Australian Sky Telescope MayJune 2017

68 AUSTRALIAN SKY & TELESCOPE May | June 2017

travelofthedrawtube,andI’llreturn

tothisinamoment.

InadditiontomyApogeeandFLI

CCD cameras mentioned above with

KAF-16803chips,IalsotestedtheFSQ-

130EDvisuallyandwithafull-frame

NikonDSLRcamera.Anyonefamiliar

with Takahashi equipment knows that

configuringascopeforvisualand

imagingapplicationsinvolvesadapters.

Asoneofmyfriendsandalong-time

Takahashi owner recently quipped, the

company“hasafetishforadapters,and

adapters for adapters, and also adapters

for adapters for adapters”. It’s true.

Glancingatthesystemchartin

themanualfortheFSQ-130EDshows

a bewildering number of bits and

pieces that screw together for the

variousvisualandimagingsetups.But

fortunatelythescopeItestedarrived

withexactlywhatIneededforeach

ofthesetupsItoldthemIintended

touse.Thedownsideisthatmanyof

theseadapterscostbetweenUS$100

andUS$200eachiforderedàlacarte.

Thereare,however,kitsofferedthat

bundle popular adapters at a reduced

price. And while I’m on the topic of

manuals, there currently isn’t one

availableonlinefortheFSQ-130ED,

buttheoneforthesmallerFSQ-106ED

(takahashiamerica.com/manuals/FSQ-

106ED.pdf)isverysimilarandcanbe

downloaded for free.

Performance

If I had to use one word to describe

theopticalperformanceoftheFSQ-

130ED, it would be ‘outstanding’. Stars

were absolute pinpoints from corner

tocornerwithallmycameras,andthe

fall-off in illumination (vignetting)

eveninthecornersofa38-mm-square

KAF-16803chipislessthan10%and

easilyfixedwithastandardflat-field

calibration. My astrophotography

showednosignsofflaringorghost

imagesduetobrightstarsinoraround

thefieldofview,andthesmallhaloes

that surrounded exceptionally bright

starswerealmostcertainlycausedby

thewindowandfiltersinmyCCD

camera rather than by the telescope

optics. The scope’s visual performance

is equally superb.

I’ve used other high-end instruments

thatareinthesamecategoryasthe

Takahashi.Themostnotableones

being the Astro-Physics 130mm f/6.3

StarfireGTXwithitsf/4.5focalreducer

andtheTeleVue-NP127is,whichisa

127-mmf/5.2system.Withoutaside-

by-sidecomparisonundercontrolled

conditions,Ican’tsayanyoneofthese

scopes delivered better star images than

the other two. But the FSQ-130ED

does have the largest imaging circle

andeasilycoversaKAF-16803sensor,

whiletheothertwoareneartheir

limits with this size chip. It’s difficult

formetoimagineanyoneexpecting

moreperformancefroma130-mmf/5

astrograph than what the Takahashi

delivers.

When testing equipment for our

productreviews,Itrytousetelescopes

thesamewaythatreaderswould

typicallyusethem.TheFSQ-130ED,

however,wasabitofanexception.I

thinkthiscalibreoftelescopewould

likelyenduppermanentlyinstalledin

adark-skyobservatoryandsetupas

adedicatedimagingplatformwitha

singlecameraandsometypeofadd-on

motorised focuser. Furthermore, high-

endscopessuchastheFSQ-130EDare

SThis collection of adapters (with several comprising two pieces already screwed together) is

whatthe author needed to use the FSQ-130ED with 1¼- and 2-inch eyepieces, with his Nikon

DSLR camera, and with Apogee and FLI large-format astronomical CCD cameras.

SAs described in the text, an adjustable-

friction locking lever on the focuser prevents

the drawtube from slipping while still allowing

focusing with the coarse and 10:1 fine-focus

knobs.

AS&T TEST REPORT