Did some testing over my very tight balcony at the back. Saw Jupiter and the Moon so thought could do some testing.
My balcony at the back was very tight, could barely setup my tripod in the most stable manner. Anyway, I just wanted a quick peek and the only eyepieces I took out is the TV 32mm Plossl and the TMB/Burgess 4mm. You should have guess it that the 32mm is mainly for me to find and the 4mm is to check for high power.
First up was Jupiter. Using the 32mm (30x), it was very bright, so not much details could be seen. No colour was present. I tried looking for it...nothing. But one thing is pretty clear....it was very sharp. It is a good refreshing change for me after looking through Newtonians and SCT for quite some years now.
Then pop in the 4mm (238x) . This time round, there is some snap to the focus and the details on Jupiter was amazing. Still I didn't see any colour. Please note that I "snap" the focus even when I my mount was shaking all over with the scope on it. Due to the tightness of space, I could not balance the scope properly and had to use my hand to support some weight. Even then the details was evident. It was one of the best view of Jupiter I had in years. But I am still not convince on the absence of CA.
I look around and noticed a white flourescent pretty far away. This one should test it out well. Using 32mm, no colour at all, and very sharp. Throw in the 4mm and I notice a line of blue on its edges this time. Object still sharp, but a little CA present.
Just when I finished looking at the white light, Jupiter was way past my balcony, but another object came into view. This time it was the moon. Ok, tried the 4mm again.....it was a shocker!The image was sharp and amazing. The terminator area was very contrasty. However, on the far side where the edge of the moon is, I could notice a line of very slight blue. You really got to search for it. It doesn't bother me at all, but I report basically what I saw.
This time round, I really start to get interested. Went back into the room and dig my pentax 10.5XL (91x) out. The image of the craters was so sharp that it hurt my eyes. This is the kind of time where you wish you have the photoshop "blur" tool with you. How sharp was this? Imagine you have a crater photo and you use some "unsharp mask" filtering to sharpen the image. You sharpen till the image hurt your eyes because it look too unreal. That's how sharp it was at 91x. To think that the sky wasn't even at its best condition and my mount is shaking everywhere.
Now I am really high......went back into the room again and dig out the 5.2XL (183x). The craters seem to jump right out at me. I check again for CA, very very slight. You won't notice it unless you look for it.
I can't believe I am actually enjoying the moon after 23 years in this hobby.
Back into the room again and this time is a 2X barlow. Ok I am crazy to do this in my balcony with a shaky mount but I got to try it. 5.2XL with a 2X barlow (366x). I can't even remember when was the last time I actually thought of throwing 366x on the moon! So how was the image? A little soft but no image breakdown!! I could still enjoy the deep contrasty craters. The CA did not increase....it was still very slight at the far edge of the moon. I am probably picking out hairs here.
I started off with 2 eyepieces thinking that was enough but I ended up with another 2 eyepieces and a barlow. I started off thinking 10 minutes should be enough but ended up an hour cramping my hand and legs. That tells you how much I wanted to breakdown this scope but ended up enjoying it instead.
This scope is amazing value for the money. Who taught the Chinese to build an APO like that?
Ok..to be very honest, it is not a 100% APO. There is extremely slight CA evident at very high powers. It doesn't bother at all, but it's there. However the sharpness and contrast of it probably compensate everything.
I had no chance to test on stars, but when looking at Jupiter, I really enjoyed the sharpness of the background stars. Pin-point sharpness that every refractor-head would appreciate. I take this scope over an 8" SCT anytime.
For the money, this scope is the bargain of the century. There is no question this scope could easily eat 50x per inch. 300x is still easy. I am not sure how the Chinese did it at such price point.
Since the scope is now worth some time, I will bring it out for a star test once I have the chance.
any questions, shoot.
"Meade" 127mm Triplet APO pictures and review
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wucheeyiun
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Mounted it on an Astroslew III with a Bogen 475B tripod. The tripod and the mounthead not an issue. They are more than capable to hold the scope. Problem is my balcony too tight and don't have enough room to setup the tripod properly.acc wrote:interesting reviewwhat did you mount this monster on? THe OTA muz be rather heavy right?
The scope is probably around 15 lbs or so.....not really that heavy actually.
I will next try to take some day time photos
Ok some update on this scope here. Did a fairly good test on Saturday night with this scope.
Brought it out to the open at my place. So this time can properly mount the scope without all the shaking. The AstroSlew III mount is more than enough for this scope although good balancing is required.
On Jupiter with a 5mm XL, think slight CA is definitely there (but had to look for it), but the festoons were super clear and the GRS can be seen too. Finding the critical focus point is not that hard. The festoons are really red and a pale pink on the GRS. Quite good for a 5" considering the half moon is just nearby shining with all its glory.
Next, star tested using Antares and the collimation was dead on with very good star patterns. M4 can be seen using a 21mm XL (45x). The moon is making this object a bit hard, but it is there.
M7, as usual is great and make a nice view. Stars are pinpoint across the edge of the 14 and 21mm XL.
Next I try to locate M17 which I think is going to be extremely difficult with the moon so near to it. But lo and behold, the nebula simply jumps out! That was quite surprising. No need for averted vision. Quite nice.
After that a bunch of kids came and I had to show them everything again and cut short my session.
But overall, this scope is great value for the money. Very sharp and contrasty. I had a hard time in the past finding M17 using a 8" SCT with the moon next to it, but it was quite easy with this 5". On the Moon, I didn't notice any CA on the limbs. Probably it is there, but not noticable. At 192x, the craters just jump out forming a very 3D effect. Nice.
Brought it out to the open at my place. So this time can properly mount the scope without all the shaking. The AstroSlew III mount is more than enough for this scope although good balancing is required.
On Jupiter with a 5mm XL, think slight CA is definitely there (but had to look for it), but the festoons were super clear and the GRS can be seen too. Finding the critical focus point is not that hard. The festoons are really red and a pale pink on the GRS. Quite good for a 5" considering the half moon is just nearby shining with all its glory.
Next, star tested using Antares and the collimation was dead on with very good star patterns. M4 can be seen using a 21mm XL (45x). The moon is making this object a bit hard, but it is there.
M7, as usual is great and make a nice view. Stars are pinpoint across the edge of the 14 and 21mm XL.
Next I try to locate M17 which I think is going to be extremely difficult with the moon so near to it. But lo and behold, the nebula simply jumps out! That was quite surprising. No need for averted vision. Quite nice.
After that a bunch of kids came and I had to show them everything again and cut short my session.
But overall, this scope is great value for the money. Very sharp and contrasty. I had a hard time in the past finding M17 using a 8" SCT with the moon next to it, but it was quite easy with this 5". On the Moon, I didn't notice any CA on the limbs. Probably it is there, but not noticable. At 192x, the craters just jump out forming a very 3D effect. Nice.
Was referring to this thread from our neighbor: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/show ... 566&page=3
Dun forget GST and all the custom related issues from China.tungkian wrote:wah..saw the quote jus now..the 127ED only goes for 815USD! and shipping is 150USD! quite cheap for a 5 inch ED refractor..and includes accessories somemore!
maybe i'll get one of them too....
One of my colleague try to ship a Canon DSLR telephoto lens from Shanghai to Singapore and in the end, kena stuck at the customs with the whole thing opened up. And although his invoice mark the lens cost USD$100, he still kena GST of SGD$120........till today he still dunno how that was derived. But he is just glad to get the lens after all the haggling with the customs. They tend to pay more attention on packages coming in from China.....dunno why, maybe wanna search for DVDs and CDs.
So becareful ya.