I just bought this telescope today. My first telescope. I had been searching for the right scope for over 2 years and today I pulled the trigger. Now I need everything else, but I saved up for them and now I'll need a great mount for my endeavors into astrophotography. Great review and I've watched it many times and this and other videos really helped in my decision. Thank you. Me
Michael is a very good presenter that brings a lot of warmth and humanity to his insightful videos. His channel is like the Astronomy Channel for the Rest of Us. I only wish that he would make more of these presentations!
I bought ES 102mm ED last week but I'll only receive in January or February. My aunt will bring it when she was visiting Brasil. I will use 102 for astrophotograph. Will be my first experience with refractor. Congratulations! Good video!
Nice video on the scope. I have just received this same scope and I am going to use it on a HEQ5PRO mount, with ZWOASI 183MC, guide cam and ZWO ASIAIR PLUS. There are plenty of smaller objects that I can photograph in the night sky with this F-RATIO scope, wish me luck as this will be my first use of something other than a DSLR. The HEQ5PRO mount with Rowan belt mod tracks really well, it is a great mount.
This was my first telescope too, used it for 4 years, it was a great telescope. I will say i did have minor quality assurance issues that I had the older model and the diagonal had issues where the glue would wear out and the mirror inside the diagonal fell off(fortunately mine was already that way and High Point hooked me up and gave ma good deal on a meade 2" diagonal.). Now I have a Meade LX200 8". Great video!
Can't beat a good refractor for imaging. A 102 is a very capable scope. Very crisp, aboration free views/images. Almost maintainance free. The size makes it easy to transport. No central obstruction, no culminating.
i liked your presentation flourite glass has a compensatory index of refraction to bring the high end of light spectrum closer to red-yellow to give a closer total focal point for the visible spectrum looks great..hope it works as good s it looks dave z
Congratulations! I bought the same scope and am happy with it. I eventually upgraded the focuser to a 2" Moonlight with motorized focus. A wonderful upgrade if you should ever consider it. Rock solid.
@@Iameli81 It depends on what you want. Third party accessories can be purchased from many on line retailers, just search for what component you want. Cloudy Nights website has forums for all levels of experience and a classifieds section also. RU-vid is also a great educational resource.
Thanks to you and your video I ordered a ES 102ED and Celestron Advanced VX mount! Thanks, can't wait to get it! It's October and it won't ship till Nov 17! Can't wait!
Realy like this scope and I am doing tons of research now for what scope I am going to buy. What I don't understand is WHY does Explore Scientific not provide anything with this scope. It would be nice if they could come up with a package like almost every other scope company does, like providing a two-inch diagonal, a couple of eyepieces, and a field flattener, and a finder scope. If they did I would buy it hands down. But I guess I am going to have to go with Skywatcher or some other group.
Congrats for the gear, you've made an excellent choice for a refractor over the SCT, the SCT might lure you with their aperture but the long focal length means smaller FOV and that puts most the DSOs out of the game, besides the large F-ratio wll need longer exposers and complex guiding ( unless with a reducer or HyperStar for celestron which is more money) so this wield field APO will deliver staggering results and maybe when you get more experience you can switch to an SCT or an RC. Good luck and can't wait for the other gear and for you to start taking shots. Clear Skies :)
Thanks, Ahmed. Yes, it was a close call and I'm glad you think I made a good choice. I still have a lot to learn but the weather hasn't been cooperating whenever I'm available so for now, it's mostly research and simulation. Clear skies!
Thanks, because of you putting together the exact setup I am gathering for my setup, I am looking at getting the ES 102 carbon fiber. Bit more than the non CF version but think it will help in weight savings. 👍
Hello!!!, good video, I really like that telescope, and I want to buy it, could you tell me how much it really weighs? (only the tube with the rings). Thank you so much!!!
I have the celestron cgem ii, explore 152mm 4 filter lenses on the diag and when want to see moon add the 13% moon filter. I can tell you this and this is that it is just perfection with a explore scientific 100degree lenses I have from 9mm 14mm and 30mm I have.
BTW all the filters are baader glass lenses best you can get and I use a telerad viewfinder my opinion best to setup the goto system. All the lenses are 2" along with the 2" glass lenses. Like with anything like you the scope you have is only as good as the weakest link in the chain. I have mine solid and no weak links and just rocks the socks off even people with 18" telescopes that have weak links in the chain :-)
Hi Michael and thank you for your wonderful videos. Have you done anything in relation to installing and aligning the celestron Polarfinder scope on the AVX mount, or using the Celestron Starsense?
I bought the same telescope about 6 or 7 months ago. I like it very much, have it on a Twilight 1 mount and it works fairly well for Grab & Go. I do wish I had more aperture however, I get some great views of stars. Pin points and in low light conditions can get some great views of clusters. Went to a sidewalk astronomy when the moon was fairly big and had huge compliments on the details of the Moon that I was pulling in with a cheap Bresser eyepiece. Best of luck and clear skies
Congrats on the scope! I'm putting together my first AP setup and so far it is identical to yours ; ) Ps. Can you post a video with some pics through the scope?
Hey, thanks for the post. I'm looking at this exact scope now. Now that you've had some time with it. How do u like it? Have any deep sky pics you've taken with it u can share?
If you went with the Explore Scientific scope, why on earth did you go with an AVX instead of the Explore Scientific EXOS2-GT with PMC-Eight, which has belt drive?
I'm sure the EXOS2-GT is a fine mount but, at the time, my research revealed that there were some alignment bugs and growing pains with this mount that I didn't want to deal with yet. Thanks for the comment, knarfster.
Nice video but you fail to mention the law of physics... More aperture does not always give you more light/visual as it also receives more atmospheric disturbance. Most likely you will get the same "light" from both scopes you mention. As always the refractor is more of a planetary scope than the SCT. Thanks again for the nice video.
Really enjoy your videos. I have an 8" orion reflector/dob and am considering a refractor such as this. I do not have much interest in astrophotography. I prefer clusters, double-stars and some dso's. What are your thoughts on this ES APO in terms of aperture and optical quality since you've had it a while?
Hello Michael: Great video. I ordered an Explore Scientific FirstLight MAK100mm to start watching the sky but unfortunately is in back order and the store told me that it will be shipped around August (that makes my cry when I see Jupiter and Saturn every night). I'm considering doing astrophotography eventually and for that reason, I'm considering canceling the MAK100mm for an AR102 to start making visual until I can afford a DSLR or CCD camera. What do you think? Thanks in advance.
what is that right angle viewer you have there? Edited: Wow I am a dump arse. So I purchased the same exact scope. I didn't notice the three extra pieces on the outside edge of the foam in the box and when I went back to look at my purchase I saw them. So I had to go to the trash can and get 'em. Had it not been for this video, those pieces would be in a land fill tomorrow.
I bought also such a telescope and I share the impression that its quality is very good. Since I want to use ist for astrophotography I' looking for a suitagle flattener. Which one is the best ?
