Borg 100ED


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Brand and Model:Borg 100ED
Price ($USD):$1410.00
Type:Apochromatic Refractor
Attributes: un-checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:100mm (3.9")
f Ratio:f/6.4
Focal Length:640mm
Finder:7x50
Electric Power:n/a
Mount:n/a
Tripod:n/a
Weight (lbs):2.4 kg
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:Portability is an important factor in the Borg system design philosophy. Scope tube diameters are no larger than absolutely required for the light cone, reducing tube weight (but without going to the point of sacrificing stiffness). Lighter scopes themselves make travel easier, but more significantly, they also translate to fewer counterweights and less flexure problems.
Borg tubes can also be disassembled down to short pieces, a convenience for packing, especially for airline trips. And optics, including the objective lenses, can be removed so that only the critical components need be hand-carried. (Removable optics have also proven to be a benefit in humid climates where optical components need to be stored in climate-controlled boxes to prevent mildew damage.)


Modular design is a strong point of the Borg system. This allows the use of many Borg components across several families of telescope sizes, thus reducing production costs and selling price to the user. This also means more system flexibility to the user.
Upgradability was another goal achieved by modularization. A Borg system can start small and be upgraded incrementally as needs change. Even objectives can be upgraded with minimal impact on the rest of the system.


Photo-visual design with no compromises was a primary concern of the system designer at Borg, an accomplished photographer with decades of experience. Borg scopes fully cover the 6x7 cm frame of the popular medium format Pentax 67 series cameras, and include photographer's extras such as a precise, indexed, lockable (two lockscrews) helical focuser and a full range of field flatteners and teleconverters. Also available are a full line of 35mm camera accessories and visual adapters.

Wide accessory selection is another distinguishing feature of the Borg line. Adapters for virtually all popular accessories (1-1/4", 2", SCT, many 35mm and medium format cameras) are available.


Very light and airline portable. No discernable spurious colour. Very well machined tube. Can be broken down into 250mm max length pieces easily. Perfect Airy disk. By far the most portable 100mm class high quality scope. Ideal for eclipse expeditions.


Cloudy Night's Borg 76ED Review
Converting a 100 Ach/ED Objective to a Series 80 Tube
Hutech Astronomical Products
Borg Oasis Studio

Vote Highlights Vote
Borg 100ED
I just obtained a BORG 100ED refractor and had a chance to thoroughly test it last night. The scope is mounted on a Bogen 3011 Tripod with a Televue upswing. Because the BORG is so light with an f/ratio of f/6.4, it rode very well on this highly portable mount. In fact, the whole system weighs about 13 Lb. mount and all.

I focused on Vega for a star test and to test color correction. I used a 7mm University Optics Orthoscopic eyepiece and a Televue mirror diagonal. The first thing I noticed was how easy and precise focusing is with The BORG 100ED. It has a camera quality 2 inch Helical focuser with a locking drawtube. Unlike some other focusers, once you are focused, the scope stays in focus no matter how high it is pointed without having to lock the focuser. After a short time using the helical focuser, I came to like it so much, I am not sure I want to use rack and pinion again! It is marvelously smooth and absolutely accurate. You know exactly when you are in focus and you do not rack past focus. A definite 10+ for focusing. And when I do photography with this scope, the helical focuser will be appreciated even more. The rest of the fit and finish is extremely good. It does not have the solid feel of televue or AstroPhysics or Tak scopes, but it is much, much lighter in weight. Since I was looking for a 4 inch PORTABLE scope, I would say this fills the bill better than any 4 incher I have every seen.

Focusing on Vega high in the sky revealed a color free in-focus image. Just slightly out of focus one side showed a light magenta rim around the outer ring and the other side of focus showed a light green, blue-green. Neither color was particularly strong indicating good color correction. When thrown further out of focus, to about 10 rings, the color disappeared. On previous occasions, I had viewed the moon through this scope, and the lunar limb showed no discernable color.

