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SVR105 Raptor - Customer Comments
The SV105CF arrived today! I realize that not everyone is thrilled
with the appearance of carbon fiber, but I find it very attractive.
Mm, mmm, it looks great, and after I settle down some I'll post some
photos.
I must have complained just right because the weather gods smiled
today. The only fly in the ointment was light pollution. We're
snowbirding in Pahrump, Nevada and this quirky little town isn't so
little anymore. Seems that most folks here are fond of their lights,
and without tall trees to block the view you can see most of them
when the sun goes down. To try to block some of the glare I set up
between our RV and the neighbor's. This helped some, but severely
limited my horizons. Still, there were things to look at, and seeing
was very nice. Rigel and Sirius didn't twinkle at all.
This report won't be as detailed and concise as those presented by
other members of the group, but I have to start with the high point
of the evening. With an 8mm Radian plus 2.5x Powermate yielding ~230x
the E star in the Trapezium was there without a quiver. Rigel was an
easy split at medium powers and only became iffy down at ~53x with a
14mm Radian. After gazing longingly at M81 & M82 I decided that DSOs
could wait for a move to darker skies.
What about the 105 Raptor you ask? Oh boy, what can a rank amateur
say? It's just what you'd expect of a Stellarvue apo. Zero CA. I
don't play any hot licks at star tests but it sure looked fine to me:
diffraction rings inside and outside of focus? Oh yeah! The Feather
Touch focuser and Stellarvue fit and finish need no introduction. The
dewshield has a couple of thumbscrews to adjust the friction when
sliding the shield in or out.
This, friends, is one superb telescope. Had I to make the choice
again I wouldn't hesitate. Me an' Raptor, we'll go far!
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I had not had a chance to observe the heavens for many moons, and last night I
was able to accompany some other members of the local club to a dark sky site
outside of town. My stars and garters, what magnificence! While we were admiring
Jupiter, one of the folks broadened his view and hollered, "Look, is that
zodiacal light?" It was a first for me, and for the first moments all I saw was
an extension of light pollution from a town in that direction. Then it became
clear that this light extended too high above the horizon to be an artifact.
Wowser! What a break from my months long photon fast.
The rest of the evening was a continuation of wonderfulness. With my trusty
SVR105 I picked off one Messier object after another; filling several blanks in
my Astronomical League records for the Messier merit badge. I even picked out
some NGC objects which were in the same field of view with some of the Messiers.
Seeing was maybe six out of ten, transparency was good, the beehive cluster was
visible to the unaided eye. As I gave my SV scope a workout, one of the other
members used his twenty inch Dob to pick out a bunch of faint targets, to
include the Horsehead nebula. No, Ah ain't spoofin' ya! Ah seen it with mah own
eyeball! This trick was accomplished using an H-Beta filter and twenty inches of
aperture. Now all we gotta do is get Vic to build a 20" f/2 apo scope for us.
Has to be around f/2 for compactness; airline carry-on ya know.
What a cool hobby...makes ya wanna share it with others.
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Hello Vic: Just thought I'd drop You a observation report of My recent purchase of a 105 raptor. Last night seeing about 8 or 9 pretty rare up in this area. Mars was clean at 147x pentax xo 5mm ep, lots of detail even at 12sec dia disc, this eyepiece is well matched with this objective, stars nice round discs/very little light scatter this is a perfect grab & go size scope, I just thought You might like to hear about it. Purchased from Skies Unlimited.Thanks Vic!
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I joined the local astronomy society and we had a small star party of around 35-40 people. The SV105 Raptor I have was admired and envied all night long! Everyone kept talking about how beautiful and crystal clear the optics were, they couldn't believe that a 4" refractor could see the Veil Nebula so clearly and with so much hidden detail; the phrases of the night were "Absolutely Amazing!" and "Oh my God!". I also had a chance to look at a few other scopes and none of them 12" of aperture or less could come close to the contrast and clarity I saw through the Raptor.........This telescope beat the pants off of everything there (Minus the 24" 14-foot high Dob). I can't tell you how proud I am of your telescope and how lucky I feel to have one of my own. Thanks again, Stellarvue!
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I'm a new owner of the SV105 Raptor also and very impressed with the construction of
the scope. The combination of optics, carbon fiber tube, and 3" feather touch
focuser is wonderful combination technology and practicality for the amateur
astronomer. I now know what people mean when they refer to a good three or inch
scope as a lifetime scope. The optics performed optimally, going beyond what I even expected, which was a pleasant surprise.
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I found the SVR105 scope to be an excellent visual performer. I obtained excellent
contrast in star fields and planetary without fighting with back focus or
overshooting the focus. The focuser had wonderful adjustments options and there
is nothing flimsy about the Feather Touch.
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Vic,
I took delivery of my new SVR105-3 Raptor yesterday and all I can say is what a fine crafted instrument it is! Exceeded my expectations. It looks most impressive on my mount with the SVR80ED attached as a guider scope. Thank you for such a fine job and thank Shelly for being patient with my repeated calls on updates. Well worth the wait!
I do have a question regarding the contents of the shipment. When opening the C9 case, I noticed you had placed a white box approx. 5"x5"x4" on the accessory side of the case with the label, '"Clouds" Do Not Open'. Ummm... since I'm not one to take notice of instructions... ah... do you sell the accessory that packaged this box? Since I only had the box open for a couple seconds, will I be OK say in a few days? I don't remember ordering this and its not on my invoice so should I send it back? LOL It was a nioe touch and what makes dealing with Stellarvue a personal experience.
Thanks for the quality put into this product and looking forward to some great imaging fun someday with this setup!
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I'm with you. I had a 12" SCT and it was great for visual and brought great
memories. Now that I have the astrophotography bug I found the enormous focal
length to be a thorn in my side, especially since I have a portable setup. I'm
a new owner of the SV105 Raptor also and very impressed with the construction of
the scope. The combination of optics, carbon fiber tube, and 3" feather touch
focuser is wonderful combination technology and practicality for the amateur
astronomer. I now know what people mean when they refer to a good three or inch
scope as a lifetime scope.
I found the scope to be an excellent visual performer. I obtained excellent
contrast in star fields and planetary without fighting with back focus or
overshooting the focus. The focuser had wonderful adjustments options and there
is nothing flimsy about the Feather Touch.
I also purchased the CGEM mount with my raptor. I used to do one hour drift
alignments before I even started imaging with my older setup. Now I'm taking
darks within thirty minutes of me putting the vehicle in park. I find the
Nexstar software to be very AP friendly or a good addition to the meticulous
visual observer.
I've got about 6 hours in ont he setup due to the fact my first light observing
night it was 10F outside. I'm going take the dive on making my setup guided and
I have questions on that path
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