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Skywatcher 102 f/5 review and first light by John Baars
Skywatcher Startravel 102 f/5 First Light.
Background
In December 2022, there was a number of times when I grabbed my grabngo 102mm Maksutov on the AltAZ mount. However, I wanted just a little more impact, so I put my 140mm Maksutov, the OMC140 on it. That was on the edge, it vibrated quite a bit. A... Read more...
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX. GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets). Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5. Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS,*Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40 Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt. Amateur astronomer since 1970.
-Michael 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
Thanks for the review John! This fits with my views through my 150mm f5 Celestron achromat: the CA is not objectionable (or even visible!) on most DSO's. A great DSO scope, but not too good for planets (especially Mars!), and fair for the Moon: although the right filter can make a big difference.
In fact I once ran it side by side with both a 150mm Skywatcher Esprit (triplet Apo) and 150mm Evostar (doublet ED apo). Both these scopes have excellent colour correction and sharpness, and the Evostar was for sale for only $A2000, but I wasn't tempted to upgrade because the Achro nearly matched them for DSO performance...
It is good to understand the limitations of our equipment, and to use them within those limitations- and in this sense the 102 f5 sounds like a great buy.
In my case I wouldn't use my 150f5 for planetary or high power viewing (particularly of bright objects): that is what my TSA 102 excells at(!), but for DSO's it is magic, and it is surprisingly good at higher powers with fainter objects; eg: through it I have seen the E and F stars in the Trapezium, and the "homunculus" nebula around Eta Carina is amazing- even showing some colour.
Horses for courses!
Telescopes: 12" f5 dob, Celestron CPC800, 150mmf5 Celestron achro, Tak TSA102, TV76, ETX125...
Binos: Steiner Wildlife XP 10x26, Swarovski 8x30 Habicht, Zeiss SFL 8x40, Vanguard Endeavour 10.5x45, Fuji FMTR-SX 10x50, Tak 22x60, Orion Resolux 15x70
Eyepieces: way too many (is that possible?), but I do like my TV 32mm plossl, 13mm Nagler T6, 27mm Panoptic and 3-6mm Nagler zoom, plus Fujiyama 18mm and 25mm orthos and Tak 7.5mm LE
Hi John. A superb review of your new SW 102 f/5 telescope. And I agree with Dean about the Celestron 150XLT f/5 achro refractor on CG4 mount. I love mine and I don't mind the CA that appears on bright objects. And the worst case for me is viewing Mars, as it looks like a kaleidoscope image. It is good on the center parts of the Moon until you get near the limb. Some filters will help like the V-Block or Minus Violet brands but a cheaper alternative is a Wratten #11 yellow-green filter. However this always reminds me of the patient who went to the doctor and said; "Doc, it hurts when I put my right arm over my back". The doctor replied; "Then don't do that". So I enjoy using this scope for the "faint fuzzies" with it's high contrast and wide field of view. But there is still that telescope and mount weight issue, especially as you get older. So congratulations on the new high quality SW 102 f/5 telescope with smaller size and weight John and I am sure that you will enjoy this fine instrument for many years.
Marshall
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.
>)))))*>
-Michael 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
