Excelsis - Display Vote

TeleVue 102

I've had this scope for two months now. I'm primarily interested in lunar, planetary, and the brighter deep-sky objects, and I wanted an instrument that was easy to use, could be set up quickly, and didn't need alot of cool-down time. I also didn't want to hassle with collimation, or worry about whether or not I was going to get a "good sample" or a scope that would need to be returned, replaced, tuned up, etc. The TV 102 is perfect for this, especially on the Gibralter mount. Perfect star test right out of the box. I saw 5 bands on Jupiter the very first time I used it, and I had never seen more than two with my old Meade 90mm achromat. Saturn was breathtaking, saw the crepe ring for the first time. And even under my light-polluted skies, the contrast is so good I could easily make out festoons in the Orion nebula. The workmanship is as superb as the optics, and as if all this weren't enough, it doubles as an ultimate spotting scope for the panoramic view from my living room window!

I think "10" ratings are thrown about a bit too casually, and I might have been more inclined to rate this scope a "9", because I think Astro-Physics and Takahashi are closer to perfection. But few observers, I think, would be able to tell the difference in the images if they compared all 3 side-to-side. Throw in the fact that the TV is available immediately and costs much less than the other two (I got mine on sale at Anacortes for only $2150 for the package, not just the OTA), I think it easily deserves a "10".

If you are considering buying this scope, here's some advice:

1. The Gibraltar mount is very good for an alt-azimuth, but, like previous reviews have mentioned, it's a little shaky at high magnifications, especially in azumuth. A small amount of graphite lubricant on this bearing helps smooth it out. I'm considering buying a JMI Moto-focuser to solve the handshake vibrations, and anti-vibration pads work very well if the tripod is on a hard surface. These are relatively inexpensive solutions that preserve the mount's convenience and ease-of-use.

2. It's best if you use either all 1-1/4" eyepieces or all 2" eyepieces. All of my 1-1/4" EP's are about the same size and weight, and while it is easy to rebalance the scope, you risk losing the object in the eyepiece by switching between the two sizes. I bought the new Nagler 3-6mm zoom eyepiece, which can take the magnification from 146x to 293x, or anywhere in between, in an instant, with no refocusing. If you can afford one, I highly recommend them. As much as I'd like to have the 2" premium EP's, I don't feel like I'm missing much. My lowest-power 32mm TV plossel gives me 27X and almost 2 degrees of AFOV.

3. Don't waste your money or time with the cheap "Quickpoint" finder, it's lens is too small and positioned too far up the tube to be very useful. Either spring for the Starbeam, or get a conventional finder and the new Universal Bracket that TV just made available. With a low-power eyepiece, you really don't need a finder. I had my Gibraltar equipped with the Sky-Tour system, which takes me right to the object without having to search through my light-polluted skies, but it's an expensive alternative.

4. No matter what people say about how surprisingly good this scope's deep-sky performance is, if you really are more interested in "faint fuzzies", this is not the scope for you. Open star clusters look great, but all but the biggest, brightest globulars and nebulae are disappointing, even under dark skies. An 8" or larger dob with a good mirror would be a better choice, even with the extra hassles mentioned previously. I will always keep this scope, but in addition I plan to get a larger dob to satisfy my "aperture fever"!

I hope someone finds all this helpful!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 12 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date: 12/13/2001 05:46:43 am PST
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.173.137)
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40537

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