Astro-Tech AT125EDL Refractor OTA FCD-100 and Lanthanum f/7.8 Doublet with Hard Case

Considered several 5" triplets (Stellarvue, AT, Meade, ES) before finally buying this last year. It's weight (barely 15lbs with rings) really swayed me over--wasn't sure if this would be a compromise. Have had a good few Fall months to observe and form an opinion. No false color even at high powers on lunar limb (my Celestron 120mm omni xlt throws up copious amounts of color). Sharp views of moon -- amazing clarity and brightness. From my SQM 18 location (So Cal), even at 150x, Jupiter and Saturn are views to behold. Delos 6mm on planets and moon with this OTA is observing nirvana (prism diag). Tak LE 5mm (ortho) was sharp and contrasty on Jupiter and moon. Can ride easily on my stellarvue m2c which makes it a very portable setup (heavy but not unwieldy). Focuser is great (not a feathertouch but sufficient for even micro changes), mechanically, very robust and overall a wonderful scope for me (might only be replaced by a Tak 120mm someday). The OTA is a great deal and for those not interested AP and triplets, this is a great introduction to a 5"high quality apo. (Posted on 3/7/2023)

My new AT125EDL arrived in perfect condition. It was shipped in bomb proof packaging, but I must give props to FedEx as there wasn't a mark on the outer box. As others have said, the build quality, fit and finish are beyond reproach. I bought this scope mainly for visual lunar and planetary viewing. The quality engineered into this telescope, is the stuff I have previously only dreamed about. In the past few weeks since it arrived, I have had the best views of my life of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the moon!!! Do not be afraid to crank up the magnification on nights of good seeing. I've used up to 325X on Saturn and was treated to a razor sharp, jaw dropping view. I have finally found my "holy grail" affordable telescope. (Posted on 12/8/2022)

I received my AT125EDL a few weeks ago and have had fantastic views with it. The aperture provides much more light capture than my previous scope, resulting in brighter and sharper images with much more resolution. The fit and finish is wonderful....from the powder-coated white finish on the OTA to the grey color on the focuser. The rack and pinion focuser is smooth and sturdy.....no more worrying about loading up heavy eyepieces. The rotating focuser is a bonus I hadn't expected. I am purely visual and the first time out with this scope, I couldn't believe what I was seeing and for a moment, forgot I was using my new telescope, rather than my old one. Thus, I didn't stretch my imagination to believe the new scope was better......it was. I am 73 years old and not the strongest guy in my age group. I had worried about the weight but have found that it is no problem, especially with the provided handle, to load this up on my mount and take it down. In fact, I don't find it any more difficult to deal with than my previous 4" refractor which weighed half as much. This 5" scope will be my forever refractor! (Posted on 2/15/2022)

Starging off in astrophotography with a Nikon D850 & Sigma 150-600mm zoom on a Star Adventurer Pro tracker, I reluctantly gave up the reach of the zoom in favor of sharper optics & cleaner stars from a 360mm W.O. Zenithstar 61II which is a terrific lens but I clamored for more. Upgrading my mount to an iOptron CEM40 and also moving from a DSLR to an OSC astro camera with the ZWO ASI6200MC, the weight of the AT125EDL seemed optimum for the mount and the 975mm focal length was an ideal match for the camera. However, being a full-frame camera, I had to sacrifice some reach to obtain a flatter field with sharper stars toward the perimeter, and thus I also bought the 0.8X reducer/flattener. That works great, but I had to taste the 975mm reach, so I shot sans flattener and found I was able to utilize 75% of the full-frame image with star quality quite acceptable vs. the usable area, that being in contrast to a 55% smaller coverage from an APS-C sensor relative to full-frame. So, I can only report that I'm very happy with the imaging performance of this telescope and having bought a right-angle finder and pair of eyepieces, I also look forward to having my first quality telescope for visual astronomy as well. The build quality overall is excellent and the only thing I might quibble with is that I wish the screws for the focusing rail and field rotator would actually lock down the movement, but they are more just to increase the friction...I saw the same as true with my Z61II, so I guess that is the typical direction manufacturers go. Finally, as noted in my review summary, I chose to continue using my ZWO Mini guide scope and ASI120MM-S camera as my autoguider for this telescope, at least until I learned if they would be enough. And in fact, they are...with my ASIAir Plus as the guiding/imaging controller under Bortle 5 skies, I'm seeing a total tracking error that usually is around the 0.6-0.7" range, which seems very good to me. (Posted on 2/9/2022)

Let me start by saying that I cancelled 2 orders during this covid delay. So I'm somewhat of a high maintenance if not impulsive customer. Never had a problem getting someone on the phone however.
Ordered this scope based on memories of the sharp views obtained with Skywatchers 120ed f7.5. I was not disappointed. This scope throws up extremely sharp views and inky dark skies as did the Skywatcher but with better color correction. Of course the mechanicals are on another level and the tube is built like a tank. Great product.
Thanks (Posted on 10/31/2021)

I have had my AT125 for almost 3 months now. I have had it out numerous times for visual and CMOS imaging. I have always wanted a 5" Class apochromatic refractor but didn't want to compromise to get there. The AT125EDL is not a compromise. Weather I am observing at 420x on the planets, mid to high power deep sky observing, wide field deep sky observing or imaging, the scope is sharp, no false color and snaps to focus. Optics are as good as I have ever seen in ANY refractor. Mechanically, the scope is outstanding as well. Very nice tube rings, a beautiful powder coat finish and the focuser is outstanding for both visual and photographic uses. I realy like that the tube rings have tapped holes on the sides as well as this allowed me to move the finder to my much perferred location and not on the focuser. I have not found one thing I don't like about this scope and I see it riding on my CGEM permanetly moving forward for observing, public observing and astrophotography. Thanks Astro-Tech and Astronomics for bringing another outstanding product to this hobby at a great price. Highly recommended! (Posted on 8/9/2021)