William Optics 66SD vs. Televue 60mm APO

ivanong · Post by **ivanong** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 3:44 am

I just received my William Optics 66SD Partiot Edition (the one with the American flag motiff). Had first light yesterday. In general, there was obvious color de-focused, by in-focus was good and pin point, but a bit "warmer" than my Televue 60mm. Using a University Optics 5mm Ortho, Saturn looked sharp in the 66SD but I will still give the resolution edge to my Televue 60mm where Cassini's division was more easily defined. The fine focus of the 66SD was silky smooth. The rotating focuser felt a little less engineered and fitted (if you've used Takahashi's Camera Angle Adjuster you know what the gold standard is!).
All in all, a very good scope, but a tad behind the Televue 60mm. But hey, look at the big price difference!
Clear skies to all. It is below zero everynight and I sure am missing Singapore!
Ivan

Post by **Airconvent** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 3:07 pm

Glad you liked it Ivan.
The WO 66 has 3 flavours...the very cheap petzval which is "semi apo" and meant for photography, the 66SD, an APO doublet that will satisfy all except the hard core and the 66 triplet for hardcore APO fans.
As I understand, the triplet has practically no colour! guess that's why it cost more. I owned the 66 SD too but have sold it to someone who will better utilise it. It makes a great birding scope too.

For its super-portability and great optics, 66mm is simply too small an aperture for serious use unless you have dark skies.
Not sure if you are there studying or working but at least you can drive out to a dark area to maximise on the 66mm.

rich

ivanong · Post by **ivanong** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 9:42 pm

Yes, I'll probably use the SD for birding and solar observation. It is cheap enough that I can keep it in my car and pull it out when I want to and not worry too much about it. I'm headed up to the Blue Ridge mountains for some imaging tonight (Mag 7.5 skies) so I will give it a try up there.
Ivan

Post by **Airconvent** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 1:31 am

ivanong wrote:Yes, I'll probably use the SD for birding and solar observation. It is cheap enough that I can keep it in my car and pull it out when I want to and not worry too much about it. I'm headed up to the Blue Ridge mountains for some imaging tonight (Mag 7.5 skies) so I will give it a try up there.
Ivan

Darn! Since you are in the US, you could have gotten the 66 Peztval for only US$199 (S$300..practically next to nothing) unless you really mind a little colour in your image (like me!)..

MooEy · Post by **MooEy** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 10:22 am

wah, usd$199 only? makes me wan to buy one for fun. prolly makes a gd gift for anyone serious in the hobby. so anyone bringing in any of these toys?

~MooEy~

Post by **VinSnr** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:17 pm

For its super-portability and great optics, 66mm is simply too small an aperture for serious use unless you have dark skies.
Not sure if you are there studying or working but at least you can drive out to a dark area to maximise on the 66mm.

rich

Bro, don't underestimate the 66 SD. Last night even at Dempsey, it was the 66SD that allows me to guide M79 to my video camera. Using only 27X, it could detect that small little globular. Getting a Mag 8 object under mag 3-4 skies with a 66mm scope is no mean feat.

ivanong · Post by **ivanong** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:02 am

Hi, I just had a fun comparison under Mag 7-8 skies this weekend. I set up my Televue 60mmAPO and my friend had his WO 66mm SD. We went to a number of objects- Saturn, M45, M42, Perseus double cluster, M31, Mizar, etc. For stellar objects, my opinion was the TV60mm had the definitive edge. Stars were pin-point, and Saturn's rings revealed Cassini's division readily. For dim objects, there was of course no difference at all. I don't think I discerned that the extra 6mm of aperture afforded a brighter image- some have noticed that. I will be intrested to find a WO 66mm APO and compare it to the Televue. I'm sure I'll find one in the crowd of astronomers this spring. Have you all seen the AT66 sold by Astronomics? Two of my friends have that and they really think highly of them. These are pretty cheap too.

Very good point above- the 66SD makes an EXCELLENT guide scope and a quick grab and go scope.

Ivan

Post by **Airconvent** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:57 am

ivanong wrote:Hi, I just had a fun comparison under Mag 7-8 skies this weekend. I set up my Televue 60mmAPO and my friend had his WO 66mm SD. We went to a number of objects- Saturn, M45, M42, Perseus double cluster, M31, Mizar, etc. For stellar objects, my opinion was the TV60mm had the definitive edge. Stars were pin-point, and Saturn's rings revealed Cassini's division readily. For dim objects, there was of course no difference at all. I don't think I discerned that the extra 6mm of aperture afforded a brighter image- some have noticed that. I will be intrested to find a WO 66mm APO and compare it to the Televue. I'm sure I'll find one in the crowd of astronomers this spring. Have you all seen the AT66 sold by Astronomics? Two of my friends have that and they really think highly of them. These are pretty cheap too.

Very good point above- the 66SD makes an EXCELLENT guide scope and a quick grab and go scope.

Ivan

Here is a comparison between the SD and Petzval versions :

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1620