Product Description
Customers who purchase SVX180T-2 refractors will receive a copy of the Zygo test report and unlike our other telescopes, we will also include Ronchigrams for their objectives in green, red and blue light.
Included accessories and price: The basic model of the SVX180T-2 comes with cnc machined dual mounting rings, TP019 Losmandy-style rail, carrying handle, choice of three large, dual speed focusers with threaded, 2" and 1.25" adapters, an American-made, heavy duty roadie case with internal padding, handle and wheels.
1. SVX180T-2 with 3" Stellarvue focuser: $18365
2. SVX180T-2 with 3.5" Feather Touch focuser: $19385
3. SVX180T-2 with computerized 3.5" Moonlite Nitecrawler focuser: $20895.
Light gathering and magnification power: A 180mm refractor gathers 661 more times the amount of light than the naked eye. Although Dawes limit states maximum magnification power for telescopes under good conditions is about 420 powers for a telescope of this size, this high-Strehl APO refractor can exceed this power on steady nights. Check the Recommended Accessories section to make the best choice for eyepieces.
Two Year warranty and Stellarvue Service: We are your friends for life. Stellarvue telescopes and accessories are covered by a two-year warranty. But it does not stop there. Since we are a telescope maker, we can repair your telescope for a very nominal fee years after it goes out of warranty, should you accidentally drop it on concrete or otherwise damage it. Buy a Stellarvue Telescope with confidence.
Specifications:
Objective Lens:
180 mm clear aperture, 1,260mm focal length (F-7), apochromatic triplet using super low dispersion (SD) and Lanthanum optical glasses.
Tube Assembly:
Machined, fully baffled, aluminum tube painted instrument white outside, ultra-flat back inside.
Weight:
Telescope tube weighs just under 38 lbs. with caps in place. 44.5 pounds with mounting rings and TP019A Losmandy-style rail.
Tube Dimensions:
The main tube is about 7.95" in diameter. The complete telescope is 54” long with dew shield extended and focuser all the way in. With the dew shield retracted the length is reduced to 44 1/4".
Dew shield:
About 9.1" diameter, fully retracting dew shield with threaded aluminum cap.
Focuser choices:
- The Stellarvue 3" focuser. This focuser has 4.5" of travel and 2" and 1.25" compression ring adapters. This is our brand focuser that is well known as a stable and smooth 3" focuser with a highly accurate 8 to 1 reduction that allows absolutely precise focusing. This is the same focuser used on our smaller aperture telescopes. Both Optec and ZWO motors attach directly to this focuser allowing for even more precise focusing.
- The Starlight Instruments 3.5" focuser, with 4.5" of travel and 2" and 1.25" compression ring adapters. This is an American-made focuser that is equally smooth to the focuser above but is larger. Both Optec and Starlight Instruments make motors for these focusers.
- The Moonlight Nightcrawler 3.5" focuser with various extension tubes and 2" and 1.25" adapters. This is an advanced, electronic, computerized focuser preferred by dedicated imagers. It is the most expensive upgrade, but for those who want perfection when it comes to imaging, this is considered one of the best. The downside is a very short focuser draw tube length which is great for imaging stability but requires various extensions when converting to visual use. Since most high-end imagers rarely, if ever look through their instrument, this is usually no big deal.
*Please note that the default color for the Nitecrawler will be RED unless specified otherwise. For a full list of available color options visit www.focuser.com.
Rings:
R180 CNC-machined mounting ring set with five 1/4"-20 threaded holes top and bottom. Holes are spaced 1.5” and 60mm apart respectively, with one in the center.
Mounting Rail: Your choice between the Losmandy-Style TP013A or TP019, or the Vixen-Style TP012 mounting rail.
Handle: The Stellarvue #HAN-2 handle is included.
Case:
C180 hard case made with 3/8" plywood, with latches, side handles and wheels. The heavy-duty case is 52" long, 15 3/4" wide and 15 3/4" high.
Photographic Field Flatteners
Field Flattener: Note: Field testing with the new SFFX-3 flattener has now been completed with the SVX180T. We highly recommend this new Stellarvue-created flattener to convert your telescope into a full-frame imaging platform.
Reducer Flattener: We are developing a wide-field dedicated reducer/flattener for this telescope. We are currently on schedule to have this unit ready by early 2024.
When you buy these photographic correctors with the telescope, we will contact you individually to determine your camera thread size and total back focus. We will work with you at no additional charge to get the flattener and reducer/flattener matched to your camera system. Dialing a telescope in for perfect performance is important and we want to work with you to advise you and get it up and running.
Click here for our online operator's manual: SVX180T Manual
*Our Zygo is a 6-inch Zygo Verifire, phase-shifting laser interferometer with precision Zygo test spheres, Zygo 1/20 wave reference flat and when needed, a Zerodur 1/20 wave optical flat.
** Our double-pass autocollimator utilizes a Zeodur 1/20 wave optical flat, precision glass ruled 150-line Ronchi, three Thorlabs optical Light emitting diodes with lenses at 630nm, 545nm and 490nm. It is mounted on our Thorlabs anti-vibration table with a Zygo optical bench and digital readout.