I put a green filter on the 7mm and star tested again, checking for geometric abberations. There was no astigmatism or coma and no zones or turned edge. After many back and forths with the focuser, and much comparison with Suiters images in his book, I decided that the objective is very slightly overcorrected showing about 1/8 wave of spherical abberation. I confirmed this conclusion using a deep yellow filter in place of the green. Same result, but a little easier to see. This is excellent by any standard, so I decided to try some viewing.

From my Chicago suburban backyard, deep sky objects are difficult at best. But I focused on M-57 and was rewarded with a high contrast view through a 10.5mm Ortho. Surrounding stars were pinpoint images very much like my Tak FC76. I then focused on Epsilon Lyrae. At 128x I could resolve the double double. Excellent! I then moved on to M-27, the dumbell nebula. Again, through a 10.5mm Ortho, M-27 showed brightly in a badly light polluted sky attesting to the high contrast of this excellent optic. Finally, while still low in the sky, I took a peek at Saturn and Jupiter. Saturn looked fantastic! Extremely sharp, the cassini division showed constantly and the various shadows of rings were clear and sharp. Contrast on the planet was only moderate, but double checking with my TAK revealed that it was because Saturn was simply not high enough in the sky. Jupiter showed sharpness on the limbs but surface detail was just not showing yet, though at moments of good seeing that low in the sky one could see that the detail would be very sharp if the planet was higher in the sky. Jupiter showed a creamy white color with no evidence of a purple ring characteristic of achromats.

All in all, I am very happy with this scope. It is the perfect combination of portability, aperture, quality build, and excellent optics. Try it! You'll like it!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40426


Borg 100ED
I have been using this scope for almost one year and am pleased with its overall perfomance. Optically this scope is excellent. Perhaps only surpassed by the "true" APO's in its class-- however these scopes come with a much larger price tag. The assembly is modular so you can intrchange all major parts, objective, tube and eyepiece turret which can accomidate 5 ep's at one time! A flip mirror alows you to change ep's without looking up from the scope.

If you buy this scope dont' bother with the mounts hutech offers they are total pieces of crap. Mine is falling apart. And I am looking at the Losmandy G 11 as a replacement.

Also you will have to figure on buying a proper hard side case for this excellent travel scope. I use an aliminum camara case for mine.

This scope and objective weigh in at under 10 lbs. Have never had any problems with cool down time.

A scope of this size is perhaps the ideal. It perfoms very well for planetar veiwing and it is remarkable for viewing deep, fainter objects as well. It is f6.4 and can handle high magnifacations above 150x, so for instance m13 in Hercules is completly resolved at even lower power.

All said this scope is a good deal by itself if bought with out the junky alt-az mount package.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Mount:3 Ease of Use:10 Value:6
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=222585


Borg 100ED
When I decided to make the big step to purchase a high end refractor it was a very difficult decision for me to make. In the end I decided to go with the Borg 100ED for the portability and modular design. When I had it out for the first night the seeing conditions were very good(ironic isn't it). I pointed the scope to Saturn and the image that I saw was what I wanted from a high end refractor. A cleanly split ring with four bands wrapping around the planet. The next object that I turned to was Jupiter. My buddy and I counted six bands and four pin point moons around the planet. The second time I had the scope out under the night sky was up at the famous and historic Palomar Mountain. The air up at Palomar that night was not as stable as I wanted it to be, that and the horizon around the campground sucked. So I waited for the summer stuff to come up. All I have to say is WOW!!! The images through the scope were amazing. The contrast was unbelievable. Some of the objects that I and the other fellow astronomers saw were M8, M22, M6, M7, M17, M24... A gentle who was up at the campground and owned a Tele Vue refractor commented that he was amazed at the contrast he saw through my Borg 100ED. I would strongly recommend this scope to anyone because of the great optics, portability, and the modular design. From the comparison I have done with other similar size telescopes from other companies the Borg will go toe to toe with anyone.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=253252


