Astro-Tech ED Doublet and Triplet Refractors
So good, despite their low price, that you’ll swear these compact ED refractors are apochromatic. Astronomy magazine called the Astro-Tech AT66ED “a product everyone should own.”
Based on Astronomy magazine’s telescope "report cards," the 66mm telescope is best used for . . .
A review in the Telescope Buyer’s Guide in the September 2007 Astronomy magazine said about the Astro-Tech AT66ED, “While I’d normally have reservations about recommending a scope with less than 3 inches of aperture, every once in a while there comes a product everyone should own. This apochromatic doublet is just such a beast . . . The short focal length makes it a wonderful tool for scanning the Milky Way, and its small aperture and FPL-51 glass let you crank up the magnification on the Moon without false color becoming too intrusive. The AT66ED can serve as a great grab-and-go scope, a fine little astrograph, a super-finder scope, and a daytime spotting scope . . . The only real question is which of the 6 available colors do you want?”
The exceptional AT66ED optics are even more impressive when you consider the package they come in. The finely-machined scope has a dual speed Crayford-style focuser with a microfine 11:1 fine-focusing ratio. A simple twist of a knurled ring on the scope body lets you rotate the focuser a full 360° to put your eyepiece in the most comfortable observing position. The supplied 1.25" eyepiece adapter uses a non-marring brass compression ring that won’t scratch your eyepiece barrels. The Astro-Tech AT66ED has a retractable lens shade and comes in a locking aluminum-frame hard carrying case. If this Astronomy Technologies AT66ED was just another 66mm refractor, the quality of its optics alone would still make it a superb value. Add the unique features – like the dual speed microfine focuser, your choice of colors, and a hard case – and you have a scope that has absolutely no equal at its very affordable price.
Apochromatic refractor optics: 66mm (2.6") aperture, 400mm focal length, f/6 focal ratio air-spaced doublet lens using premium Ohara glass from Japan, including an ED (Extra-low Dispersion glass) element to reduce spurious color halos and fringing to vanishingly low levels.
Multicoated optics: The objective lens has the latest state-of-the-art broadband antireflection multicoating on all four 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.
The images from its 560mm f/7 ED air-spaced doublet optics are virtually color-free, even at high magnifications. At its low price, the optical performance is little short of astonishing.
The dual tube rings and Vixen-style dovetail and silky focusing feel of this Astronomy Technologies Astro-Tech AT80ED refractor will be the first thing you notice. The images of its outstanding ED (Extra-low Dispersion glass) optics will be what you remember. Add superb mechanics to those outstanding optics, some unique features, and a low price, and this very economical telescope stands apart in an appearance and performance class all its own.
The Astro-Tech AT80LE has an advanced light weight/high strength carbon fiber body and dew shield. Carbon fiber is the material being used for most of the body structure of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger jet, so you know that carbon fiber has an outstanding strength to weight ratio. The Astro-Tech AT80LE has a dual speed 2" rotating Crayford focuser with a microfine 10:1 fine-focusing ratio. The supplied 2" and 1.25" eyepiece holders use non-marring brass compression rings that won’t scratch your star diagonal or eyepiece barrels. The AT80LE has a retractable carbon fiber lens shade with a lock knob and comes in a locking aluminum-frame hard shipping/storage case. It has dual split mounting rings that fit directly onto a wide variety of German equatorial mounts or onto a Vixen- or Losmandy-style dovetail.
These exceptional Astro-Tech optics are even more impressive when you consider the package they come in. The Astro-Tech AT80EDT has an advanced light weight/high strength carbon fiber body and dew shield. Carbon fiber is the material being used for most of the body structure of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger jet, so you know that carbon fiber has an outstanding strength to weight ratio. The AT80EDT has a dual speed 2" rotating Crayford focuser with a microfine 10:1 fine-focusing ratio. The supplied 2" and 1.25" eyepiece holders use non-marring brass compression rings that won’t scratch your star diagonal or eyepiece barrels. The AT80EDT has a retractable carbon fiber lens shade with a lock knob and comes in a locking aluminum-frame hard storage case. It has dual split mounting rings that fit directly onto a wide variety of German equatorial mounts or onto a Vixen- or Losmandy-style dovetail.
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!
AT111EDT 111mm f/7 ED triplet apochromatic refractor
With an aperture of 111mm (4.37"), this Astro-Tech AT111EDT ED triplet apochromatic refractor gathers over 18% more light than the more common size 102mm (4") refractors. Combine this extra light gathering with the Astro-Tech AT111EDT’s state-of-the-art optical multicoatings, and you have a scope that clearly outperforms similar (but more costly) competitive 102mm and 110mm refractors – and at a lower price!