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Product Reviews
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Stellarvue SVX180T-2
After about one month with my new SVW180T2, I wanted to write a review of this incredible telescope. I received the telescope with lens #54 from the second run, which has a Strehl of 0.972 and excellent DPAC results in all 3 colors. It is a top-heavy scope, best requiring a helper to load onto your mount. It did take me a couple of weeks to order and install all the necessary adapters and accessories. But what a treat, when things were up and running. Vic is a very patient person, answering all my questions. I had a few good questions, but most were about my insecurity in buying such a large and expensive telescope. Luckily, I ordered it and received the scope within one month. I can tell you that the short wait was worth it. At my age, being put on a wait list that is longer than my life expectancy does not work so well for me. Having been a previous customer of Stellarvue, I knew the quality of the lens and mechanical parts on their scopes. My first telescope from them was a Stellarvue 115, using only for visual observations. I learned at that time about the importance of a great focuser, such as the FeatherTouch focuser. Over the years, I thought that aperture ruled and had several Celestron SCTs, including an Edge C14, Edge C11 and RASA 11. They were great scopes, but something always seemed missing. When I moved to Arizona, astrophotography became my passion. I needed to learn much more about astrophotography, and so I bought and sold several telescopes, trying to find the perfect one. Slowing but surely, I rediscovered the beauty of refractors again. I had been using the William Optics FLT 156mm Apo Triplet Refractor for the last 5 years. Doing mostly astrophotography of DSO, the Stellarvue SVW180T2 could not possibly perform any better. The contrast and resolution of the lens clearly exceeds anything that I have ever seen. The focal length of the Stellarvue SVW180T2 at 1280mm is very close to my previous refractor. The field flattener results in absolutely round stars to all corners on the image and I look forward to using the flattener/reducer lens. The detail in an astro image is well demonstrated by looking for very small galaxies. Previously there would be an elongated smudge, now there is very clearly a small, beautiful galaxy on the image. There is no issue with color aberrations and with the help of autofocusing software and the FeatherTouch focuser, I can achieve nearly perfect and very sharp focus. And it’s a lot better than I could achieve with my old aging eyes. I am very happy with this purchase, and I realize that this is the pinnacle of apochromatic telescopes.
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SVX180T
I am an astrophotographer and I selected the SVX180T for deepsky imaging with the rationale to generate highly resolved images with a focal length of 1280mm. When I selected this scope, there was only theoretical information available on the performances, but based on the fantastic track record of Stellarvue on their instruments, I decided to trust the company and order the refractor. I received my SVX180T last winter and installed it remotely in Spain in May. As soon as I started taking images with the scope, I immediately noticed an incredible sharpness of the deepsky objects. The stars are perfectly round on the center, as well as on the corners using the full frame CMOS camera ASI6200MM. This is true for all filters used, including R, G, B, L, as well as the 3nm narrow band fiters Ha, OIII, SII. During these initial 3 months of images aquisition, I had the opportunity to immortalize the M101 galaxy (LRGB), the WR134 Wolf-Rayet nebula (HOO), M16 (H-HSO), the Elephant's Trunk nebula IC1396 (H-HSO), the Eye of God NGC7293 (H-HSO) and the Pacman nebula NGC281 (H-HSO). For all these images with no exception, the resolution obtained is among the best images ever taken from earth. When published on Astrobin, most of these images were awarded, thus confirming the very high quality of the images obtained with the SVX180T. My congratulations to the Stellarvue team for this exceptional instrument.
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SVX180
I had first light on my just received SVX180 last night.This telescope has lens #34 which is the first green light DPAC I believe. I tested it in my Bortle 6 backyard by looking at the Double-double in Lyra with a Pentax 3.5mm XW eyepiece at 347x. This object was nearly overhead. I have been observing through telescopes for over 50 years. This was the best view that I have ever seen. Four tiny orbs with nothing but black space between them. I also looked at the crescent moon at 347x. The fine details looked superb. No color fringing on the limb was seen. Well done Vic!
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SVX180T
5 stars for the SVX180T and 2 big thumbs up for Stellarvue. I have one of the first SVX180T shipped, but have been waiting on a PMX+ to mate it with. It arrived just in time for a first light on Halloween. It started out as just a few kids, but in a matter of minutes parents were arriving and soon out numbered the kids. My SVR102T was also setup and both scopes at about 150X. Adults all had the usual comments but one 6 year old is now etched in my brain. I was kneeling next to the eyepiece helping the 6 year old when he stepped aside for next child, he had a look on his face like he had seen a ghost or even God, and then the expression just faded away and he high 5 me and exclaimed "unbelievable...dad can i get one! Now my review. The fit, finish and engendering are all first rate. The Moonlite focuser is mated perfectly and the supplied adapters for imaging and visual work perfectly. At 150X I think the views are better than my SCT and Newt are at 150X. My SCT and Newt wont support any more then 200X. The SVX180T, using a cheap barlow at 300X had rock solid views even I think I may see God in it some night! Yes i am pleased beyond words with my SVX180T I have been a customer of Stellarvue for about 6 years now, and Vic, his entire staff and Stellarvue are the absolutely the best people I have dealt with in this industry. ********** Plus 2 thumbs up. Charles Andries..AKA "The Slo Table"
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SVX180T
My 180 was delivered six days ago. I am still working on set up but did some viewing and limited imaging. Jupiter is awesome. I told my wife this is the best telescope I've ever looked through. Jovian moon shadows on the surface of the planet are really sharp. Great surface detail and contrast. I am very pleased.