When I worked at OPT we had a used traveller stolen during a busy Saturday. One of our customers saw it on eBay and we were able to buy it back. It had a Borg scope as a finder and it was never even removed making it easy to identify.
Thanks for mentioning Todd Gross. I bought a Pan 35 from him back in the 90s. He was a great seller, it was a fun interaction. I really enjoyed his web pages, too, much as I have yours and these videos.
For me lately, Pentax Apochromats of the past several decades really do it for me. The 75 EDHF II, with its superb optics, unique built in flattener, sliding dewshield, and its smoother lines over its first iteration is magnificent. With completely proprietary attachment formats, It truly evokes a sense of the nostalgic, if naive optimism of Japans Bubble era economics, where some very daring ideas were allowed to come to fruition under the false pretense of limitless cashflow and skyrocketing stock valuations. That some of these quirky, fantastic scopes made it stateside and were sold by Abercrombie & Fitch of all places, which adds to their unique allure. I've got a newer SDHF, but still love the EDHF II the most.
I have to agree,the vintage Pentax Apo's of the 80's & 90's have a special nostalgic feel to them. I have an early 80's Pentax J-60 achromatic,it's a great quality scope!
I had experience with 2 raycraft mirrors, both were refigured GSO mirrors, in 2005, Scott (anttlers optics) was working with raycraft on his enhanced newtonians built on GSO scopes with curved spider, antares seconday, flocked tubes and raycraft refigured primaries. He sent me an 8"f5 for review, and my friend who had his hardin/gso 12" dob rebuilt by James Grigar into an obsesion style truss dob, was impressed and sent his mirror off for refiguring, which made his dob truly premium. The premium 12 could best my good example c11 . The 8" I had for a few months was amazing
Incredible optics history lesson, to be honest, there is no one else that produces videos of this knowledge, professionalism and excellence on this subject, thank you.
I think everyone has their favorites. Mine would be the Vixen 102mm f/9 and 90mm f/9 Fluorites. Both doublets with exceptional optical perhaps legondary performance. Got me totally hooked on refractors!
Hi Ed. Great video. You missed the Ceravolo's Mak-Newts. They beat any AP up until the 130 mm on planets. I have the 145mm but I've seen through the 200 mm and they are all marvelous. The difference between mass manufactured correctors and mirrors and optician grade correctors and mirror is obvious in these scopes. I have to give it to the traveler though for contrast. One night I was able to see more Barnard objects through my friend's Traveler than through my Ceravolo 140mm.
Well, I have been fortunate enough to have acquired 2 of your most collectible telescopes. I have a Questar field model and my most prized telescope (drum roll…), a Takahashi FC-50! At 65 now, my FC-50 is my most used telescope and the telescope I’m taking into my OLD-old age. That being said, if I lived down the street from you, I most certainly would have loaned you the FC-50 for your video. Another excellent video!
I think an idea for a video subject could be " Sleeper Scopes" and include nice Vixen scopes sold under Tasco,Celestron,Cometron etc.. there are a lot of Japanese quality instruments that appear as department stor junk scopes...Just an idea. Thanks for the videos!
Every time I see you sitting at your desk, I start heavily salivating over all the absolutely gorgeous telescopes sitting behind you. One day, I hope to have even a third of a collection such as yours. Again, thanks for all the amazing information on all these beautiful older scopes. I love seeing them!
Great video! I'm surprised that Cave-Astrolla was only mentioned in passing, and nothing at all was said of D&G Optical, the elusive US-made long focal length achromatic telescope manufacturer. Perhaps a budget version of the collector scope video would be appreciated? Scopes like the Astroscan and vintage Celestron C90 are certainly collectable, though not so expensive to buy. Their quality is (much) lower, and quantities produced are higher. Nostalgia is a powerful thing when it comes to collecting!
I bought a complete and very good condition Tasco 7te-5 a few months ago for less than a tank of gas. All the original manual/literature included. It had a letter in the case from 1971 of a guy looking to get the specs of the scope, and a reply on the bottom from the Tasco service dept. The scope has the royal astro objective in it and is one of the sharpest scopes Ive ever looked through
Cool. Didn't know was so privileged to look through my brother's travel telescope. He often brings it to family gatherings to let us all see the cosmos. Takes it on planes & on various trips. Good investment & he takes excellent care of it.
