Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

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John Baars Netherlands
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Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#1

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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 nicer image, though. Then I got the bright idea to put the Azimuth arm of the mount upright, so there was much less vibration coming through to the telescope, a huge difference. Focusing on the planets Jupiter and Mars thus became a lot easier. Still not satisfied because of the increased weight and the small field of view ( focal length of the OMC is no less than 2000 mm) I looked forward to another solution for the grabngo thing.

Coming up with a solution

My old Vixen ED f/9 was an option, but then I had to put the Azimuth arm at a 45 degree angle again, otherwise there was no room for observations near the zenith. Given the mass and length of the telescope, the vibrations would return. And well, as an old refractor-adept ( although I have had a lot of reflectors) there is really only one way to go, if it has to remain affordable. Skywatcher's 102 mm f/5 Startravel came to mind. It would be short enough, have little mass and have almost as much impact on deepsky as the OMC140 ( so it had once appeared to me in a direct comparison between my OMC140 and my 102 f/9 Vixen ED). Above all, a huge field of view, in which, for example, the Veil Nebula fits in entirely.


showroom.JPG



Ah yes, that C.A.

Anyone who knows even a little about it immediately shouts, "Chromatic Aberration!" As if that is all you think about. Some then. The chromatic error of an achromatic refractor has never bothered me, secretly I even find it pleasant. Even enjoyed the color in the 150mm f/5 I once had, but had gotten rid of again because of the weight. Well, that CA is there, less prominent than reflector-adepts would have me believe, but perhaps more prominent than common user-reviews predict.

Bright stars of magnitude 1 or 2 show it as a blue blur, at magnitude 3 you already have to look harder for it. On deepsky objects and large star fields you don't see it at low magnification. At high either. Not so. In that case it is not inferior to my 102mmf/9 ED Vixen.

On the Moon you see at magnifications from 36X a blue edge, but on the terminator not or hardly. Also not at higher magnifications. Details on the terminator would "drown" in a blue haze. Well, not really much. In Plato, I saw the familiar proprietary distortions on the crater floor and one small crater. My Vixen ED shows two. Granted, the shadows in the craters in Clavius were deep deep dark blue and not black. Nor does it really reach the maximum of 2XD in magnification. Above 167X, though, it was over with more lunar detail.

On planets, it is not a high flyer. I did see a loose dark structure on Mars, but the red of the planet "bled" a bit into space. Typical of doublets. On Jupiter two bands of clouds with some nodes in them, the whole thing surrounded by a slightly colorful fog ring. Not convincing as a planet telescope. An understatement.


Since the telescope can also be used during the day, as evidenced by the Amici prism supplied and not used (by me), I subjected that to a little investigation as well. In backlight and as the only subject black branches or crows, the blue is obvious. In normally lit subjects, it is not so noticeable. The manufacturer provided the lens cover with an additional 52 mm lockable hole. Especially for daytime use. That way it becomes an f/9.6 system. Couple that with a 52mm aperture and you have virtually eliminated the color error. During the day, at low magnification of say 20X, the exit pupil then matches the entrance pupil of the naked eye and you will not see any decrease in brightness. However, it does become slightly sharper and chromatic abberation-free.

Star testing


Because all Skywatcher telescopes that had come to me so far suffered to a greater or lesser extent from coma, I also subjected this telescope to a star test. It surprised me positively, it was better than all Skywatcher telescopes I have tested so far. The German company that supplies it then also checks it to see if the instrument is diffraction-limited. In and out of focus proved fine, near a standard 0.25 P/V. Quantifying that by eye is tricky. Near focus the Poisson point was found to be not exactly in the center, but slightly off. Which produces a coma error in the order of 0.2 wave. That little error nibbles off several hundredths of the total Strehl. See the picture. The picture serves as an illustration, not a star test; all values are estimated from the star image. Perhaps in the future I will do something about it, in keeping with my then f/5 150mm, which, by the way, was in worse shape at the time.




007  kopie Simulatie Startravel 102 F5 .jpg





Supplied accessories

Included were a 25mm and a 10mm eyepiece, a 2X barlow, a reddot finder and an Amici prism. I did not include the eyepieces or the prism in my tests. I just used my own higher quality stuff, including a Baader prism, a 24mm Panoptic, the Leica ASPH, a Morpheus eyepiece and a Baader Zeiss barlow. And as a finder my 50mm RACI with interchangeable eyepiece. The Barlow was a disaster in terms of light management, huge light reflections by the inner walls. Really bad actually. I plastered that one inside with flocking material from Protostar and after that it turned out to be miraculously not that bad! It is usable now.

The Focuser.

