Eric Jamison

Side view of the Starmaster 14.5" f/4.3 reflector. The Star Bound observing chair next to the SM gives an idea of how tall the 14.5" is when pointed at the zenith.

Overview

On April 2004 I took delivery of a Starmaster (SM) 14.5" f/4.3 reflector. I have owned large reflectors in the past, including a 12.5" f/6 reflector on a German equatorial mount, and a 20" f/5 reflector on a Dobsonian-style mount. However the 12.5" was quite large and bulky making it difficult to set up, and the 20" required a ladder to reach the eyepiece. While it provided stunning views when the transparency and seeing conditions permitted, I found that after a while I did not look forward to climbing a ladder to observe. Then by chance I saw a Starmaster at a star party and was impressed by its features. The shorter focal ratio of the telescope meant that the eyepiece would not be as high off the ground. Also the Sky Tracker GOTO-Then-Track drive system made it easy to locate objects, something that was not available when I owned my 12.5" and 20" reflectors.

Close up side view of the Starmaster 14.5" f/4.3 reflector without the light shroud.

One of the first things I needed to decide when ordering the SM was what size to get. An 18" f/4.3 would be shorter than my old 20", but it would still require a ladder to observe with. At the time I was considering ordering the SM they had stopped producing the 16" (although they recently began making them again) so that left the 14.5". While at first I thought I would want a larger aperture telescope for deep-sky observing, I have noted over the years that I find it much easier to concentrate and see more detail when I am comfortably seated rather than standing. When pointed at the zenith the eyepiece of the 14.5" is approximately 65" high, which is just eye level for me when sitting in the Star Bound observing chair. In addition I have found that the more portable a telescope is the more likely I am likely to set it up and observe. So I decided to go with the 14.5".

Close up side view of the Starmaster 14.5" f/4.3 reflector with the light shroud.

The 14.5" SM comes with the following standard features: a custom built, all steel, open design, quick-detach mirror cell; a 1.6" thick Pyrex mirror manufactured by Zambuto Optics with mirror coatings utilize Ion-Assisted Deposition (IAD) and quartz overcoat; a lightweight oak transport case for the mirror; secondary mirror with 96-97% enhanced coatings and dust cover; a Crayford 2" focuser with 1 1/4" adapter; Telrad finder with dew shield; aluminum truss poles with black, rubberized armor coating with carrying case; light shroud for trusses; oak construction with polyurethane finish.

After deciding to order the 14.5" my next choice was what options to order with the telescope. I ordered Feathertouch 2-speed focuser upgrade, the Tectron Collimation Tools, the Transport Handles, and the Sky Commander digital setting circles, the Sky Tracker GOTO-then-track drive system. I have been a star hopper since I first began observing back in the early 1970's, but decided to buy the Sky Tracker as with my family and work life I don't get to observe too often. I felt it would help me track down some of the fainter deep-sky objects I have not seen before. In addition I ordered a TV visual Parracorr that I use mostly at low and medium powers. The visual Parracorr is tunable, as it is possible to adjust it to work best with the eyepieces you are using, and stars appear sharper across the field of view. I use mostly TV Naglers and Panoptics for my low and medium power observing, and TMB Super Monocentric eyepieces for high power observing.

Close up view of the upper cage assembly showing the Feather Touch Focuser, Telrad finder, and Sky Commander hand controller.

The 14.5" is a so-called Hybrid as it was designed to be as portable and easy to set up as possible. For example the trusses and secondary cage can be left assembled together and attached to the rocker box using four hand knobs. In addition the telescope comes with a mirror transport box so that the primary mirror can be carried safely when removed from the mirror cell. The mirror and cell together weigh 33 lbs., the mirror box 25 lbs., while rocker box and ground board weigh 25 lbs. (the Sky Tracker drive system with battery adds an additional 11 lbs.), and the secondary cage weighs 8 lbs.

Close up view of the rocker box with the Sky Commander, tangent arm, altitude encoder, altitude motor, altitude clutch, cables, and faceplate where the cables are plugged in.

The SM arrived well packed in seven shipping boxes with plenty of Styrofoam peanuts and packing material to protect the telescope and accessories during shipment. I was impressed by the fine quality of the workmanship, and the instruction manuals for the telescope and Sky Commander digital setting circles were well illustrated and easy to read. The instructions for collimating the mirror with the Tectron Collimation Tools were straightforward and Rick Singmaster is available to help answer any questions via phone or email.

Optical Performance

Close up view of the upper cage assembly showing the four-vane spider, secondary mirror holder, and primary mirror. The cover for the secondary and primary mirror are visible in the lower left hand side of the photograph.