I watched nearly every second of the Astro-Physics Traveller section with my mouth wide open in awe at that scope. Wow man that was a great video with some incredible scopes.
Got mine in 1993 after talking to the optician and learning he redesigned the telescope to optimize it for each new batch of glass. Had to wait 6 months for it. I have taken it to hundreds of public star parties / outreach events over the years. I’d estimate 15,000 people must have looked through it.
What a great video! I have one of the first AP Travelers, though Terry Dickinson bought one before me, and described it as the Questar of refractors. I got mine in 1991 and tested it for Astronomy magazine, along with the first 6inch f/7 EDFS, the model with the smaller 2.7-inch focuser, not the 4-inch intended for medium format film imaging. The Traveler I have has the glossy painted tube. Underneath that paint is a beautiful anodized black tube. Looked fabulous but it created constant tube currents that resulted in slightly astigmatic star images at all times. It never settled down. Back went the Traveler to Roland to paint the tube. It provided the insulation needed to stop the heat transfer. Problem solved. My Traveler lived for years in Australia, usually in a hot storage shed, to be used only once every one to two years on my visits. I brought it home in 2017, and only now exposed to cold Canadian nights is the paint beginning to chip off exposing the anodized finish below. I’m not sure what’s under the finish of the textured tube Travelers you showed. When Marge showed the prototype of the 130 f/6 EDT it, too, had a black tube - a Traveler on steroids I called it. The first production models, which I have one of, has a glossy white paint finish. Later models have a crinkled finish. In collectible scopes, there are also the rare Quantum Maks, in 4 and 6 inch sizes, made by former employees of Questar? And I would think any StarMaster Dob is now a collectible.
I picked up an old AP 4” F/6 rich-field telescope the other day. First triplet I’ve owned. Cosmetically, it’s in rough shape, but the views it provides are smile-inducing
Great review ! I have one of them : the Traveler. The version with AP focuser, new from 1999 (I am the first owner). But I have a rarest one, probably less than 20 in the world, the OMC 200. A Maksutov (Rumak) : 200f20. This is a great instrument for double star (and planetary). The issue with this one are the eyepieces. The longuest available is the Pl55 from TV.
Hey, Ed, I had a Celestron Super Polaris C102 ( I wish that I could have had the F for fluorite version) What really impressed me, aside from the optics, was the polar-axis finderscope which helped greatly when polar aligning; not always a pleasant task but necessary.
@@edting I knew a guy with an 100/1000 Zeiss APQ and the original Zeiss Abbe Orthos - pinpoint stars without any false color even at maximum magnification!
I love vintage refractor and as you said, i collect a specific builder for my collection : SYW Yamamoto. a great manufacturer who worked a lot with Takahashi. they are probably the best achromatic refractors i ever watched through :)
Ed, your review pushed me over the edge and I bought a Stowaway from someone like you who got one in the last production run. I love your videos, and in your 'what is in my collection' video recently I notice that we share a bike. I also have a Litespeed Ghisallo (and some others). Thanks for being the super pleasant and informative resource to the community. I'd like to meet you in person at a star party one of these days. Mark
What another great video. I had to chuckle at your (mistakenly) calling the RH305 as a "3-inch f/3.8 astrograph" at the 17:49 mark! It speaks volumes at the degree to which I listen to your words that I actually wondered whether that really was true .... I LOVE the fact that at least one of the Travelers has the "classic" dings that mine also came with, from unsuspecting owners who didn't realize how svelte the rings were and used too long a socket cap screw. That final table is unbelievably droolworthy. Thanks again for yet another wonderful experience.
That was fun! I don't think I would enjoy using one of those holy relics. My only relic-level scope is a Sears 6345 which is nerve wracking enough, but man what a scope! That's the pinnacle of the good department store refractor, a 90mm Astro Optical masterpiece.
Back again lol a few weeks ago i managed to pick up both an SP-C102f and a mint c80 OTA to replace a rougher one I have on a Polaris afew days later, came with a 26mm silvertop too.. both kinda found me and I got them for a great price. The C102f is unbelievable. crazy sharpness and contrast.. same league as my TSA120. I will absolutely never part with it.. I just need to find a black, manual moonlight focuser for it.
