Reccomend me a Refractor

20 replies665 views
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
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!
Well Written
Samuel Fyfe avatar
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.
Helpful
Claudio Tenreiro avatar
Hi, I believe you have to narrow down a bit your question because by Barlow you have a full range between 1.5x to 5x, or even more, also you have the factor of the seeing. A decent f/7 ish refractor can do what you are asking but, the final result will depends if you match your pixel size of the camera will all the other parameters, so to achieve the sharp image at the resolution you want to. 
A number of ED refractors can do the job, all the way from 80mm to 110mm or 120mm of objective diameter, but the f number is relevant too. In some "recipes" it is suggested that the final combination should be around f/20 or f/21, so the f/7.5 with a 3x barlow is fine (for sun/moon/planetary).
But in my modest experience, the atmosphere stability is the more critical part when sharpness and resolution is what you want to achieve.

I apologize if I misunderstood your question, but this is what I can contrbute. I use an ED 80mm f/7.5 like the Vixen ED80Sf, a quite cheap and decent refractor, in my opinion.
Now if you want to keep the 400 mm of focal length, which I believe normally thay are around f/5, it could be possible with a 4x barlow, and many options are available. In this case, I believe that it will depend on what else you wish to do with that scope.
Cheers and CS
Helpful
Quinn Groessl avatar
A few reasonably priced options would be ZWO FF65 Apo, WO GT81 w/ 0.8 reducer, Askar 65PHQ, Askar FRA400.
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
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?
Quinn Groessl avatar
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?

The ZWO and both the Askar ones that I mentioned are petzval designs.
Claudio Tenreiro avatar
In this case I suscribe the FRA400
CS
Leonardo Landi avatar
I'm moving my first steps with the Askar FRA 400 and I definitely love it. I used it few times at full fl and now I installed the f3.9 reducer. With the latter you have to deal with backfocus, but if you use it at 400mm the petzval design really helps. Also the mechanics is really good, the focuser is rock solid. With the GM1000 I measured a RMS between 4 and 5.6 so no major flexure detected.
Helpful Concise
Oscar H. avatar
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 smile

In your situation, I would choose the 65PHQ.

But that's just me; I like to choose maximum sharpness for my budget, over speed.
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
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?
Gilmour Dickson avatar
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.

I have been very happy with my 65phq (in my case the ZWO painted one!).  I too wanted sharpness over speed.  No complaints.  Even reduced with a full frame sensor the corner stars are not too bad.
andrea tasselli avatar
SharpStar 50EDPH ED

Takahashi FS-60CB

Vixen FL55SS
Coolhandjo avatar
Askar V all the way for me. Never turning back
Coolhandjo avatar
Askar V all the way for me. Never turning back
Tim Ray avatar
I have a WO GT81 with the reducer I plate-solve at 384mm. Solid RP focuser, manual rotator is solid. Takes a ZWO EAF. Heavy, as most triplets are… does a solid job on the ASI2600's/571. 

CS Tim
Ferenc Szabo avatar
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.
Samuel Fyfe avatar
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.

@Ferenc Szabo 
Star bloat is definitely an issue with mine! No pinched optics though, which is good haha. Thankfully I’m mostly shooting narrowband so it keeps the stars a lot more in check, as well as BXT which gets me the rest of the way. It’s definitely in the budget category of scopes in this discussion, but it’s been a great introduction for me cutting my teeth in the hobby!
Shawn avatar
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!

 The Askar 71f Flat Field refractor has been great to me so far its new and around 600$ and already has like the name as a flat field and comes with  M64-M54, M54-M54, and M54-M48 adapters have a screw in for a 2inc filter aswell which is very nice ive been very happy so far with the scope it is 490mm focal if you don't mind that
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
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?

Great suggestions, but most of them are over 2,5kg

Takahashi FS-60CB seems to be the perfect match, but finding it on aftermarket can be easier said than done 
Oscar H. avatar
Askar 71F is supposedly a no-backfocus-fuss quad astrograph and  it's relatively cheap when bought new

This is directly from the Agena website:
"By using a four-element self-flattening design, the 71F allows users to avoid calculating the back focus and buying an additional flattener or spacer. After attaching a camera and focusing, the user can immediately start imaging. This further reduces the cost and improves the overall user experience."

But the Tak is better, even though I think it's a doublet, it uses Flourite (not Fluoride, like in the toothpaste )

Fluorite IMO is the king of lens materials; it should eliminate all CA and keep everything sharp even though the whole thing is only a doublet.

Just don't forget the flattener

Based on prices too, I would guess the Askar has a lower Strehl ratio too.
Shawn avatar
ive been happy with my askar 71f so far tbh imma put a link of ngc 6888 ( Crescent nebula)  in here if you wanna take a look at what I got so far with this scope im kinda  impressed with the price point and optics so far https://www.astrobin.com/wx13w3/
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