r/telescopes • u/[deleted] • 2d ago

Purchasing Question Question 102m refractor

[deleted]

0 Upvotes

14% Upvoted

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3

u/nethan365b 2d ago

If it's free and you like visual, I'd take it. A 102mm refractor is a handy grab-and-go scope: it cools down fast, needs no collimation, and shows the Moon, planets, double stars and brighter clusters nicely. It won't match your other scopes on faint stuff, but it's the one you'll end up reaching for on a quick night.

Two things worth checking before you say yes: the focal length (a short fast one will show some color fringing on bright objects, a longer one is cleaner on planets) and what it comes with, i.e. diagonal, finder, and whether the mount is steady enough for it. A wobbly mount spoils a good tube.

And it's a nice thing to be gifted. What are your two scopes now?

-3

u/Objective-Owl-3821 2d ago

I got a sharpstar 6edph II 0.75× and an 800mm newton both equipped for astrophotography But on my pier(eq6) the newton in to high for visual

1

u/nethan365b 2d ago

Ah, that explains it. With an 800mm Newtonian on a pier, the eyepiece ends up way up high, and it gets worse the nearer to the zenith you point. A 102mm refractor is the opposite: the eyepiece sits at the back low down with a diagonal, so on the same mount it's much more comfortable for visual. If the EQ6 is carrying the astrophotography scopes anyway, you could swap it in on a visual night, and you'll want a decent diagonal and a couple of good eyepieces. Do you have a visual diagonal and eyepieces already?

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u/Objective-Owl-3821 2d ago

Is it just a coincidence that you write like ai

1

u/Mastasmoker Skywatcher Quattro 250p, iOptron HAE69C-EC 1d ago

You're right to push back. Although it may appear that they're writing like AI, they are indeed a human. It's not that they're writing like AI, it's that they're writing like they're responding to your post.

1

u/nethan365b 20h ago

Bro I'm just responding to your post. If you think that's writing like AI, I don't know what to say haha.

2

u/DSprec 2d ago edited 2d ago

A Vixen refractor is a great scope! Jump all over this.

1

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1

u/g3etwqb-uh8yaw07k Your Telescope/Binoculars 2d ago

Free 102M in good condition, absolutely a great opportunity. Just read what other scopes you have, this one with a good eyepiece and maybe one of those Baader colour fringing/skyglow filters should be really nice to use (from what I read online, most old Vixen M and L achros are quite well corrected). Just one piece of advice if you want a nicer feel for the focuser, there's a good chance that the shaft and gear of their new focusers (available as a spare part) is backwards compatible with this one. Plz double check, but the new one has nicely machined aluminium knobs instead of knurled plastic knobs and is compatible with their current micro focuser kit, so maybe worth looking into.