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Post by boomboom on Oct 10, 2012 22:57:38 GMT -5
Don't know if this has been covered already so apologies if it has. On CN there is a little bit of chat about a 6" ED lens that can be added to the common f8 fracs. Can Istar do the same thing for my f8 Skywatcher? I don't want an ED for $2K and don't mind CA of the f8 achros, or is it better to replace the lot? I have upgraded the focuser on my f8.
Matt
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Post by jamesling1000 on Oct 11, 2012 1:11:48 GMT -5
Hi Matt....
I also have similar OTA like yours...
Mine is the celestron C6R F8....
What I am planning to do with it, is waiting for the raycorr 6 to be available early next year, since there is no update from Istar on the their production samples......
And also next year when Istar go ahead and build 150mm R30.
And I will consider to purchase both the raycorr 6 and the 150R30 lens cell, for my celestron C6R OTA....
I hope the raycorr 6 will work great with my 8" F8.8 Istar......
Regards
James Ling
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Post by bn1777 on Dec 24, 2012 22:06:46 GMT -5
Matt and James , I am sure Istar will get a product just like this sorted , as in my opinion there will be a huge market for Istar in just the 150mm retro-fits alone .
I just finished my 127mm retro-fit as you both know and lots of people have watched mine here in Australia and NZ with intrest and are happy to see how easy mine was ,
Got yer ears on here Istar ?
Brian.
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Post by bn1777 on Dec 24, 2012 22:12:27 GMT -5
Oh yes I forgot , I have 2 friends in the UK with classic 102mm f12 and f15 scopes , both with damaged lenses . One of them the f12 is over 100 years old and they also watched my build with intrest and I know that Istar will be getting an order for a 102nn f12 in the new year .
Word is spreading about Istar , and thats great as their product and customer service is the best , Thanks Ales and Mike and I hope you all have a great Christmas day ,,,
,,, I am off now to get another glass of champers ...
Brian.
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Post by Ales - iStar Optical on Dec 25, 2012 3:27:53 GMT -5
Guys, we have 100mm F12 achromatici doublets usually in stock istar-optical.com/istar_031.htm . AT this moment we produce 10 units but I believe 8 of those are for one single customer (scope making company). So when ever you are ready, shoot Mike Harden an email and he will let you know what we have in stock, best regards, Ales |
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Post by Ales - iStar Optical on Dec 25, 2012 3:32:47 GMT -5
Yes we hear you Brian. Loud and clear. And we will be more than happy to retrofit any old scope with our lens. The prime example from Australia is the 220mm F/15 achromatic doublet made for the Oddie scope at Mt. Stromlo observatory. And since than we produced even larger lenses. At this moment we are producing two 250mm R30 Anastigmats and we plan to produce 270mm and 300mm lenses for one European observatory. Mike talked to me last week about similar projects so we are ready.
Best regards,
Ales
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Post by bn1777 on Dec 25, 2012 4:02:44 GMT -5
Thanks Ales , yes the Mt Strombo 220mm is stuff of legend here in Australia , and we thank you for that .
It was not looking to good after the bush fires .
Brian.
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Post by boomboom on Dec 25, 2012 23:42:33 GMT -5
Thanks all specially Brian for the fab fitout on the 127. Sounds like the best thing is to keep the SW 150 f8 and get an Istar scope a some stage. James I'll be waiting for the raycoor too for the f8.
Thanks
Matt
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Post by solrobbins on Aug 12, 2013 20:43:23 GMT -5
Hi, I have been reading this forum, from time to time, and I am wondering about the OP on this thread. My question is can an Istar 6" f/8 lens be used as a drop in retrofit into a 6" f/8 Synta cell? Thanks in advance, Sol Robbins
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Post by bn1777 on Aug 13, 2013 23:17:09 GMT -5
Hi Solrobbins , I don't know about the 150mm lenses , but my 127mm Istar lense at 131mm OD of the objective fitted in the original Saxon cell perfectly , I used it in that cell for testing while I machined up a counter cell for the beautiful Istar cell .
I would say the Istar 152mm objective would be about about 156mm in diameter , and even if the 150mm synta cell was only 154mm in dia , a little machining , 1mm a side to fit the Istar objective into would not be a problem I think .
I have a synta 150mm f8 in NZ and they have a very meaty cell with lots of material so 2mm OD would not matter at all .
Maybe Mike or Ales could give us the OD of the 152mm Istar objective ?
My thoughts .
Brian
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Post by Mike on Aug 14, 2013 13:10:56 GMT -5
I don't have the actual drawing as I'm not on my laptop but our lenses are typically 4mm larger than the advertised aperture. A 150mm is usually 154mm.
I wonder how similar (dissimilar) the synta 6" is to the Celestron 6" F8 Achro refractor as far as the lens cell?
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Post by Watcher3 on Aug 14, 2013 13:20:09 GMT -5
I'm sure the Synta cell is nothing to write home about. If the size is the same, I think that's where the similarity would end.The cell in my 120 achro holds the lens and is adjustable, but quality? Not so much.
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Post by Mike on Aug 14, 2013 13:30:22 GMT -5
I'm working on an adapter to put Istar 150mm F8 lenses on Celestron C6R refractors. They sold a ton of them but the coatings come off. I have a list of 25 people who wanted them. I should have them in a couple weeks. Since you can't remove the counter cell from the Celestron tube we machined an adapter from their counter cell to our lens cell. I dont' know if it's worth sinking $600 into an old refractor but there seemed to be a lot of interest. I guess if you have the complete outfit already including mount and scope then maybe it's worth it. Comments?
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Post by boomboom on Aug 15, 2013 0:57:07 GMT -5
Hi, I have been reading this forum, from time to time, and I am wondering about the OP on this thread. My question is can an Istar 6" f/8 lens be used as a drop in retrofit into a 6" f/8 Synta cell? Thanks in advance, Sol Robbins Hi Sol, To answer my question I decided that it isn't worth putting an Istar lens in an old Synta. Mostly because I'd be left with an old 6" lump of glass that would be pretty worthless. Much better to get a whole new scope be it an ATM or the real thing. It helped that my f8 is one of the good ones. If others want to drop in an Istar lens thats great but not to my mind. It's all or nothing for me. In Australia we would call it a 'mongrel scope' In the mean time I'm working toward a 6" f12 or an 8" f? Depends on the mount. I just fall back on the saying...Everything comes to those that wait. Cheers Matt |
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Post by solrobbins on Aug 15, 2013 9:22:57 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. My thinking was that on a Synta 2 piece collimatable cell, all that is needed is the lens properly mounted in the outer cell machined with 3 pairs of push/pull screw holes that mates with the cell that is attached to the Synta tube. Essentially a drop in replacement. A lot of folks have already upgraded Ota's with focusers, etc. What I believe Istar can do is provided a more smoothly polished, better SA corrected lens. I know the upgrade would more or less be slight in improement but have a little more appreciable benefit at higher magnification applications. Possibly Raycor ready as well. Additionally, I believe the Synta cell/lens mating could be improved and noticeable during cool down as the cell/lens mating is a very tight fit and is made out of metal that I don't stands up to the cold.
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