Focuser is a standard one from Skywatcher. Just one with a rack and pinion. Heavily maligned, but it is not too bad for me. Especially for my visual use. The German firm Teleskop-Specialisten adjusted it fine before shipping. I have no complaints about it. An f/5 system has only a very small depth-of-focus area. That's why I put a "focusing eyepiece holder" on the prism. A very fine helical focusser as a focus slow down, so to speak. That works well. From slightly out of focus to slightly in focus is easily 0.4 rotation.


Extension tube for Zenit
To allow the telescope to also see into the zenith without the mount getting in the way of the back of the telescope, I had to mount an additional extension after the prism into the rotating helical. That way the rear end "slides" up a bit forward, deeper into the tube. So it is still possible to observe in the zenith.


focussing eypieceholdere.JPG




Finder and balance

It comes with a red dot finder. I can use that, but I prefer a Raci finder with interchangeable eyepiece. With an 11 mm Nagler, I achieve 19 X magnification at a 4 degree field of view. Very useful here in the city. Many Messiers then already loom in the finder. Mounting that viewfinder next to the main telescope presented some additional balance - and space problems. That has been solved, although the rear ring that holds the telescope in its cradle is in a somewhat unusual place around the tube.






finder on F5 SW.JPG




First light

On January 30, it was clear. In the afternoon I had already had the telescope outside for a while to view the Moon in daylight. In the evening, heavy clouds passed by, but occasionally it stayed open for a longer period of time. Seeïng was not top, neither was transparency and then there was the Moon! However, you can't have everything.

Once cooled down ( about 15 minutes) I aimed it at Aldebaran. A beautiful red "pit" welcomed me, complete with a small blue cloak. A quick star test. The results are above. Double star Castor was obviously a breeze, Rigel was a little trickier, while Alnitak's double was at the limit of seeing possibilities. Trying any closer made no sense.

On to the Orion Nebula, which in the 14 mm Morpheus eyepiece could be seen neatly between NGC1980 and NGC1981 in one field of view. Breathtakingly clean. Now that's what you bought a telescope for! The Trapezium was neatly depicted as four separate "needle prick" stars, something you can sometimes miss in large binoculars due to image errors.




Orioncomplex.png




Picture from Stellarium.





M 42 Orion nebula Finale Januari 2021 .jpg




And this was my own sketching, two years ago.

I barely recognized M35 at 20X, only at higher magnifications did I see how beautiful the open cluster actually is. Also briefly looked up NGC2392, the Eskimo Nebula. At first a very small ball of fog in the midst of a rich star field. A little sneeze. At higher magnifications, the central star popped up with averted vision.
The Moon, already discussed earlier, at higher magnification with a blue edge, however, not on the terminator. Plato with one crater pit in it as well as the uneven shades of gray on the crater floor. Clavius' small craters, however, did show a deep dark blue shadow. The level of detail in debris around craters is just below that of my Vixen ED. Magnifying higher than 167X made little sense.

The same was true for Mars and Jupiter. Mars did show at least one dark albedo spot, but the planet "bled" a little red light into space. My 120 ED Evostar does the same a tiny bit, my 102 ED Vixen does not. Jupiter was nothing to write home about. I did observe two bands of clouds with some nodules in them, but the slightly hazy fog in which this planet cloaked itself prevented further detail observations. I suppose an evening with less moisture in the air is at least a prerequisite for this telescope on Jupiter. Then again, for planets, one of my other telescopes really needs to go outside anyway.

And finally, the way it held up on the Alt Az mount. And that was neat. Because of its low weight and upright Azimuth arm, vibrations are minimal. A tap against the tripod leg is not even seen. Focusing does, but in such a way that you don't have to let go to see the result of your effort; it extinguishes almost immediately. The helical spacer allows very precise focusing.

A nice grabngo!

I hope you enjoyed the read.
Attachments
007 Simulatie Startravel 102 F5.png
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.
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#2

Post by Bigzmey »


Congrats on the new glass John and nice review! Too bad SW does not offer 102mm F5 in US. I had/have 80mm, 120mm and 150mm F5 achros and I love them all. They provide great utility and performance in compact and lightweight format.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
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, 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.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#3

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Bigzmey wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 6:53 pm Congrats on the new glass John and nice review! Too bad SW does not offer 102mm F5 in US. I had/have 80mm, 120mm and 150mm F5 achros and I love them all. They provide great utility and performance in compact and lightweight format.
The stock R&P after tune-up is usable, but as you mentioned somewhat hard to get precise focus I end up upgrading to GSO 2 speed crayfords.

Is that a T2 prism or mirror?
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
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, 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.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#4

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Bigzmey wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 6:58 pm Is that a T2 prism or mirror?
Yes it is a Baader T2 (Zeiss specifications) prism.
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.
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#5

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John Baars wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:26 pm
Bigzmey wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 6:58 pm Is that a T2 prism or mirror?
Yes it is a Baader T2 (Zeiss specifications) prism.
I wonder if mirror would produce less CA.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
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, 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.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#6

Post by Ylem »


Congratulations John, sweet scope!

