FLUOROSTAR 120 F/6.5 APO TRIPLET

FLUOROSTAR 120 F/6.5 APO TRIPLET William Optics quality refractor optics are very sharp and a top quality focuser very happy with the refractor not to heavy for my losmandy G11 mount
I have looked at the planets Jupiter and Saturn 150 x could easily see the band clouds on Jupiter and the rings around Satern easily seen very sharp and clear using this refractor mostly for imaging i have taken NGC2070 Narrow Band which i will post on here. the refractor is top notch for Astrophotography taken with x0.8 Flattener 7. Perth Hills.
Martin Williams

Out of the box, or 'soft' case, the Fluorostar 120 is a very impressive bit of kit. Tube rings and dovetail are beautifully machined with all sorts of accessory attachment points. Loosen the knobs a little on the tube rings and the scope slides smoothly to adjust balance. The finish on the scope is a lovely matt pearl white - not sure if it's powder coated, but it's a huge step up from the usual Chinese ED scopes. The long dew cap slides smoothly out and can be locked in place with a nylon tipped screw. If I was really, really picky, I could say that the dew cap does droop just a mm or two when fully extended - but that's nitpicking. Focusser is very, very impressive with the rotolock, 90mm of travel and the ability to rotate either the whole focus unit including the knobs, or just the draw tube. Either rotate smoothly with no play - ideal for adjusting either camera angle or diagonal position. The fine focus also works very nicely. Travel is smooth although not completely uniform in tension on my scope - again, I'm being very picky as it does not affect the focusing at all. I've only been photographing with a DSLR and the focusser has been holding that without problem or effort. In the past I have found EQ mounts to be an absolute PITA for visual, but having the ability to easily rotate either the draw tube or the entire focusser has taken the pain out of it.

First light was late afternoon after I had put it on the AZEQ6 and aimed it out the observatory door at a distant transmitter mast. I was surprised at how neutral, flat and free of fringing it was, so much so that I immediately grabbed the 7mm Delite and had without doubt the cleanest daytime view I'd ever seen. The atmosphere must have been very steady at that time. Venus was the first night time target, and with the 7mm, the best view of Venus I've seen. Just the barest hint of yellow on the edge - and I can't say that wasn't my glasses or eyepiece. No color at all on Jupiter's outline or the edge of the Moon. Nor have I seen any CA in the photos I've taken with the DSLR.

I have been suitably impressed with the optics both visually and for AP. I was hoping that a nice Apo Triplet would give me a nice color-free image and not show signs of falling apart under 100-plus magnification. The 120mm is actually better than I'd hoped it would be - just when I think, nah, this will be too much power for the current seeing, it surprises me by wanting a little more. Star images are tight, pinpoints with uniform and perfectly circular airy discs - not identical either side of focus, but from my understanding, they are very good.

The 2" ES 34mm (68) gave a much more impressive and flatter view than I was expecting - another 'wow' moment. As was an older 9mm Vixen lanthium eyepiece when I popped that in for a look at Jupiter - best I've ever seen through it.

It's very compact for a 120mm with the focus racked in and dewshield retracted. It feels very solid and relatively heavy for its size. With a small guide scope and red dot finder, my two 5kg weights are around an inch from the end of the counterweight bar. The case is well padded and compact and should be excellent for transporting to the occasional star party.

In the flesh, this scope did not disappoint and looking through it, is even better than looking at it! I'm looking forward to many dark nights spent with it.

The photo of M42 is 5 x 30 second un-guided exposures under a full moon. Comet Leonard was photographed in a twilight sky (30s exposures) and Tuc 47 also under a full moon.