This is a quick review of the Askar SQA85 telescope sold in the UK by 365 Astronomy.

As an adviser to 365 Astronomy, I am fortunate in occasionally being able to try out new equipment. I had previously tested the smaller brother of this scope, the SQA55, and found it to be pin sharp across the field and in perfect keeping with the spot diagrams provided by the manufacturer, I was therefore keen to test the larger SQA85 Petzval-type quintuplet telescope to see if it was able to deliver the same excellent results.

On opening the outer box, I was greeted by a smart cloth case which when unzipped revealed a very impressive telescope cocooned in a black tube ring with many pre- drilled mounting holes to allow fitting of additional accessories if needed, this was topped off with a Vixen size dovetail bar.

The scope tube itself has a retractable dew shield which can be easily locked in place, 2 finder shoes are provided at the rear and the focuser is a dual speed version that proved to be smooth and precise in use with no apparent flexure noted. Finally, there is a rotator with graduations which again is smooth in use and is lockable. The telescope itself is of the Petzval design and is classed as a Quintuplet Astrograph. Customers are advised to visit 365 Astronomy’s web page for this telescope where detailed information, along with many pictures, are provided.

For the test I put the SQA85 on my ZWO AM3 strain wave mount which was perfectly able to support its weight which with tube rings is under 5Kg. Imaging was done with my ZWO 2600MC-Air camera which has the built in Asiair system and dual imaging and guide sensors. Back focus is not an issue with these scopes and the camera can be placed between 40 & 70mm with a recommended ideal of 55mm. I used adapters that I have to fit the camera at around 55mm which included a filter drawer. Unlike the SQA55 there is no provision to fit a filter hence the use of the filter drawer. There is only a limited travel on the focuser, but focus was achieved when the drawtube was about halfway out. For the test I used an Optolong L-Extreme 2” filter which I have used extensively with other telescopes and have found it to be very effective in my Bortle 5 skies. The camera was linked to the mount and  controlled by the Asiair app via my Apple IPad Pro, set to Station mode. I set the focal length in the app at the stated 408mm but when attempting polar alignment the system failed. I reset it to the recommended 0 focal length so that the plate solving can calculate the correct focal length which turned out to be 407mm.

We are just entering what I refer to as “Galaxy Season” where the many nebulous extended objects of the Winter sky, which are perfect targets for short focus telescopes, such as the SQA85, have largely passed out of view. I was fortunate to still be able to image the Rosette Nebula, NGC 2238, which over 2 nights gave me 32 sub exposures of 5 minutes duration cooled to -10 below ambient temperature. These were later processed in Pixinsight software, and the image is presented below.

(Note that the image had to be cropped and resolution heavily reduced to be able to upload here through WordPress. On the original image we could see million stars and tiny galaxies…)

Conclusion

This is a very fine telescope and was an absolute pleasure to image with. I have owned and used Sharpstar/Askar scopes for several years starting with the Sharpstar 90mm triplet, then the Askar 107PHQ Quadruplet and currently the Askar 130PHQ Quadruplet, all have given excellent results. I was in two minds to consider owning the SQA85, but have decided to opt for its larger brother, the SQA106, based on testing both the SQA55 & SQA85. I wholeheartedly recommend this telescope.

John Bush FRAS