in Canada
some of their eyepieces are available in USA
If you would like a list of EU companies let me know.
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- The Happy Parrot
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
- Lady Fraktor
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
The only culture I have is from yogurt
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
- Makuser
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
https://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?ID=202
I hope this helps Mike, and the best of wishes on your upcoming article/report.
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
- Lady Fraktor
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Siebert Optics; eyepieces, binoviewers, makes custom okulars/ barlows/ extenders and such as well
Russell Optics; makes Plossl, Kellner and Konig eyepieces in sizes that are no in standard sizes from other manufacturers
Scopestuff; sells and manufactures the little bits for telescopes and mounts you never realized you needed till you use them.
Honorable mentions;
Surplus Shed has a large variety of optics and miscellaneous items that are hard to find.
Edmunds Scientific sells lenses and filters, mounting kits and a variety of items used in most aspects of our hobby.
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- Bigzmey
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Delos, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.
Observing: DSOs: 3122 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2196, S110: 77). Doubles: 2461, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 261
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
You would have to define specifics as one aspect flows into the next...
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- helicon Online
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
- Lady Fraktor
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Saxon sells mostly re-branded Skywatcher along with other manufacturers products now.
A bit like the Orion Telescope of Oceania.
Levenuk is a American rebrander.
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- Bigzmey
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
So, Orion or
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Delos, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.
Observing: DSOs: 3122 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2196, S110: 77). Doubles: 2461, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 261
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Companies such as TeleVue or APM Telescope have proprietary designs and a very high level of QC, Altair Astro and Teleskop-Service are re-branders with higher than average QC/ OQC than others so you can expect better performance and build quality than the average retailer.
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- mikemarotta
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
What is Big-5?
Thanks,
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
A sporting good store.
- mikemarotta
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Thanks for the additional information. It helps me to put things in context. As I said, this is intended only to show that there are more than three options for buying your first telescope. That is the question that we get most often, and I expect that other clubs and individuals have the same experience. We in the hobby have very many magazine articles and blog posts giving advice. I believe that they generall approach the problem from the wrong assumptions about the questions that people are really asking.Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 4:33 pm Astro Physics - Premium refractor and Maksutov USA ...
Meade - Good to very good rebrander USA owned in China**
That is why I suggested:
Take your hourly pay rate.
Take how much you can reasonably afford as disposable income for the telescope.
PRICE / PAY = hours you should spend reading and shopping before you decide.
Again, thank you for the details. It will help me to explain a little about the marketplace.Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 4:33 pm Meade (JOC), Celestron and Skywatcher (Synta) do not make their own refractors only certain sizes of SCT.
They outsource for refractors from Hi-Optic, Long Perng, Kunnming United Optics, GSO and many others.
In the past the majority of Explore Scientific refractors were made by Hi-Optic.
Antares ...
Just USA here in Austin, Texas.
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
- mikemarotta
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Thanks, I forgot abot Zhumell. I did not know about SarBlue, or the others. So, thanks. I added them to the list.The Happy Parrot wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 6:27 pm Don't forget Zhummell and Apertura. ... GSkyer and Sarbru ... recently got a good review ...here on TSS...
The point for me is not recommend brands at all, but to point out how many brands there are. Again, when our club gets this very common question, are very senior officers just recite the litany they memorized long ago: Meade, Orion, Celestron. To me, there is sort of a Zen to this that the best advice is no advice. What's the best automobile? What's the best computer? What's the best fielder's glove for baseball?
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
- mikemarotta
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
I never trust good reviews. First of all, I know from a long career in computers that reviewers seldom actually live with the products. They run them for a while, try a few things, and if seems OK, they find reasons to say good things about the product. Maybe they note some mild negative that provides a cachet of objectivity.The Happy Parrot wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:44 pm Just realized I misspelled SarBlue, the Mak aimed at the educational market that got decent reviews here and on CN.
The other source of good reviews is from people who are suffering from cognitive dissonance: we justify decisions that we cannot easily change; and we explain away negatives as being "not that important." I bought one and I like it. You should buy one, too.
This is from the advertisement on Amazon for the SarBlue Maksutov-Cassegrain:
These emotionally-laden words have no semantic content: "Adorable... lovely... impress... gift... loved ones... " And, as with Internet spam, there is a spelling error.Satisfaction: With such adorable & lovely outlook, and great viewing power, this mak telescope is sure to impress as a gift for your loved ones. Setup requires no-tool, it's easy to use for any astronomy beginners. And we will offer one-year hassel-free warranty and warm customer service.
That said, I do like the fact that it comes apart to show the optics. If you examine a standard university textbook for astronomy, you will find that they deliver very little content on the optics of telescopes. For the price of under $100, this makes a good demonstration piece.
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
- mikemarotta
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Re: Looking for Brands (Writing an Article)
Thanks for the reminder. I found out about them when I was researching an article about Georg Simon Plößl and found an interview with Al Nagler in the Astronomy magazine archives “The evolution of eyepiece developments at Tele Vue,” Posted by Michael Bakich on Tuesday, October 13, 2015, A guest blog by Al Nagler. Astronomy.
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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