Askar 103APO Review After Four Months

Any experience with ZWO2600mc duo camera? Does the comet trail effect noted affect the guiding perfomance of the second image sensor of the duo?

I would like to contact you and experience our astronomical optics products. Could you provide me with an email address?

How you received your package is not far from the truth. What kind of guide scope and camera are you using, or what kind of guide scope and camera are you planning to use.

What do the corner stars look like with full frame and crop sensor camera with the 0.6x reducer?

I would love to get everyone’s thoughts on if Askar 103 will be a good fit with the strain wave mounts like AM5 or the yet to be released SW 150i ?

I’m assuming the ED glass is FPL 51? Seems like a very nice scope. I have a WO FLT91 and I can see the difference in the stars between FPL 51 and FPL 53. I absolutely understand the cost factor and how the Askar scopes can help promote this hobby.

I think that the coma appearance of your stars in the corners is simply from not enough back spacing. I had a similar problem on my AP 130 which was completely fixed by adding a 24 mm spacer that came with the ZWO camera kit. Correct backspacing is a trial and error thing.

I’m going to buying my first askar soon so excited

I'm really ton between this 103 APO and the 80PHQ ...😩

Do you play the Flute?

I bought this scope about 6 months ago and love it. I only got the 1x reducer. I have not notice ant comet tails in the corners so this might just be from scope to scope. Who knows. Anyway, nice review.

Hi. Must have missed it, did you use a .8 flattener for 6d?

hello, i am watching your video in korea, and the explanation is very helpful for me, so i started subscribe your channel. I recently bought and wating askar 103apo telescope and celestron avx mount, hope that my telecope and mount work very well for first astrophotograpy. Thank you.

Good video covering the features and optics of the 103. But I am not that impressed with the optics and variation from scope to scope.

Dopest channel bro. I cant sfford expensive stuff so i gotta know from here how sky looks. Good work haha

This review is so sweet... My very first documentary on Space Pipes!

I went for the 120 APO with the .8 reducer /flattener. Got first light on it at the weekend and I am over the moon with the performance. side note, I had to get an extension for the counterweight bar to achieve balance

Great review and very encouraging!!!! I just received mine with all three flatters/reducers - so someone else making some videos about it 😉

budg·et - adjective: Inexpensive.

inexpensive - adjective - not costing a great deal; cheap.

I'm tired of people in this field saying "by comparison" when calling something "budget".

By comparison a Ferrari 296 GTS is budget compared a Koenigsegg Jesko but that doesn't make the Ferrari budget.

Great review Walt
I’ve had the 120 APO since Christmas and love it
Cheers Simon

What a difference a telescope and astro camera does huh :) Congrats on your new scope! I'm doing the same as you but backwards - just got the RedCat51 WIFD. It's gonna be brilliant on the AM5 ;)

I just received mine today with all three accessories and I am impressed with the quality of the scope and the reducers. I'm really excited about this purchase. My other scope is an 8 inch Edge HD and I was actually looking for less focal length and a wider field, and the nice part about this scope is it's like getting three scopes in one. I will also enjoy visual observing while using the ASIair for assisting EAA. Great stuff, I'm happy with this one ! Cheers from the high desert in Utah.

I have this scope with all the attachments. I use a full frame Nikon Z5. But I shoot using the M54 option with an Askar t-ring adapter. This allows for a true full frame image. My stars in the corners are a bit better because of this. I do have a bit of vignetting in the corners. Overall I love the flexibility this system provides. I also traded out the dovetail for an Askar 300mm losmandy base more stable in my mount. Great video!

First I've seen your channel and wanted to say this was a great video. I appreciate the balance of entertainment and information more than I can say. I just got my Askar 103 last week and haven't had much of a chance to test it out yet, thanks to the terrible weather here but hoping to get out there soon. It's a big upgrade from my ZenithStar 61 and I'm excited to have double the focal length. I also picked up the 0.6x reducer for some fast imaging and versatility. Happy to see that the stars are pretty awesome at the edges even with a large sensor.

😅 Nice intro

FYI, there's a script preloaded into PI that deals with Canon banding, "CanonBandingReduction"

Oh, it's worth a crap for sure. I have had mine for 9 months now. Love to show you some of my OSC photos.

The entertainment-value of your videos is as good as the informational and educational value.

Perfect video Walt. I was thinking of a Sky Watcher 80mm but what heck. An ASKAR looks like a better solution. On a different note, we are driving from Colorado to Dallas for the eclipse. Are you planning a solar adventure

What do you think about Askar V? I'm more inclined to that. Get multiple scopes with one module.

This guy definitely hits the space pipe before filming

Purchased an Askar 103 APO a few weeks ago and unfortunately mine had enough chromatic aberration for red stars to have a purple tinge. Saw the same issue in units purchased by two others in the last few weeks. I suspect one of the primary tradeoffs they made in getting the price lower than alternatives is loose quality control. It’s too bad mine didn’t work out because the mechanics of mine were fairly nice, especially for the price point.

Great review and I love your video style

❤❤❤

I was looking at this variable fl APO for some time now. The .6 reducer produce some terrible corner stars and most from what I’ve read that the .8 reducer and flattener was acceptable. With BlurX AI 4 could correct just about any aberration and elongated stars there is while using the .6 reducer. Askar also have back focus adjusters or those plastic shims to begin with adding a few mm to the back focus. Although resolution at f4 103 aperture won’t be that sharp. But almost anything can be fixed at post. What might give me a go in getting this refractor is due for its budget price tag and my time to use it if I’m adding an AM5 mount in the mix. Practically a new field setup that’s portable enough. Great review!

You certainly need a comedic element when you even start taking that that white piece out for the 0.6 reducer. Great review.

Love this scope! 420mm f4 and 700mm f6.8. Two 4” APO scopes for $1300? With the 533mc pro there is no distortion at all. I’m not even using the flattener at native (didn’t buy it just to see how it went) and great images. Couldn’t be happier at this price point.

I purchased a 103 and am using it with a HEM 27 and a Sony A6000. I bought the 8 focal reducer. Stars are pinpoint . I use a WO bahtinov mask sized for the unit. My entire rig weighs 17 pounds.

Beautiful Sperm Nebula!

I have the 103 with the 1x and the .8 reducer. I have really been enjoying it.

Nice job! I went with the ZWO FF107, but kind of have my eye on the Askar 185. 👍

I bought the Askar120 APO and love it but was looking at this one as well. Chose the longer focal length and haven't looked back.

I love my 103, I sold a Stellarvue 103 and replaced it with the Askar and it's every bit as good. I really love the focuser as well, autofocus runs are perfect every time.

Walt, I don’t know if you already have a fix for your comet tailed stars, if you want to keep as much of the frame as possible, but Siril has a dynamic PSF feature which fixes any and all stars which have roundness issues. Similarly, it desaturates the stars extremely well also.

I'm running a t5 and seeing that is pretty wild. Never had a lens like that but had a few others and had a somewhat similar experience. That's not bad at all

How do you eliminate the Amp glow from the asi294 ?

This could be my dream telescope with 2 changes - get rid of the orange color (green, blue, purple, red, grey anyithing could be better) - 2nd: FCD 100 glasses. I would pay 50% more for this versatile scope