WO APOGRADE comparison shots

Hi,

I am sharing two pics with anyone who is intersted in the WO APOGRADE for their scope. I am writing a formal review, but wanted people to see for themselves what the differences are.

Let me know what you think of these two comparison shots.

Thanks,

Timm

Shot prime focus with a Canon 20D, cropped to 100% view. The shot is in focus, and the Semi-Apo lens is collimated perfectly by me.

Timm

Attached Image:

Same picture but with the FD lens, collimation has not been touched, this is how it came from WO, I had to move the tripod back about 10 feet, so that the magnification would be roughly the same. Again cropped to 100%.

Timm

Attached Image:

Pardon my ignorance. What is "WO APOGRADE"? Is this
a replacement front-end objective? Or is it a
near-focal plane corrector? Does FD=Fluorite Doublet?

My APOGRADE package arrived yesterday and I installed it on my fairly new Megrez 80 II SD. I had it out under the moonlit and unsteady skies tonight just for some quick testing. As near as I can tell, this is a top notch APO lens. There is a trace of CA just inside and outside focus on the Moon, but no CA in focus. I wasn't really set up for high power testing, but at 150X, the views of Saturn and the Moon were as sharp as I've seen from any other scope. A few other notes - The SD objective arrived significantly mis-collimated and I spent several nights getting it about OK, even then the CA was more than I expected. The FD objective appears to be in perfect collimation, by star test. The new objective cell is a bit longer, so even with the shield retracted, the scope won't fit in the case until I recut the foam. I ordered the whole APOGRADE package with the extension tube and 10:1 two speed focuser upgrade. The focuser upgrade took more fiddling with to get it right than the instructions imply, but it now works great. I can't believe the package price for what you get - essentially the $150 focuser upgrade is free!