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Stellarvue 102APO

First of all, the specs of this scope have changed. The 102APO I purchased in 2004 is an ED doublet, f/8.7. The current price is about $2K. Overall this is a great scope, outstanding optics, with the only downside the tube design is a little less refined that some other brands.

First, the good news. The optics of this scope are outstanding. Views are extremely sharp & high contrast. There is some false color, but it is minimal. I don't think 99% of observers will be bothered by it. For instance, on Rigel, as the star flickered in seeing, occasionally there would be the slightest bit of violet appearing around the star, really indistinguishable from distortion caused by turbulence. Only the most obsessive astronomers would object to this (IMO).

But if you're accustomed to high-quality refractor viewing, right away you know that this lens is the real deal. Very tight star images & dark sky background. I got to compare it briefly with a TV102, the SV102 was at least as good in all respects. I really didn't see any difference, but we only compared them for about 30 minutes on a few objects.

The FeatherTouch focusser is awesome, it easily blew away the TV102 focusser. Not much to say here, the focusser is basically the ultimate, you can't get any better.

The tube itself is slim also, at 4 1/8 inch diameter. Compare this to the TMB 4-inchers, which have a much wider and more cumbersome tube. This scope is also quite short with the dewcap retracted.

Now, a few negative comments. For one, the tube is heavy. Significantly heavier than the TV102. It seems to be the lens cell, you would think it was made of lead. Also, I did not like the retractable dewcap. It is big in width and length, and much of the length stays behind the lens cell, i.e., it doesn't extend out very far, given its overall length. Also, the sliding mechanism consists of felt lining the inside of the dewcap! This makes sliding it back & forth difficult, it moves in a herky-jerky fashion and takes a lot of muscle to move it, proving difficult to do once the scope is mounted.

Also, I have to think that in time the felt will begin to flake off & get on the lens. The TV102 dewcap was also a little difficult to slide, but not as bad, and no felt. I have to say I was surprised at seeing this design in such a high-quality scope.

Finally, I also saw a couple metal shavings on the back of the lens, obviously left over from assembly. I don't want to see this on an expensive scope! I didn't think it was worth sending the scope back to remove them, but still, on a handmade instrument, I would like to see a better job of cleaning up after assembly.

Overall, an excellent performer at a great price. You could spend more on a TV102 or FS102, but the views through this scope will be at least as good, if not better. And the FT focuser is definitely better.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:10 Ease of Use:8 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 04/22/2005 03:19:08 am PST
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.156.181)
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=433123

One more thing to add to my review - the SV102 is well baffled internally, this seems superior to TeleVue's method of black flocking paper.

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