Refractors

More Information  · Supplied Accessories  · Recommended Accessories  · Images of Some Features Price $995.00 Shipping $24.95 Highest Useful Magnification 236x Visual Limiting Magnitude 12.5 Focal Length 709mm Focal Ratio f/6.95 Resolution 1.14 arc seconds Aperture 4" Net Weight 10.2 lbs. Warranty 2 years

• 102mm f/6.95 fully multicoated doublet optics using ED glass
• rotating dual-speed 2" Crayford focuser
• 2" and 1.25" brass compression ring eyepiece holders
• split tube rings with detachable Vixen-style dovetail for installation on virtually any mount
• illuminated multiple reticle finder
• aluminum-frame hard case
• two-year warranty

    Look at all the standard equipment features you get with this Astro-Tech refractor that are either extra cost options with competitive scopes in a similar (or even higher) price range or are simply unavailable with the competition. You get a rotating 2" Crayford focuser with a microfine 11:1 fine-focusing ratio. The focuser can rotate a full 360° to put your camera or eyepiece in the most comfortable observing position. You get an illuminated metal body multiple reticle finder, not just a simple molded plastic red dot finder as with one of its more-costly competitors – or no finder at all.

    Want more features? You get an aluminum-frame lockable hard case as standard equipment, not an extra-cost option. You get dual split mounting rings with a detachable 8" Vixen-style dovetail plate that lets you mount your AT102ED on virtually any altazimuth or German equatorial mount, not just the single clamshell ring some competitive scopes are equipped with. You get a two-year warranty, double that of competitive scopes. The finely-machined Astro-Tech AT102ED comes with both 2" and 1.25" eyepiece holders using non-marring brass compression rings that won’t scratch your star diagonal or eyepiece barrels.

    As with all Astro-Tech scopes, the AT102ED gives you fully-multicoated ED optics that are essentially free of the annoying halo of unfocused violet light (chromatic aberration) that mars the bright-object images of lesser scopes, despite the fast focal ratio, and even at very high magnifications.

    Considering all the standard features you get that are extra-cost options with even the higher-priced competition, or are simply unavailable, this feature-laden Astro-Tech AT102ED is surely one of the best buys in astronomy!

Features of this Telescope . . .

• ED doublet refractor optics: 102mm (4") aperture, 709mm focal length, f/6.95 focal ratio doublet optical system using an ED (Extra-low Dispersion glass) element to reduce spurious color halos and fringing to vanishingly low levels.

• Fully multicoated optics: The AT102ED objective lens has the latest state-of-the-art antireflection multicoatings on all air-to-glass surfaces for high light transmission and excellent contrast. This can easily be seen by looking into the objective lens of the scope. Virtually no reflection of your face will be seen. It’s a sure sign that the high transmission coatings are doing their job, by letting virtually all the light enter the scope, rather than reflecting some light back to your eye.

• Internal light baffles: Three contrast-enhancing knife-edge internal light baffles and a specially darkened tube interior provide truly dark sky backgrounds and high terrestrial contrast. The edges of the lenses are blackened to reduce internal reflections and further improve image contrast.

• Dew shield: A self-storing retractable dew shield slows the formation of dew on the lens in cold weather to extend your undisturbed observing time. It also improves the contrast, similar the lens shade on a camera lens, when observing during the day or when there is excessive ambient light at night, such as a neighbor’s backyard security light. The tube measures a highly portable 22.75" long with the lens shade retracted, and 27.75" long with it extended. A slip-on metal dust cap for the dew shield is standard.

• Rotating 2" Crayford-style dual-speed focuser: The precision-made no-backlash 2" Crayford focuser includes a built-in camera angle adjuster as standard equipment. A locking ring on the body of the scope lets you rotate the entire focuser a full 360° to line up a camera in either a landscape or portrait orientation (or any orientation in between) and lock it securely in place without losing your focus. You can also use it to put a star diagonal and eyepiece into the most comfortable observing position, and temporarily lock the focuser in that position. There are two coarse focusing knobs. The right knob also has a smaller concentric knob with an 11:1 reduction gear microfine focusing ratio. This provides exceptionally precise image control during high magnification visual observing and critical 35mm or CCD imaging. The focus knobs have ribbed gripping surfaces so they are easy to operate, even while wearing gloves or mittens in cold weather.