My first impression when observing with the 14.5" is how well designed and thought out the entire telescope is. It is easy to assemble and use. It is evident also that Rick spent a lot of time figuring out how to make his telescopes work well with the Sky Commander digital setting circles (DSC) with the Sky Tracker GOTO-then-track drive system. It is easy to locate DSO's by doing a simple two star alignment, engaging the altitude and azimuth clutches, then selecting the object you wish to observe on the DSC computer, and pressing the GOTO button on the hand controller of the Sky Commander. The hand controller conveniently attaches to the secondary cage via Velcro just to the right of the Feather Touch focuser, with the Telrad located just above the focuser. If you prefer not to buy the Sky Tracker systems but do invest in Sky Commander it is still relatively easy to locate DSO's. This is done by entering the object you wish to observe in the Sky Commander, and as you push the telescope by hand it will display how far away you are from the object.

Solar System Objects

Saturn

When I received the SM the major planets were well passed opposition so I could only run a few tests to see how well the telescope performs on them. At 198x Saturn looked nice with the colors appearing a bit more pronounced than in smaller aperture telescopes. Four moons were visible nearby including Titan, which appeared as a disk with an orange-red color to it.

Venus

Showed it gibbous phase well and the dusky appearance along the terminator was prominent.

Jupiter

Jupiter's North and South Equatorial Belts (NEB and SEB) appeared somewhat pink-brown in color at 198x. There were bays and festoons along the belts, as well as a nice shadow transit in progress from one of the moons. The moons themselves appeared as disks and were identifiable by their size and differences in color.

Uranus

Uranus was low in the sky when I observed it but its disk was clearly resolved. There were times when I thought I could make out some variations in its cloud structure but I wasn't 100% sure.

Moon

The Moon showed fine detail even at low power in craters and mare and the earthlit portion of the Moon was easily visible.

Deep Sky Objects

Since I received the 14.5" I have observed a variety of deep-sky objects with it, including the Blue Snowball Nebula, The Veil Nebula, The North American Nebula, M4, M13, M15, M33, M51, M101, and M106. The transparency varied from 5.3 to 4.5 depending upon observing conditions and whether the Moon was up or not.

NGC 7662 - The Blue Snowball Nebula, this planetary nebula is located in Andromeda. It appeared light blue in the eyepiece, and reminded me M57, but it is not as large or circular as it appeared more elongated than M57. Its outer portion appeared brighter than its inner portion, which showed some darker structure or variation in tone. At 396x there was a fainter elongated outer portion running SW-NE, and the central portion appeared more concentric in shape.

NGC 6992 & NGC 6995 - The Veil Nebula showed a remarkable amount of detail, with portions of nebula appearing like a claw. Best view was at 51x with an OIII filter.

NGC 7000 - The North American Nebula showed very fine detail, with portions of nebula in the Gulf of Mexico and Central America appearing feathered. Best view was at 51x with an OIII filter.

M4 - Large and well resolved at 132x, this cluster has a central linear shape that is very pronounced. Around the center there were a number of star chains that formed concentric rings, with the stars appearing more dense on the left side than the right side.

M13 - Large a very pretty with the central region resolved and many, many, many star chains extending out from the center.

M15 - Gorgeous, the best I have seen this cluster. Strong central condensation in the center, with the star chains radiating out from the center well resolved.

M33 - At low to medium power appeared as a large, light green colored multi-armed galaxy with bright central area with several HII regions visible.

M51 - Beautiful, one of the best views I have had of this spiral galaxy. At 132x the spiral arms and dust lanes were clearly visible, as was the connecting arm between M51 and NGC 5195.

M101 - At 132x showed a bright central region with four spiral arms and dust lanes, with HII regions visible at the ends of some of the dust lanes.

M106 - This galaxy appeared elongated with kind of a spindle shape to it and showed a brighter inner portion and core. A dust lane was faintly visible.

Summary

Overall I have been very impressed by the performance of this telescope. It is one of the best designed telescopes I have ever had the pleasure of observing with, offering large aperture with very fine optics in a highly portable package that is easy to set up and use. In addition with the ability to add tracking and GOTO it is makes it easy to locate deep-sky objects even under less than ideal observing conditions. Highly recommended.

This telescope was sold in 2004.

Eric Jamison has been interested in astronomy since the 1960's, when, as a child, he witnessed two total lunar eclipses. You can find a lot of good information on his website, where he provides equipment reviews and observational reports . Eric has also written about the history of astronomy in America, and he devotes space in his site to define the various types of optical systems for people new to the hobby. It's a place worthy of saving in your favorites.

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