What are yall's thoughts? I have attached a little spreadsheet comparison of the three scopes I'm looking at.
#FRA 400 vs 65PHQ
still pebble
median ingot
May I suggest the Askar 71F
There is a 0.72 reducer upcoming
And you can use a barlow of course
What is your goal/aim to do with them ?
still pebble
I want a scope around 400mm, would be used for nebulae, larger galaxies, and star clusters. Want something higher quality and larger than my evoguide 50 I use now.
still pebble
May I suggest the Askar 71F
There is a 0.72 reducer upcoming
And you can use a b...
I have not looked into this one I am now intrigued
I would still be slightly undersampled technically
median ingot
Askar 65 and 71 fit the bill 😄
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/421810-askar-71f-flat-field-astrograph-review/
And there is more on YT ( if you needz moving pictures )
still pebble
This does bring up the possibility of me running it high focal length with no reducer for smaller targets at the cost of speed. But I can add reducer when it releases whenever I want for a faster scope
median ingot
Yes, it is expected in September
Don't know where you live, do a search for $ price, if appliacable
ripe island
I want a scope around 400mm, would be used for nebulae, larger galaxies, and sta...
I'm in exact same position as you and considering the same upgrades
median ingot
Upgrading the Askar 71F ?
Good men !!!
ripe island
Askar 65 and 71 fit the bill 😄
I've been looking at that 71f. It looks very intriguing but is quite slow at f6.9. That will roughly double integration times compared to the Evoguide 50ED. You'd need a reducer on that to get the focal ratio down to something sensible and that's not available yet
median ingot
Not yet indeed
ripe island
I'm not looking to buy until late this year or early next, so that might be a potential candidate after all
median ingot
But it is good for visual as it is. And with a good mount and some automation who cares it is not that fast. The reducers will be available in September... Well, I can wait.
It is a good and sturdy scope imho. With me it rides on an AM3
ripe island
I'm in UK and we get approximately 2.9 cloud free evenings every year, so every second counts
double integration times will kill me 😮
I do have Askar 103APO with a reducer on my radar too. I'd love to push the boat out and get a TS Optics CF-APO 90/600 with reducer but that's just too extravagant
median ingot
is from just over the pond, same garbage
Are you experienced in astrophotography ?
My advise is to start small. All the extra gear can be transplanted from your small today scope to your future photon-buster later. And all you need then is that HUGE scope
ripe island
Are you experienced in astrophotography ?
My advise is to start small. All the ...
Yeh been doing it a few years with some degree of success https://astro.wheep.co.uk/
still pebble
I'm in exact same position as you and considering the same upgrades
I think I’m going to go for the 65PHQ and buy the reducer as well for when I want to image faster
Reducer makes it 312mm but f/4.8
ripe island
that would be a similar price to the FRA400
still pebble
Then I can essentially have two scopes on my hand; a larger focal length version for when I want more details. But then a faster scope for when I don’t have the patience
still pebble
that would be a similar price to the FRA400
I’ve heard from multiple people that the fra 400 has worse stars
The fra also has an absurdly small dovetail mount which makes it complicated to condense the setup
Vs
ripe island
we have too many choices 😄
still pebble
Nah fr 😭😭
I think I’m committing to the 65PHQ when my paycheck comes in though, seems like the best choice for me
ripe island
I'm also tempted by William Optics GT-71 II with 0.8 reducer
still pebble
Yeah another option in the mix