• Long focuser travel: The long 85mm (3.35") travel of the focuser drawtube helps keep the overall scope length reasonable for convenient travel and storage. The long drawtube length also permits switching between visual or photographic use with no add-on extension tubes needed. The drawtube has a scale marked in 1mm increments so you can note individual focuser positions for easy return to the correct focus when switching between visual use and photography. A drawtube lock knob underneath the focuser lets you lock in your photographic focus.

• Compression ring eyepiece holders: The focuser’s drawtube terminates in a 2" eyepiece holder that uses a non-marring soft brass compression ring to hold a 2" star diagonal and/or accessories in place. The compression ring won’t scratch the barrel of your star diagonal and accessories as an ordinary thumbscrew can.
      A supplied 1.25" accessory adapter slips into the 2" eyepiece holder to let you use a 1.25" star diagonal, image erecting diagonal, or photographic accessories. Like the 2" eyepiece holder, the 1.25" adapter also uses a non-marring soft brass compression ring to hold 1.25" star diagonals and accessories in place. If you are partial to 1.25" eyepieces and need an outstanding diagonal for this scope, consider the 99% reflectivity Astro-Tech 1.25" dielectric diagonal #AT1D. It's a Sky & Telescope Hot Product for 2007.
      An Astro-Tech 2" dielectric star diagonal #AT2D will give you the same 99% reflectivity performance with 2" eyepieces.

• Tube finish: The optical tube and lens shade are finished in a durable high gloss automotive-grade white paint, the same as that used on scopes several times the price of the AT102ED. The focuser and trim are black anodized. The scope weighs 9.1 lbs with mounting rings attached.

• Tube rings and dovetail mounting plate: The 105mm o. d. body of the AT102ED comes with a pair of hinged split mounting rings and a detachable 8" long dovetail mounting plate. The dovetail plate fits directly into the head of many equatorial and altazimuth mounts. It will fit, without modification, Celestron Advanced Series and Meade LXD-75 go-to mounts; the Vixen Porta altazimuth mount; and Vixen Great Polaris and Sphinx mounts, among others. The longer length of the dovetail plate lets you balance the AT102ED more easily fore and aft in a mount’s dovetail slot than the short mounting foot common on competitive scopes’ clamshell mounting rings. This lets you quickly accommodate changing balance conditions as you exchange an eyepiece for a camera, a 1.25" diagonal for a 2" diagonal, etc.
      In addition, the dovetail plate can be unbolted from the split rings to allow you to mount the rings directly on other equatorial mounts – for example on the D-plate used on Losmandy mounts – something that is difficult to do with the short mounting foot on competitive clamshell rings. The dovetail plate also has a 1/4"-20 thread mounting hole that allows it to be installed on any suitable heavy-duty camera tripod that has a standard 1/4"-20 thread mounting bolt.

• Supplied finder: Mounting holes for the supplied Astro-Tech #ATF non-magnifying illuminated multiple reticle finder are located at the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions on the top of the focuser in front of the rotation lock ring. This lets you position the finder on the most convenient side of the scope to accommodate your eyesight. The multiple reticle finder has four different reticle and seven discrete brightness levels. The rugged multiple reticle pattern finder is precision-machined of anodized metal, not molded of plastic like the more-costly competitive scope’s simple red dot finder. Another similarly-priced competitive scope doesn’t even come with a finder.

• Shipping/storage case: The Astro-Tech AT102ED comes in a locking 28.75" x 9.75" x 8.5" aluminum-frame hard case with carry handle. The case is not an option, as it is with some competitive scopes. The die-cut foam lining the case is cut out specifically to hold the AT102ED.
      Astro-Tech is one of the very few manufacturers to provide a case at no charge for protection during shipping and as a storage convenience when the scope is not in use. Unfortunately, FedEx, UPS, and the Postal Service are very good at treating packages roughly. Occasionally, your scope can arrive in perfect condition, but with the walls of the shipping case dented in transit from rough handling, or the aluminum frame sprung, rendering the appearance of the case less than pristine. Damage to the shipping case in such instances is not covered by warranty.

• Two year warranty: As an expression of the confidence Astronomy Technologies has in the quality of their products, the Astro-Tech AT102ED doublet apo refractor is protected by a two-year limited warranty against flaws in materials and workmanship, twice that of similarly-priced competitive scopes (shipping case excluded).