Can someone recommend me a 400mm refractor that would be good for deep sky and sharp on the moon when used with a Barlow?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Alien_Enthusiast:
I plan to use it with 3x TeleVue barlow for lunar
and no barlow for DSO
Also, it would be very helpful if I didn't have to use a flattener
Are there any scopes that are already corrected to have flat FOV?
FRA400 or 65PHQ
FRA400 is faster, but IMO gives slightly softer images than the next option
65PHQ is slower, but makes up for the slowness in sharpness; the stars taken with it are beautifully sharp and pinpoint.
pick your poison
In your situation, I would choose the 65PHQ.
But that's just me; I like to choose maximum sharpness for my budget, over speed.
Samuel Fyfe:
I can only speak for my experience, but I have an Astro Tech AT72EDII --> https://www.astronomics.com/astro-tech-at72edii-refractor-ota-fpl-53-f-6.html
I absolutely love it, and even with some minor water damage in shipping (UPS's fault, not the seller on CN), it still gives great images. I use a 0.85x reducer/flattener, so I'm shooting at 344mm in my images, but stock, it's at 430mm. a 1x field field flattener should be perfect. It's got superior glass to most scopes in it's price range, shockingly low chromatic aberration for being a doublet (I don't correct for it in my images, and I think it speaks for itself), and the focuser is really smooth and easy to use.
Ferenc Szabo:Samuel Fyfe:
I can only speak for my experience, but I have an Astro Tech AT72EDII --> https://www.astronomics.com/astro-tech-at72edii-refractor-ota-fpl-53-f-6.html
I absolutely love it, and even with some minor water damage in shipping (UPS's fault, not the seller on CN), it still gives great images. I use a 0.85x reducer/flattener, so I'm shooting at 344mm in my images, but stock, it's at 430mm. a 1x field field flattener should be perfect. It's got superior glass to most scopes in it's price range, shockingly low chromatic aberration for being a doublet (I don't correct for it in my images, and I think it speaks for itself), and the focuser is really smooth and easy to use.
Maybe I had a horrible luck or there was a bad batch present like a year ago, but I sent 2 of these back within just a few months. The stars were bloating in one and unable to fix, while the other had pinched optics (stars looked like clover). After that I gave up with buying Astrotech scopes.
Alien_Enthusiast:
Can someone recommend me a 400mm refractor that would be good for deep sky and sharp on the moon when used with a Barlow?
Thanks!
Alien_Enthusiast:
Upd:
I got a pretty big camera that weights over half a kilogram
and the Star Adventurer Im using has a 2.5kg limit
So I need a telescope to be at least 2kg and better if its around 1.5kg
FRA weight almost 3kg
65PHQ weights 2.8kg
Does anyone know a scope within such limits?
WO Zenithstar 61 is around 1,45kg - but its only a doublet
Askar 135FMA looks nice, a tiny triplet.
Any other options?