| Fit and finish |
| AP 130 GT | TEC 140 |
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Painted tube is white power coated, finish is excellent. The tube rings have thumb screw locks with knobs
that are very easy to adjust and use, their rings are also very light weight. The optical tube comes apart into
3 sections, lens and dew shield, main tube and focuser. Threaded metal caps and plugs are provided to cover
the 3 pieces, however the the caps and plugs when not being used are stored in a foam fitted cardboard box.
The scope comes with a Astro-Physics foam line hard box that fits the scope with the dew shield retracted.
The scope is a little nose heavy without an diagonal and eyepiece attached
and cannot be slid as low as other tubes because of the couplers that allow the scope to be disassembled.
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Painted tube is white power coated, finish is excellent. The latched tube rings are great but I did have to
be careful not to hit them while carrying the tube because sometimes one would unlatch after rubbing against
my leg. They allow quick release and hold of the OTA without having to worry about being too tight or too loose.
The tension is adjustable but I found the factory setting is just right.
I attached the tube rings to a Vixen dove tail bar
that put the OTA lower to the mount. This allowed me to mount the heavier OTA without needing additional
counterweights. A custom handle was added to the top of the tube rings to make it easier to mount and carry
the optical tube.
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| Dew shield extended | Dew shield retracted |
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| Objective lens, cell, coatings and dew shield |
| AP 130 GT | TEC 140 |
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The coating is very dark and makes it look like there is on lens in the scope. I rate the coating
as better than the TEC. The lens cell is thinner than the TEC so even though the lens is
only 10mm smaller it looks much smaller overall.
A metal lens cap fits over the dew shield and the dew shield retracts for storage. The dew shield
also has a twist locking feature to lock it when extended and is felt lined.
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Coating is very dark blue and the glass disappears under most lighting conditions. Best coating I have seen except for
the AP 130 GT.
The lens cell is not adjustable. The dew shield retracts and extends to shorten the tube for transport and to fit into the
ScopeGuard case. It is a bit hard to move so I found it best to use both hands. Once retracted the lens cap
locks into the lens cell with 2 spring loaded catches. The lens cap must be removed to extend and retract
the dew shield and will latch loosely to the dew shield when extended.
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| AP 130 GT & TEC 140 | AP 130 GT & TEC 140 |
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Side by side lens showing coating, cell. Note the smaller cell in the AP 130.
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Lens cap on the AP is felt lined press fitted over the dew shield. On the TEC is is
spring latched to the cell. This makes the TEC cap fit loosely when the dew shield
is not fully retracted
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| Rear |
| AP 130 GT | TEC 140 |
 |
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Uses 3 large thumb screws and a compression ring to attach accessories. Locks very securely.
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Has a custom collet to secure accessories and diagonals. I find it can let things rotate if heavy off axis such
as a diagonal with Nagler 31mm eyepiece.
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| Focuser |
| AP 130 GT | TEC 140 |
 |
 |
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The Astro-Physics 2.7" focuser has a Feather Touch 9:1 micro adjustment for fine focusing. The focuser's
coarse adjustment knob is stiffer to turn than the TEC but has less stiction to get started making it
work better than the TEC. There is no difference in the operation of the fine focus knobs of both scopes.
The focuser is rotatable but does not have a variable friction adjustment like the TEC and I find you just
cannot move it very well while viewing. It seams to be made to adjust and then use.
The 2" compression end piece works better than the TEC in that the diagonal will not slip when using a heavy
eyepiece at certan positions. This focuser makes a buzz sound when turning the focus knob which is normal
according to Astro-Physics. The locking knob is on the side of the focuser.
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The TEC uses a Starlight Instruments 3545 focuser that has holes for an Astro-Physics finder bracket.
The focuser if fully rotatable by loosing the collet
located at the OTA end of the focuser. The eyepiece end has a 2" collet for attaching a diagonal for any 2"
piece of equipment. This works better than set screws or compression rings because it holds everything the
same regardless of whether is has any type of undercut. I did fine that the diagonal would want to rotate
when using heavy eyepieces no matter how tight I tried to tighten the collet that holds the diagonal.
