Opinions re: SV 85S APO

Considering a grab & go primarily for planets. Want quick set up & easy car transport. Originally thinking 5" Mak Cass or AT 1010. Now, thinking - save some more for small APO. Can you really push the mag further?

Opinions re TV 85? New $2080 w/o mount - I will need mount. See several used on Astromart $1400 - 1800 w/o mount & varying accessories. OR

Opinions re SV 85 S APO? About $2100 new w/ mount. Any idea of price used?

Thanks.

Gregory,

I've got a Vixen FL80S (80mm F8 fluorite apo) that I am very happy with. I routinely use it with a 3.6mm eyepiece for 178x on the planets, moon, and double stars. I have watched Io transiting Jupiter (the moon, not the shadow) on at least one evening with near perfect seeing. These scopes still obey the laws of optics and physics though, anything more than 60x per inch of aperture is going to yield diminishing returns on the planets. My advice is to get the Vixen/ Orion 80mm fluorite listed in the classifieds if it is still available - great scope at a great price. You would get 94% of the aperture of a TV85 for half the price. Another good option that would save some $ is the Borg 76ED at less than $900 new. It doesn't have quite the color correction of the TV85 of Vixen fluorite but it is a featherweight scope that can be mounted to almost anything. The borg with a Nexstar 80 mount would be a very sweet combination.

Joplin

I own an SV85S APO and could not be more pleased with it (Please see my comments on the SV85S at "Cloudy Nights"). I have owned a number of refractors over the years including a TV Genesis SDF, TV102 and NP101 and yet the SV is the refractor I plan to keep for life. The images are exquisite and the build quality is substantial. My other scopes are the Nexstar 11 GPS and Starmaster 10"EL, but the SV85S is my most used.

I've not seen one for sale on Astromart. Based on my experiences with both SV and TV scopes, I would expect the SV85S to hold its value well.

Hope this helps and best wishes regardless of which APO you go with. TV, Stellarvue, Vixen and Tak are making some great products these days.

Randy

Hello there Gregory,

If you have the budget and wants fine optics (and we all deserve at least one in our lifetime ;-), I'd say go for an APO.

The TV-85 is a fine APO. It is incredibly light, much lighter than the others. Ed Ting and Todd Gross are very impressed with it in their reviews. Here are some pictures to give you some idea on what it can do. The Jupiter and Mars pictures are simply awesome given the fact its aperture is only 85mm.
http://www.pbase.com/image/14701988/original
http://members.cox.net/bhousey/jupiter_200304122126_tv85_5x.jpg
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/4Me-PknnkNSwyU8BrYTsXL1h8x6CoRIxFMilYBRkdefLn7VWkFrkRTk4PwPoPSAp8E3JypBSyRlklUG5yfzbipRAgDQ/Astrophotos/Planetary%20Images%20Etc./jupiter3.jpg
http://usuarios.lycos.es/rbarbera/IDBP/idxgal.htm
http://www.abmedia.com/astro/dsc/
http://c-woodruf.tripod.com/unguided_sbig_st5_tv85.html
The TV-85 comes up now and then on Astromart, some with extremely attractive price.

Ron B[ee]