One way to enhance the capabilities of the ED102 would be to add a motorized focuser such as Pegasus Astro Stepper Motor Kit. The carbon fiber refractors made by Explore Scientific are lighter than there aluminium counterpoints. I have a modest collection of eyepieces, and have found that just about any eyepiece works well in this telescope, from my 40mm Pentax down to my 4.7mm Explore Scientific. The first is to utilize the existing finder scope mounting bracket to insert the dovetail bar of your autoguiding telescope. When I first began taking pictures of deep-sky objects through my telescope, they were shaky images with bloated football stars and poor focus. The telescope requires only a single counterweight on the opposite end of my Sky-Watcher HEQ-5, or EQ6-R Pro. The 82° cost more than the 68° eyepieces. The Orthoscopic is great for viewing planets and Ramsdens are still the safest (for the eyepiece) design to use for solar projection. I eventually traded in my 12mm Nagler for a 13mm Ethos to use with my 14-inch f/6 Dobsonian telescope. The designed had names like Ramsden, Erfle, Huygen, Kellner, König and Orthoscopic, to name a few. Because of its carbon fiber construction, the ED102 is extremely lightweight considering its size and the glass involved in the construction of high-quality refractors. Modest German equatorial astrophotography mounts such as the Orion Sirius EQ-G or Celestron AVX will have no problem handling this lightweight tube, with all of your photography gear included. It has 15.6mm of eye relief and a field stop diameter of 18.9mm. When using the Explore Scientific ED 102 with a dedicated astronomy camera such as the ZWO ASI294MC-Pro, it can be difficult to find the correct focus distance at first. The Explore Scientific ED80 tops my list of best astrophotography telescopes for beginners. First things first. Although the focal length is smaller, the 14mm 82° eyepiece is the larger of the two. Eye relief, exit pupils, and field of view (FOV) were much smaller than today’s offerings. The same was true with the 9mm Nagler and the 13mm Ethos. The weight of the eyepieces causes too much rotational torque on the tube. The Explore Scientific ED102 Triplet CF was built for astrophotography. The Explore Scientific 24mm 82° did not come in a 1.25-inch barrel option, so I went with the 68° 24mm eyepiece. Upgrading to the ED102 from the ED80 was an easy decision, as my loyalty to Explore Scientific was earned over 5 years worth of imaging experience. They are so heavy that I cannot use them with my 70mm apo (see ATT, volume 11, issue 2) on my iOptron Cube Pro (see ATT, volume 10, issue 6) mount. I purchased the ED80’s big brother in May 2016 with hopes of increasing the resolution and quality of my images. While the camera is capturing photons on my astrophotography target of choice, I can sit back and relax in a lawn chair and enjoy the beauty of the night sky with a pair of binoculars, or my Dobsonian telescope. When my camera is attached to the telescope, it is connected directly to the focuser tube as the diagonal is not needed for astrophotography. Plössl provided a then large 50° or more apparent FOV. You can also check out a free sample issue here. Each had pros and cons. I still have my favorite 18mm Orthoscopic and a few Ramsdens. There are two easy ways to attach a guide scope to the Explore Scientific ED 102 CF. The ED102 set up for a night of imaging. The argon purges any moisture that might condense on the lenses during cold weather use. Then I discovered Tele Vue Nagler eyepieces. 5.0 out of 5 starsDecent optics and easy to use. I predominantly used Plössl eyepieces in the 1980s and 1990s. And to make it easier for you to get the most extensive news, articles and reviews that are only available in the magazine pages of Astronomy Technology Today, we are offering a 1 year subscription for only $6! Image 3 shows the two eyepieces standing next to several other eyepieces for comparison. The true field of view of an eyepiece is calculated by dividing the apparent field of view, in this case 68° or 82°, by the effective magnification. Although this photo has been cropped from its original size, it is an excellent example of the field of view you can expect with the ED 102. Click here to get these deals which only will be available for a very limited time. I owned 31mm, 26mm 