I have two telescopes: a 4-inch Tele Vue-102 Light Cup and an 8-inch Discovery PDHQ Dob. While I love both scopes (more for the Light Cup ;-), I missed the "old days" when I had only one telescope, no
deciding which telescope to use for the night. So I set out to excravate that "panacea telescope", the "perfect telescope", the "one-size-fit-all telescope", that last telescope ;-). I bounced
from considering an M715 MCT, to TEC140, to to Teether for transforming my Discovery Dob, to a C9.25, to a Starbucket 8" f/6 Dob with Royce mirror to TMB105LW f/6.2 and finally to a TMB115LW.
Then reality striked ... Throughout my ordeals, TMB Optical and Starbucket had been very patient with me, especially with Thomas Back who spent a lot of time with me helping me in making my decision both via email and on the phone.
I came close to picking the Tele Vue NP127, but I finally placed an order for the TMB130LW again buying based on faith ;-) and Thomas Back's reputation as I've never been able to find one to look through (just like when I bought my TV-102). I also like Thomas' attention to details, star testing every scopes, checking and then
rechecking it twice. Because this was a huge investment for me (and I ain't no rich kid and work like a dog ;-), I even toyed with the
idea of flying out to Ohio to TMB Optical to look through one myself ;-). Ah yes, before any "ruling aperture junta" raise an eye brow, I know full well that 5-inch APO aperture is 130mm of crystal
clear aperture ;-).
I received my brand spanking new 130mm TMB130LW f/6 APO refractor from Thomas Back of TMB Optical in mid Dec after waiting for about 6 months (which is very fine to me). Starting with strings of bad
first light luck... with the fact that I was on a business trip the week the APO was delivered despite the fact that Thomas did graciously try to sync up with me to deliver the scope when I was
going to be home :-(, followed by do-or-die work right up until Christmas Eve, continuing on to Dec 31st, to the nursery rhyme "rain-rain, come right here, rain again another day" :-(... The refractor
came extremely well packed. It came with a manual which includes a Certificate of Optical and Mechanical Quality signed by Thomas Back himself!
This is truly an incredible (I'd say miraculous) 5.1-inch refractor. It's so short, a whopping 10 inches shorter than my 4-inch TV-102 APO refractor when fully collaspsed at around 21 inches. On my
wife's scale, it weighs in a bit more than 15+ lbs with 2 tube rings. When mounted on my Vixen Super Polaris mount (with my new 11 lbs counterweight), it's an object of desire, a pulchritudinous heirloom! The only thing that is larger than my TV-102 is the OTA diameter, measuring around 6". The only 5-inch class APO refractor that is skinner and lighter is the Tele Vue NP127 but is a whopping 12 inches longer! I tell you, the picture on TMB website provided there do not do this
TMB130LW justice. Trust me, the scope in real life is an order of magnitude better looking! I was surprise to see that in addition to the felt-lined aluminum dewshield cap, there's another internal lens cap that go over the objective - an added measure of safety. Thomas told me that it is for shipping and in normal use I won't need it capped.
I went to a machinist to get a new SP mount adapter plate made since the holes on the included mounting ring seems to be for the GP mount
adpater, who after delays screwed me up and we ended just getting new set of holes drilled and new screws to mount the rings onto the SP mount, which turned out to work well. Maybe this is hinting that I should be getting a modern mount ;-). While playing with the scope in the house, I thought I had a balance problem in the DEC
axis as the scope is front heavy. Only when I was out during the first light did I realize that the design of the LW OTA need the focuser draw tube fully extended which help perfectly balance the
OTA. Lifting the entire setup around the house and into the back yard tells me that all the "simulation work" (with drain pipes and
ankle weights) I did before ordering the TMB130LW paid off. While it's certainly heavier than my TV-102, it's emminently portable. (Umm, now I'm wondering if the TMB152LW ***f/6*** version is possible ;-). In the final analysis, the LW OTA is truly a marvel of an engineering design and fabrication know-how.
I thought about mounting my Tele Vue Starbeam finder where the traditional finder would go. But it would stick out too far. So I plan to go back to the machinist and make a top plate to go on the
rings so that I can permanently mount my Starbeam on it. One of the strength of the Starbeam is that once properly mounted, it keeps the alignment extremely well!
Now to the first cloudy light. I transfered the 2" Tele Vue Everbrite diagonal and its 2" to 1-1/4" adpater to the TMB ;-). I let it sit outside for about 30 minutes. By the time, I think it was good and ready, I saw a break where Orion and M42 was.
Wow, M42 looks great with its spread out "wings" despite my heavily light polluted backyard (mag 4 I think) using the 20mm TV Plossl (40x). The Trapezium was so obvious but I can see that the seeing was very poor. The clouds then swallowed Orion but let up on M45. The Pleides was gorgious using my 40mm Pentax XL (20x) which yield an incredibly whopping 3.3 degree FOV! This is the scope to catch the large DSOs like the Andromeda Galaxy and the Witch Head Nebula, etc. in its entirety. Thomas did caution me that the FOV will not be flat at the widest view. Well, the field curvature seems very small and is much less than what I had imagine it might be! While trying to find the comet Machholz, the clouds rolled in again :-(.
Saturn briefly shined through and I quickly pointed the TMB130LW at it and turn my motor drive on. But while switching to my 5mm TV Radian eyepiece (156x), the cloud blotted out the planet completely :-(. So I patiently waited and caught glimpse of Saturn between the clouds. The seeing was poor and on the steadiest moment which was still bad, I could make out the Cassini Division
almost all around, the light and dark "zones" on the globe and actually incredulously the Crepe ring in front of the planet! Several moons were visible but I didn't pay attention to which is
which except for Titan. Needless to say, no chromatic aberration at all but then Saturn isn't a chroma-torture test ;-). Now a word about usability. I was surprised to find out that the focuser is rotatable and smooth - no more rotating the diagonal which squeaks at times ;-). The dual-speed FeatherTouch focuser - well need I say more, I don't think any other focuser currently can be this good! The course focusing is stiffier than my TV-102 R&P focuser which work ok as course focuser but the fine focusing makes up for everything. With such a short focal ratio, I really think fine focuser make it much easier to achieve focus (compared to my single JMI DX3 on my 8" f/6 Dob). The fine focuser also helped minimize the shakes. In my opinion, now that we're in the 21st century ;-), I think any APO in this price range ought to come with dual-speed focuser.
I saw a bright orange star (Pollux I think) cleared the clouds and pointed to it with my 20mm TV Plossl for a star test despite bad seeing. But by the time I got my 5mm TMB SuperMono in, the clouds got it :-(. I'd say my total observing time was only about 5 minutes in a time span of about 1 hour :-(. Let's say "Frustrated First Light" might have gone better into the Subject line ;-).
While the first light didn't work in my favor :-(, I'm extremely happy with its usability and convenient handling. Furthermore, my long-term eye sight is now set on the I3 eyepiece and I understand that f/6 will come in really handy! ... and also on the SM90 ;-).
Finally, I'd like to express my thanks to Thomas Back and Markus Ludes for making such fine, **ultra portable** **handmade** 5.1" APO
available!
Hoping for a better, steadier, clearer 1st.5 light ;-).
Ron B[ee]
PS - Picture to follow after I've developed the film :-(.