Hey Ed, I'm a beginner and love your videos, especially the ones aimed towards beginner purchasing advice. Have you thought about expanding on your beginner series to practical lessons on star gazing? Things like using star maps, locating objects through your finder scope etc.
I think I know the current owner of the "orphan" Brandon 130 lens. He lives about ten minutes from me and I've looked through the scope that was built around it.
You really know how to make us feel like kids Ed, you make great videos. Could you dedicate a video to your own collection? And how you started it? I am so curious about what you do for living (if I may ask) because when my wife knew that I expended 10k in my telescope she was not amused at all. I cannot think on how much money you have put on that collection. How do you do that? :) Hahaha
Ed you should have mentioned the Tasco 20TE. Talk about rare and extremely expensive in the mid 1960s...I believe they were around $999 USD at the time.
Hi Ed! Love your videos! They helped me to get intro to the hobby. I’ve started three months ago but devoured all your videos to get up to speed. I own 10inch Meade SCT, TV85mm (green), Stowaway 92 (3rd run), FCT-100(89). I think I have all the telescopes I need now! But still looking forward to find AP Traveler!
Surprisingly Ed, an Astro-Physics Traveler actually made it onto Ebay a few days ago. 6 bids currently at $3,550 - ending in 3 days. All the way from New Zealand!
That auction on eBay fell through. Apparently eBay would not release the funds to ship the scope to the buyer until the scope had already been shipped and cleared US customs. So the seller canceled the auction.
Great video. Oh man what nostalgia. Thanks Ed. Excellent video. You made me second guess an old Sears scope. If I see made in Japan on it I may grab it up.
Nothing better than seeing a 699.00 small Dob (Oak Classic) blow away scopes costing XXX times more money. I feel very fortunate to own one of the Zambuto versions.
I didn't know the Starmaster Oak Classic was so rare. I've been using one as my only telescope for years. Mine came with the Zambuto mirror, but also with a plastic helical focuser, which I very soon replaced with a MoonLite focuser.
Found an old F 7.1 70/500 mm small achromat branded by rokinon ( some models also branded as skywatcher) for dirt cheap, owner wasnt really into astronomy. Paired with a nikon D5300 it does pretty well even with no filters. shows little CA in photographs, I've seen similar results in the Sharpstar 61 suprisingly. Not sure if anyone's heard of this particular scope but I'm surprised by its performance.
They were $194.95 FOB Connecticut when I bought mine at age 12 in late 1969. I still have it. I took it on a solar eclipse cruise NYC to Africa and back in 1973. My father, to discourage anyone from pilfering it on the cruise, wrote my name on the tube in magic marker. I nearly freaked out, but didn't, because not too many parents let their 15 year old go to Africa alone! Near me on the ship's deck for the eclipse were folks with rather expensive equipment, including a Questar 7, and a rare Minolta 700mm mirror lens among other things. Nobody was going to steal a 4 foot long 6 inch reflector tube. Or anything else for that matter. Amazing group of people on that cruise, mostly owning their choice of equipment already.
Ed, have you ever had the chance to experience a Quester larger than the 90mm? I recall ad's in Sky and Telescope from the early 1980's showing a 7" and I think a 12 or possibly 14" that looked like a piece of art! By the way, you should do a video on Eyepieces! There are so many different types, and prices. It would be good to hear your thoughts on which ones are best for various types of telescopes. Thanks!
7 inch Questars don't quite match top 178-180mm apochromats. I had two of the Questars. Optically, they are just as good, (f/15 focal ratios versus f/9-ish) but the central obstruction takes away a bit of the contrast. Plus, you MUST make sure they are cooled down otherwise they won't compete against a large apo refractor.
Sold my FCT-125 a few years ago. I miss it a bit, but wasn't using it much and had too many 5" apos. Still have my Borg 125SD, 125ED2.8, Pentax 125SDP, TOA130F and Questar Duplex alongside other smaller Borgs, Taks, Pentax etc..
