TMB Achromat any good?

OK...I'm looking at the 152mm Achromat that
APM scopes is advertising. Has anyone used
a TMB achromat? Is it significantly better
than a Synta/Celestron 6" refractor? Or for
that matter, could it be better than a
a Meade AR6 ???

Appreciate any experiences or leads...

K

It should be significantly better mechanically w/2.7" focuser and Takahashi-like (well, almost) tube. Optically,
it is just a Fraunhofer doublet, with 1/6 wave correction guaranteed and all the chromatism that has to go with it. It should also have very smooth optical surfaces, with claimed 1/30 wave RMS, leading to the 96% Strehl (note that the Strehl figure for this fast achromat is not a realistic performance indicator, because it doesn't take into effect chromatism, as it is not a wavefront aberration). If you want the best of this kind of instrument, I'd say it's worth the money.

I did ask Markus that question. He did say it is a very well built achromat. Much better then the syntas (should be its double the price). He did say their is some chromatic aberition but not much. I did ask if they were comparable to the Meade EDs. Markus said that the Mead had better color correction. Which that would be do to the ED glass. I am waiting to see the first in the field observations of the planets. I wonder if they will be as good as the D&G refractors since they are alot faster. One caveat the TBM are lighter about 17lbs which makes for a lighter, cheaper mount requirement instead of a G11.

I have not been a regular poster to this group, but Markus sent me an email this morning that my TMB 152 Achromat will be sent out next week. I opted to pay for expedited delivery, so I should have it soon.

I think I remember a few posts regarding the TMB/Aries Chromacorr combo, but thought I would toss out that I have also ordered a Chromacoor from John Hopper to match with the TMB Achromat. So, if the mechnanical and design qualities of the 152 Achromat are close to that of the TMB 152 APO, I should have something "close" to a $6000 scope for $2000. This probably falls in the "too good to be true" category, but Ill test it out.

I own or have owned 15 scopes (my friends would say 100) in 20 years of astronomy. I should be able to, with the assistance of very experienced others, and my friend Mr. Suiter (book friend only), be able to make some good comparisons which I will post on cloudynights.

Steve
Chicago, IL