22mm, 20mm, 12mm, 5mm and 4.8mm models. My Explore Scientific ED 102 Carbon Fiber refractor. The eyepieces come with roll-up rubber eye guards that can be removed and easily replaced if they become worn. I use an Altair Lightwave 0.8X Reducer/Flattener when imaging with both my Canon DSLR or Altair Hypercam 183C camera through this telescope. The FL-AR152760EXOS2GT is a mouthful, and yet, it’s needed to determine the difference between this specific scope and others that are awfully similar within the Explore Scientific telescope inventory. Thus, I began a search for some high quality 1.25-inch eyepieces to augment my arsenal of 2-inch eyepieces. After many uses with this telescope, I have noticed the dew shield does not stay locked into place. Despite this minor annoyance, the overall build quality of this instrument is impressive. Explore Scientific ED80 Review. It’s a refractor, and it has a huge 6” aperture, and it’s under $1000. In the case of the ASI294MC Pro, the correct spacing is 55mm. Explore Scientific Firstlight AR152 Telescope Review (EXOS-2 GoTo Refractor) October 29, 2020 by Fern. The FOV is so large I have to pan my eyeball around to see everything the eyepieces capture. Eye relief, exit pupils, and field of view (FOV) were much smaller than today’s offerings. Image 1 shows the two eyepieces I purchased. The designed had names like Ramsden, Erfle, Huygen, Kellner, König and Orthoscopic, to name a few. I consider an apochromatic refractor to be the best telescope for a beginner to dive into deep sky astrophotography with. I hope that you found this review helpful in some way and that you learned a little more about this specific telescope. I’ve been using this telescope for astrophotography from my backyard since May of 2016, and since then I have enjoyed the quality of the images produced with it. The eyepieces are ruggedly manufactured with high quality materials. The true FOV for 1000mm focal length telescope is 1.1° (82 ÷ 71.4 or 68 ÷ 62.5). In addition, the photo shows a 9mm (borrowed) Tele Vue Nagler and a 13mm Tele Vue Ethos eyepieces. Today I predominantly use three Tele Vue eyepieces: the 2-inch 26mm Nagler, the 2-inch 13mm Ethos and the 1.25-inch 5mm Nagler. After testing the two 68° and 82° Explore Scientific eyepieces, I decided to stick with the 82° eyepieces and bought two additional ones. Needless to say, if you are looking to buy a professional telescope for astrophotography, have a good look at the products available from Explore Scientific. They are also heavy with my 190mm Mak-Newt (see ATT, volume 11, issue 6), since I use rotating tube rings with that telescope. Not only did I compare the eyepieces to each other, but I also compared them with a 13mm Tele Vue Ethos eyepiece, a 9mm Tele Vue Nagler eyepiece and a 15mm Tele Vue Plössl eyepiece (Image 4). A motorized focuser can really come in handy for precision focusing during an imaging session. The ED102 includes a built-in retractable dew shield, which blocks out stray light as well as protects the objective lens from moisture. Review: Explore Scientific “Essential Series” ED80. As a guy with a robotic telescope that primarily does variable star photometry I actually miss looking through a telescope sometimes! Many longer focal length Naglers came with 2-inch barrels. In my opinion, the best two scientific telescopes on this list are Explore Scientific Refractor Telescope and Professional Space Astronomical Monocular Telescope. While the Explore Scientific eyepieces are notable beefier than the two Plössls, the Nagler and Ethos eyepieces dwarf them. Since purchasing this telescope in 2016, Explore Scientific has released a new FCD100 series version. Focal Ratio: f/7 Below, you’ll see my image of the Veil Nebula captured using a dedicated astronomy camera and narrowband filter through the ED 102. Size: 2" -- Coma CorrectorVerified Purchase. Both Explore Scientific eyepieces provide sharp, high contrast views with pinpoint stars throughout the FOV. Buyers must weigh those two factors before purchasing. The current package for this telescope on B & H Photo includes a 90° Dielectric-Coated Star Diagonal. The 100° FOV is quite impressive, almost too much to take in. With high quality glass and lens coatings, Plössls provide high-contrast, symmetric views. My Explore Scientific ED80 on a Sky-Watcher HEQ5 GoTo Mount.