I sold my ST80 to help fund my 80ED, but miss it, I would love to pick up a 4" f5 or f6

Enjoy!
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#7

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Bigzmey wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:41 pm
John Baars wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:26 pm
Bigzmey wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 6:58 pm Is that a T2 prism or mirror?
Yes it is a Baader T2 (Zeiss specifications) prism.
I wonder if mirror would produce less CA.
Next time I'll try with a Baader BBHS mirror and will report it.
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.
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

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Post by messier 111 »


that's what i call a very defined report with a complete history, thx.
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

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Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

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Post by Makuser »


Hi John. This is a superb review of your new SW 102 f/5 Startravel telescope. I have 120ST f/5 and 150 f/5 achromatic refractors. I enjoy the high contrast and wide field views and chromatic aberration doesn't bother me because I use them on the "faint fuzzies". I use the 150 most of the time as it is not only has the larger aperture but is very well designed and built with the better CG4 mount. I have upgraded the straight through finder to a RACI, the stock diagonal to a 2" dielectric because of the higher light reflection and the reflective coating lasts much longer then the standard mirror coating. I also added a 2" GSO 2 speed Crayford focuser and dual axis drives to complete the upgrade. While I love this beautiful telescope, it seems that the older I get the heavier it seems to become. Thanks for posting this splendid review and photos John and the best of wishes enjoying this fine new telescope.
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
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

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Great setup, John and outstanding report. Like you I don't get too bothered by a reasonable amount of CA. Looking forward to reading more reports with this scope.

Dave
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

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Post by Lady Fraktor »


A very nice report John, I am glad you are enjoying the new grabngo setup :)
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#12

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Bigzmey wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:41 pm
John Baars wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:26 pm
Bigzmey wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 6:58 pm Is that a T2 prism or mirror?
Yes it is a Baader T2 (Zeiss specifications) prism.
I wonder if mirror would produce less CA.
So I tried with a BBHS mirror.
Less CA with a BBHS mirror was on the edge of suggestion, but I could not escape the impression that the fainter halves of several double stars in particular were a tad more visible ( more brilliant). So I leave the mirror in. Thanks for the suggestion!
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.
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#13

Post by The Wave Catcher »


Thanks for the excellent review John. Your sketching skills are incredible.

In regards to CA with fast achromatic telescopes, we shouldn’t underestimate the usefulness of an optional aperture mask. On one of my small telescopes, my Bresser 102 mm, f/4.5, it is great for DSOs, comets and very wide field views, but at high powers the CA limits it’s effective resolution. With a 60 mm mask, CA is virtually eliminated and it’s ability to split doubles and resolve planet details is greatly increased. It behaves like a short, 60 mm, f/7.65, ED refractor. The effective resolution is greater at 60 mm with a mask than at 102 mm without it.
Steve Yates

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Astro-Tech AT80ED, 80 mm, F/7, ED Achromatic Refractor
Bresser AR102s, 102 mm, f/4.5, Achromatic Refractor

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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#14

Post by John Baars »


Update:

March 2023

Finally I did an update by more carefully repositioning the frontlens in its cell after all. Without extra spacers underneath the spacing-ring. And with a rather astonishing effect. I wonder why this wasn't done by the manufacturer in the first place.
March 2023.png
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.
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John Baars Netherlands
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#15

Post by John Baars »


@The Wave Catcher
Thanks!
I agree on the CA- effect of an aperture mask. It is quite a difference. It makes a difference on suppressing the effects of seeing too. As a result better visibility of various details.
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.
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pakarinen United States of America
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#16

Post by pakarinen »


Now that I sold my 102ED, I'm slowly inching toward ordering a Startravel 102. If I do, it'll probably be time to sell my ST120, maybe my ST80 too. But the other thought is to order an AZ-GTi to run my AT72ED on. Indecision is a horrible thing...
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I drink tea, I read books, I look at stars when I'm not cursing clouds. It's what I do.
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AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
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Re: Skywatcher 102 f/5 Startravel, review and first light.

#17

Post by pakarinen »


Welllp, I just hit the button on the last ST102 in stock at FLO in the UK. Now it might *really* be time to sell my ST80 and ST120. :icon-smile:

Some additional research leads me to believe that I can use the GSO 2-speed that I bought for my ST120 (or maybe it's the 2-speed on my ST80) on the ST102. We shall see...

Add: Yeaaaah, that's not gonna work. The 102 takes the GSO96 and I put a GSO112 (with the rotating body) on my ST120 b/c the 96 was OOS at the time. :doh:
=============================================================================
I drink tea, I read books, I look at stars when I'm not cursing clouds. It's what I do.
=============================================================================
AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
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