mach1gto is roughly in the same league as the g11, ap600 and em200 wor. no joke. ap400 would be more of in the gp-dx, em10/11 and gm8 range. without a vehicle, the most i can ever consider is a 4" and a gp-dx class mount.
~MooEy~
AP 140 EDF - notification list open!!
This is the first I've heard of anything like this. Though I'm sure the first few people to get on the list are very close to them and so are guaranteed a scope in their lifetime, but so far, they've followed the lists that people have monitored.MooEy wrote:haha, i wonder if they really go according to the list. from what i heard, certain ap scopes are only available to current ap owners.
As for the appeal of american scopes, they are just so hard to get and they cannot compete with prices from Asia.
Vincent
*cough* mak *cough*
5 years ago when i started out, the ap traveller is easily considered the perfect 4" refractor. and at it's listed price of 3590, i think it's a very reasonable price. for a comparison, the tak fs102 cost 1895 ota. fsq goes ard 3.5k, flt110 3k, borg 101ed 1710. tmb 105/6.2 cnc goes 3.5k or so.
back then, the traveller has the advantage of being compact(huge advantage) and has virtually perfect optics. and it goes for the same price range as the rest of the 4". resale value are higher than the listed price. y not?
over the years, prices of refractors have dropped rapidly. blame china for that. competitive optical designs have appeared, blame tmb. and mechanical design have improved alot compared to vixen/synta, blame wo for that.
the 4" market now is flooded with lots of different scopes. y pay 3.5k usd when u can get a zenithstar 110 for 2.2k, or maybe the flt110 for 2.7k.
~MooEy~
5 years ago when i started out, the ap traveller is easily considered the perfect 4" refractor. and at it's listed price of 3590, i think it's a very reasonable price. for a comparison, the tak fs102 cost 1895 ota. fsq goes ard 3.5k, flt110 3k, borg 101ed 1710. tmb 105/6.2 cnc goes 3.5k or so.
back then, the traveller has the advantage of being compact(huge advantage) and has virtually perfect optics. and it goes for the same price range as the rest of the 4". resale value are higher than the listed price. y not?
over the years, prices of refractors have dropped rapidly. blame china for that. competitive optical designs have appeared, blame tmb. and mechanical design have improved alot compared to vixen/synta, blame wo for that.
the 4" market now is flooded with lots of different scopes. y pay 3.5k usd when u can get a zenithstar 110 for 2.2k, or maybe the flt110 for 2.7k.
~MooEy~
AP600GTO for sale in HK: http://www.grandeye.com.hk/second_hand_lx200.htm
Re: AP 140 EDF - notification list open!!
[quote="vhuang168"]If you have not signed up for the notification list, here's your chance to get on a NEW AP list. Its only 1 week old but right now its probably 2 years out. At least sign up then when ur time comes, you can always back out.
Vincent[/quote]
I just received my AP 140mm with the 4" focuser. It is a massive, huge monster. I need to drink some red bull before lifting this. It mounts nice on my Mach1GTO. First light tonight...perhaps.
Ivan
Vincent[/quote]
I just received my AP 140mm with the 4" focuser. It is a massive, huge monster. I need to drink some red bull before lifting this. It mounts nice on my Mach1GTO. First light tonight...perhaps.
Ivan
-
weixing
- Super Moderator
- Posts: 4708
- Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2003 12:22 am
- Favourite scope: Vixen R200SS & Celestron 6" F5 Achro Refractor
- Location: (Tampines) Earth of Solar System in Orion Arm of Milky Way Galaxy in Local Group Galaxies Cluster
Hi,
Anyway, remember to post a quick review on it.
Have a nice day.
Oh... No wonder the recent weather is so bad... ha ha haI just received my AP 140mm with the 4" focuser. It is a massive, huge monster. I need to drink some red bull before lifting this. It mounts nice on my Mach1GTO. First light tonight...perhaps.
Anyway, remember to post a quick review on it.
Have a nice day.
Yang Weixing
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance."
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance." 
Well thought I'd issue a brief first light report. It is about -8 C in Charlotte, NC. Quite a change from Singapore which I left a week ago. The weather in Singapore really sucked the two weeks I was there. I brought along a TV-76 but did not get but 30 min in all two weeks there. I woke up every morning at 4am but was let down each day.
Back to the scope. It is heavy and long. With the dew shield retracted, it has a thick muscular look. With the dew shield extended it positively looks imposing and huge. I got the 4" focuser version, and the extra weight is noticeable. With the case, it is quite hard to carry around and lift. Luckily my patio is only 10 feet from my scope room, no biggie for moving the scope. But if you have to haul this up and down an HDB flat, I can see a Hernia operation or back surgery in the tea leaves. I might look into a scopeguard case with wheels in the future.
Couple of notes: I stuck in a 18mm Radian and was very impressed. Everything was considerably brighter than my A-P 130 f/6 (which I have since sold). I would characterize the difference as very dramatic. The increased image scale due to the longer focal length is really helpful too. I looked at NGC 457 (ET cluster) and the stars practically exploded all over the FOV. The brightness I would say is close to a 8" SCT. The contrast is superior to a SCT. At zenith, I did notice that the focuser slipped. Shouldn't it have an internal brake? I need to post something on the AP site to ask for help in adjustment. This made it a bit of a pain in fine focusing, as the fine focus and lock screw are both in the same right side.
I looked at Mars, which was pretty close to zenith, with my 3mm Radian. Amazing. Great creamish red color, the white polar cap and dark regions are very obvious. The view is similar to my 9.25" SCT (when fully equilibrated and collimated).
I looked at M42 with a 9mm T6. Nice! Nebula was bright with many delicate features. E and F stars were absolutely no effort whatsoever, even under slightly unsteady skies. The superb contrast was a winning factor here. This scope is going to be fantastic for double stars, one of my favorite observation objects.
That's it for now...very tired. I still have jet lag.
Thanks for reading,
Ivan
Back to the scope. It is heavy and long. With the dew shield retracted, it has a thick muscular look. With the dew shield extended it positively looks imposing and huge. I got the 4" focuser version, and the extra weight is noticeable. With the case, it is quite hard to carry around and lift. Luckily my patio is only 10 feet from my scope room, no biggie for moving the scope. But if you have to haul this up and down an HDB flat, I can see a Hernia operation or back surgery in the tea leaves. I might look into a scopeguard case with wheels in the future.
Couple of notes: I stuck in a 18mm Radian and was very impressed. Everything was considerably brighter than my A-P 130 f/6 (which I have since sold). I would characterize the difference as very dramatic. The increased image scale due to the longer focal length is really helpful too. I looked at NGC 457 (ET cluster) and the stars practically exploded all over the FOV. The brightness I would say is close to a 8" SCT. The contrast is superior to a SCT. At zenith, I did notice that the focuser slipped. Shouldn't it have an internal brake? I need to post something on the AP site to ask for help in adjustment. This made it a bit of a pain in fine focusing, as the fine focus and lock screw are both in the same right side.
I looked at Mars, which was pretty close to zenith, with my 3mm Radian. Amazing. Great creamish red color, the white polar cap and dark regions are very obvious. The view is similar to my 9.25" SCT (when fully equilibrated and collimated).
I looked at M42 with a 9mm T6. Nice! Nebula was bright with many delicate features. E and F stars were absolutely no effort whatsoever, even under slightly unsteady skies. The superb contrast was a winning factor here. This scope is going to be fantastic for double stars, one of my favorite observation objects.
That's it for now...very tired. I still have jet lag.
Thanks for reading,
Ivan