Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

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JochenM
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Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by JochenM »

As some of you know, I currently own a Lunt LS50 that I mainly use for a quick peek (visually) at the sun and occasionally some full disk imaging. The latter has always been a bit of a challenge for me due to the tiny sweetspot of the LS50 (always a balancing act to get the full disk onband) and I've never been 100% satisfied with the level of detail I'm able to pull out. It is an entry level solar scope, so that's to be expected as far as I'm concerned.

Now, someone in my local area is selling their (used obviously) LS60 + DS60 (b1200) and I'm considering it. My questions are the following:

- Is the LS60 really a decent step up (for imaging) compared to the LS50? Lets forget about the single stack vs double stack for a minute, which is a given. My usecase would basically be full disk imaging with an ASI178 (mono obviously). From what I was able to dig up, the LS60 has a bigger internal etalon, so I'm assuming the sweetspot would also be larger?

- The LS60 that I've mentioned is an older model using tilt tuning instead of pressure tuning. Is the quality of the image comparable? Are there any inherent drawbacks of tilt tuning vs pressure tuning I need to be aware of?

Thanks in advance for any insight.


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Hi Jochen,
As an owner of the LS60 + its' DS (non-PT) for over ten-years, never had any problems with it or its' tuning.

Less to go wrong without the PT, and I rarely need to tune either Etalon, unless of course wanting to see something different of the disk/proms.
Mine is in an observatory which is both temperature and humidity controlled 365-days...

Do you know if has the FT (Feather Touch) focuser, which is certainly better than non/FT versions...

Much would depend on the price for a 2nd-hand one of the earlier versions. The B1200 will add greatly to the valuation, so if some images taken recently are visible to you, your purchasing-decision should be dependable...

Ideally a comparison with a PT version could give you more of an insight from someone who has owned both types...

Best Wishes
Terry


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by JochenM »

Thanks Terry, appreciate the feedback.

Good to hear that your experiences with the tilt tuning have been very positive. The LS60 has the stock crayford focuser, which I think will be more than sufficient (it's not as if it has to support a heavy load).


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by marktownley »

I think if you can check the DS60, both visually and through imaging, assuming you are happy with the results I would get it.


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by JochenM »

Thanks Mark.

That probably sounds like the most sensible thing to do, I suppose. I'll give the guy a call today and see if he'll let me come over and use it for a bit and will take it from there.


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Always good to actually try the scope out as Mark says, as you already know what it's all about and what to look for, so best wishes there..

Terry


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by TareqPhoto »

Thank God i didn't go with Lunt 40 or Lunt 50, i knew that after a while i will definitely thinking about upgrade, and now i read that someone in your local area is selling Lunt 60, means people keep going larger after a while or some times, means i shouldn't buy a scope for 2-10 years, i try to buy anything for lifetime, and because i bought the Quark which i am planning to keep it almost forever even if i buy a dedicated solar scope, now i think i have to think about minimum Lunt 80 in future if i can and pass Lunt 60 so i won't upgrade, and i won't think any larger than 80 later as well.


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by Highbury Mark »

I found the DS60 a decent step up from the DS50, a clear improvement in resolution. For purely visual use, both telescopes really needed the extra etalon to get satisfying contrast on filaments and other surface features, though of course there’s great variability out there. Both were pressure tuned, but the quality of image with tilt tuned models appears to be just as good, based on scopes owned by friends. Hope it works out for you.


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by Andre444 »

Hi,I just bought a used Lunt 60 tilt. It's on its way to me.the salesman told me that it is 3 years old. I looked at the serial nomber: 0001523. Does this indicate that its a older model? ( but nothing to worry about...? ) thanks.


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by JochenM »

Andre444 wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:19 am Hi,I just bought a used Lunt 60 tilt. It's on its way to me.the salesman told me that it is 3 years old. I looked at the serial nomber: 0001523. Does this indicate that its a older model? ( but nothing to worry about...? ) thanks.
Hi Andre.

No idea about the serial number. If properly cared for, these things will last a lifetime; so I wouldn't worry too much.

I ended up buying the tilt-tuned LS60 I mentioned in this thread. I couldn't be happier with the purchase. I've been using it mostly visually, the views have been excellent (especially double-stacked, but that's to be expected). Tuning the etalon(s) with the tilting weel is pretty intuitive as well.


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Re: Upgrade LS50 to LS60 - yay or nay?

Post by Andre444 »

Update: Hi, this scope was shipped in end of 2017. The first Lunt 60 tilt were Made 2008.talking about this Lunt, I have look through it 2 times so far and everything is ok ! Nice detailed views! 👍


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