The MiniBorg45EDII. Focal length: 325, F/ratio: 7.2
Why the miniBorg? It is Portable and FUN. I was also partially motivated by one of the solar observer from HongKong who had much fun with his miniborg45edII. The miniBorg45EDII is an evolution of the previous minborg45ED. It have been commented that Version 1 was not good enough and thus the Version 2 was produced recently. I found this scope to be very interesting and affordable, although some would argue that for US$300+, we could get a decent larger APO refractor. But larger APO refractor I already have, thus I went for a smaller one.
I searched around the world (aka Internet) and found that the Miniborg45EDII was available as a OTA only, as well as packages. This is very interesting as the packages offer a far more attractive price than if I were to purchase it by individual parts. There were packages like Borg 6047, 6046, 6048, 6245, 0147. (
More info) It was a long and tough decision to make as I wanted to be sure i have what i need for visual and imaging purposes. I already have the Borg Eyepiece projection system and a couple of accessories and didn't want to have duplicate accessories. In the end, I settled for the newer, better and slightly more expensive Borg Part 6245, which offers the best deal.
The parts arrived soon after my order was placed and all parts were packed neatly and nicely by Borg.
ackaging per item was elaborate. I had order 6 pieces of M6 screws and they came in 6 individual 8cm by 8cm boxes, which they could have just stuff the 6 screws into a 2 cm by 2cm box/bag.
I finally had a chance to play around with the different combinations, especially for my visual and imaging purposes. All seems to go well (maybe i had ordered too many, haahaa), and all my needs were satisfied. I took the following pictures to help me remember my setup and the accessories required. Of note is the new Borg 7860 helical focuser. From the website, it seems to be a very good focuser, but when you actually use it, i would say that this is an EXCELLENT focuser. This focusing ring turns very smoothly (like TITAN) and VERY hardy, and you cannot feel any loose parts shaking off-axis (hope you understand what i'm trying to describe). There are also nylon screws to tighten the focusing ring while imaging. Constant practice will allow the markings to be a great asset to achieve focus quickly.
I also took some pictures using my DSLR to look at the sharpness and contrast and found them to be very sharp at the centre regions. Subjects placed near the edges showed some loss in sharpness(in 300% view) but is still acceptable when i printed them out in 4R size. Pity that I do not have beautiful birds or ladies to shoot at.
Hope this little description will help some of you to understand a little more of what toy maker TomyTec could do.
Cheers!
The picture below shows a setup for visual observation.
The picture below shows a setup for DSLR imaging. The helical focuser is best put directly behind the Lens cell so that there will not be extra stress on the helical focuser. Surprisingly, i could still turn the focuser quite smoothly! Cool!
The picture below shows a setup which i observe the Sun in White light using Baader Herschel Wedge.
The picture below shows a setup which I observe the Sun in H-alpha. The SM40 with Tmax tuner is directly secured onto the front filter thread. Note: The front filter thread of the 45EDII lens cell is 52mm(I think with a pitch 0.75). the filter thread of the T-max tuner or SM40 is also 52mm but with a higher pitch (i think is a P1.0).
The picture shows the size of the miniborg45EDII with a ruler as a scale.
The picture below shows the helical focuser in closer view.
[此贴子已经被作者于2007-12-30 18:19:55编辑过]