I guess you could say that anything of high quality is collectible, but you have to draw the line somewhere. A very limited number of people would foam at the mouth over the thought of owning a scope that long and skinny. They wouldn't mind looking through it, they just wouldn't lust over it as much as the A-P 105/600 that Ed finished up with.
The Version 2 Stowaway actually has about the same focal length as the 3. Both are around f/6.6. The f/7 engraving on the 2 is a “round numbers” approximation.
Ed, the Celestron 102 you mention is a nice scope, but the real gem is the C1022F. The fluorite model is the one to get... if you can find one. Keep up the good work!
Two extremely rear scopes that you didn’t mention the Zeiss west APQ F10 and F640 4” and of course their 5”. Zeiss also made the incredible AS F10 telescope also in 4”, this was a doublet.
I don't think I'll be acquiring any of those anytime soon. For a compact refractor, I'll stick with my TV101. I bought it years ago from an Arizona bird-watcher who wanted something lighter. I wouldn't mind one of those big D&G achromats, if I had the space for it, which I don't.
Wow these look amazing. Hey there in new to the hobby, I picked up a vintage GREENKAT telescope but finding it difficult to find any decent info on the. Can anyone help?
Astro Physics 6” f12 Super Planetary, $3,600 in the 80’s. My credit union would not lend money to buy a telescope, but they WOULD lend ten grand to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Even when I pointed out that the telescope will not wear out, I could use it safely even if I was somewhat drunk, it is safe from bad drivers in my observatory, much less likely to be stolen, and my homeowner’s insurance automatically covers it - and they still wouldn’t lend the money. Their reason - “well, if you defaulted on the loan we might have a hard time repossessing and selling it.” But for bank bone-heads I’d have one today. I think they go for upwards of $5,000 these days.
Ed, very nice video! I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I've been a fan for many years. I've owned several of the scopes you reviewed, but at present my group of scopes contains only two "collectibles"; neither of which were on your list. (1) TEC 110FL and (2) Zeiss AS63. The Tec is #13 from 2010 and the Zeiss, according to Wolfgang Wimmer at Zeiss, was made in November of 1963 (so it would still qualify for your 1950> list). Any opinion on either model?
Great video. I have a question on the Takahashi FC76 (or was it 78?). Is that model still currently available? Or is that lesser in quality? How would you rate the Takahashi TSA102? Is it going to be a collectible? Kind regards Jaap
Well who knows what people have seen with Queststar's or other things a lot depends on the seeing conditions,the persons eyes and where they are.I was listening to an astronomy programme where a person was saying that they had seen M81 with the naked eye!It was,he said, from the top of a mountain.
Yeah, there should probably be a Zeiss in there somewhere. The problem is I have only seen glimpses of them and don't know their line well enough. People must be hiding/hoarding them!
I was checking how much does it costs; I have mine in storage I do not use it trying to sale it. It was from my father,( traveler 105mm f6 EDT Astro-physics usa )
I've heard of more than one case where someone rescued a Questar just before it got thrown in a dumpster. Makes you wonder what else we're not catching out there.
Ed, what about TMB's????? Thomas is gone now and they were superb scopes in their time. I think you missed on that one but otherwise, great vid and subject. Nice "hot stove" talk going on around the country now, I'm sure, because of your vid. Keep it up!!!!
Good points. The concept of "collectible" is subjective. As much as I like the TMBs, I'm not sure I can point to any one model and think to myself, "Aha - that is a collectible and I must have one." Contrast that with, say a Traveler. There is no question. You want it.
@@edting I agree 100%. I knew and liked TMB/Thomas, have also met and dealt with APM/Markus, bought high-end stuff from ARIES/Valery and so forth many times. Super quality stuff, just not any specific iconic, collectible product that everyone is after.
I dont recall what scope it was, but I think ot may have been a Questar... Years and years ago when the internet was still young, I read an article about a 3.5" scope that looked like it or maybe an ETX and the subject was the specific choice of aperture and FL. The concept was that the aperture and FOV fell just inside the size of micro air cells, permitting much sharper practical resolution than larger apertures, by essentially seeing 'between' atmospheric turbulence. Ive been searching for that article for years and been unable to find it, again.
It was a common theme in Questar advertising. I would have liked to corner their marketing department and ask them if that was a reason to not buy the Questar 7 and 12 inch scopes!