The rotation of the entire focuser with it's variable friction adjustment is a lot nicer than on the AP 130 GT.
The locking and tension knob is located on the bottom of the pinion.
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| AP 130 GT & TEC 140 |
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Side by side comparison of the focusers.
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| Cases |
| AP 130 GT | TEC 140 |
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Astro-Physics vinyl covered foam fitted wooden case. This case holds the optical
tube assembly only. Two straps are provided to help remove the scope from the case.
Tube rings will not fit in this case.
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ScopeGuard case is large enough to fit the optical tube assembly and tube rings.
I was able to close this case with the tube rings, handle and dovetail bar attached.
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|
| AP 130 GT | AP 130 GT & TEC 140 |
 |
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Does not fit in case with tube rings attached.
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Size comparison of the two cases. TEC 140 on the left, AP 130 GT on the right.
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| Mounting |
| AP 130 GT | TEC 140 |
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The AP 130 GT scope will work with my old Vixen GP mount.
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The TEC 140 needs a more substantial mount than the AP 130 GT.
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| Viewing |
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I set the two scopes up on my Astro-Physics 900GTO mount for the viewing comparisons.
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| Saturn |
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Saturn looked excellent in both scopes with all the eyepieces that I used. This surprised
me some because I figured Saturn would be a bit brighter in the TEC 140 but I could
not tell any difference. Seeing was never very good during my testing so I did not
do any imaging. Will add planetary imaging of Jupiter later using the AP 130 GT to
that I have already done using the TEC 140 in 2010.
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| Moon |
| AP 130 GT | TEC 140 |
 |
 |
Moon 11 days old taken 3-Feb-2012.
Mount used is an AP 900 GTO.
Camera Canon Rebel XS (1000D) at ISO 100 for 1/250 second, size 10.1 megapixel.
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Moon 10 days old taken 18-Sep-2010.
Mount used is an AP 400 QMD.
Camera Canon Rebel XS (1000D) at ISO 100 for 1/60 second, size 10.1 megapixel.
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| M27 (Dumbbell) Planetary Nebula |
| AP 130 GT | TEC 140 |
 |
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M27 (Dumbbell) Planetary Nebula, upper left of field. Blue box is equivalent
field in TEC 140. |
 |
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The AP 130 GT shows more elongated stars in the corners of the field than the TEC 140.
This is mainly because of the faster f/ ratio. |
TEC 140 has less elongated stars at the edge. |
Edge of images for comparison for field curvature. |
 |
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The above pictures were taken with a Canon Rebel XS (1000D) DSLR at ISO 800 consisting of 10 two
minute exposures each totaling 20 minutes. They were aligned, combined and processed using ImagesPlus 4.0.
Pictures were taken on the same night. Using the same exposure times and being processed
exactly the same the AP 130 GT shows a brighter nebula due to it's shorter focal length. |
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M13 Globular Cluster
Appeared the same in both scopes with the sky being a little darker in the AP 130 GT.
The galaxy NGC 6207 at mag. 11.9 was visible but dim in both scopes.
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M92 Globular Cluster
Could not tell any differences. Stars resolved to the center in both scopes.
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NGC6210 Planetary Nebula in Hercules
Looked a little brighter in the TEC 140. Both scopes showed it's nice blue color.
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M57 Ring Nebula
Looked the same in both scopes, could see brightness differences of the ring in
both scopes. The 12.5 mag. star just to the outside of the ring was also visible
in both of the scopes.
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| Conclusion |
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Everything about these scopes are of the best quality I have seen. There were no
winner and looser in my testing. Some features I liked better on one and some I
liked better in the other. I think what it really comes down to is size, price and
how long you have to wait for the AP 130 GT, it takes years to get one new. The TEC 140
being longer is not as portable as the AP 130 GT and it also cannot be taken apart. The
weight of both scopes are very close and was not much of an issue although I did find
I could use the AP 130 GT on my Vixen GP mount but the TEC 140 was just a little to
large.
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