Borg 100ED
I am quite sisurpred that the judges didn't mention, how it was Iveta's generosity that made him look good,as a mathematician and a classically trained musician, I saw how Iveta was listening to the rhythm of HIS steps and continuously trying her best to synchronize Her steps with his and not out dance her partner!A courtesy that none of the other dancers showed to his/her partner tonight…Also I have always been interested in ballet and contemporary dance and snubbed ballroom dancing and dancers. Until in my last year at Yale a friend of mine gave me tickets to see people dancing , and for the first time I saw Iveta and Gherman dance together,a dancer is as strong as her/his choreographer, Gherman's choreography in my astonishment was very different from what little I knew from other ballroom performers/choreographers which I always interpreted as simply running silly and stiff on the stage wearing even sillier costumes. These two made me understand why Mary was complaining about the technique of the dancers during a ballroom routine …I also would like to see Iveta to dress herself,however with so many silly puritans in America maybe they would get mad at her etc etc …lol

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:3 Mount:3 Ease of Use:5 Value:2
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=599298


Borg 100ED
I've read a number of Borg 100ED reviews, but I have to admit that not one of them concentrated on the virtues that persuaded me to buy one.

Am I very different to the majority of amateur astronomers? I have no strong interest in photography. I have no interest in 'full apochromatic' levels of optical precision. I have no interest in modularity, whatever that it. I could be interested in a refractor with a cool name, but it really isn't mandatory.

So what am I interested in?

I'm interested in having the most portable, compact, lightest, simplest 4" (100mm) telescope, with colour-free, collimation-free optics, and a five minute cool down time. Oh, and a wide true field of view, when used with long focal length eyepieces. Conversely, I want the optics to work happily at that 50x per inch of aperture maximum that one reads about.

And the Borg 100ED is all of those things.

The OTA weighs about 6lbs (3 kilos) with 2" diagonal, finderscope, ring and mounting plate, and your average plössl, all in place. Total length of the lot is just under 22" (about 55cm). The optics are perfect, to my eyes. All of these items together cost me a tad less than $2,000.

And those views... oh my, those views! Ok, it's only a 4" refractor, after all, but the planetary and lunar performance is wonderful, and the rich-field views are everything I'd hoped for.

I guess the most obvious competition is the far more expensive Tele Vue TV85 apo. However, you trade half and inch (15mm) of aperture, for that 'true' apochromatic performance standard, that I find so hard to distinguish.

Ric

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Ease of Use:9 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=268903


Borg 100ED
The focuser is very smooth and precise.
A good choice for a good price.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Mount:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=128498


Borg 100ED
It annoys me to see people giving these very good scopes 10.

they are well executed sharp and well colour corrected but don't get within a bulls roar of a zeiss apq. I've compared them side by side.

Very portable and i liked the snap on features of these scopes.

Good for deep sky and planetary observing. optics the equal of a vixen ed 102 f-6.5. Some false colour which to be expected but a good high end scope.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40437


Borg 100ED
This Borg scope has three major plusses: (1) It is uniquely light and compact for the 4" aperture; (2) the color correction is quite good for a fast ED doublet and merits designation as an Apo; (3) the modular design enables switching out various components to achieve interesting options not easily achieved with other refractors, particularly the ability to shorten the tube to enable use of a BINOVIEWER without a barlow!

I really enjoy using the scope as a quick grab and go scope, a lightweight travel scope, and especially as a binoviewer-capable refractor. On the negative side, the lightweight construction does not have the same heft as one gets with a Takahashi or Astrophysics scope. Also, while the helical focuser works quite well, I still prefer a rack and pinion.

It's a good scope, a point or two behind the industry leaders (AP, Tak, TMB) in overall fit and finish and possibly optically as well, but still a very good scope and an excellent value for the money.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40436


Borg 100ED
A ten for a Borg 100 mm ED is a bit of an exaggeration. What would be a Tak or
a TMB Apo then? Though I must admit that 100 mm Borgs are very light and
airline portable, my Borg still has astigmatism. In addition, there are
drawbacks regarding mechanics (focuser, extension tubes), which fall
much short of Pentax and Tak Refraktors known to me. And finally I think of
it as an ED, not an APO, since traces of color are still visible.
Conclusion: My 1996 Borg is not a bad scope, but it could get much better -
I give it a 6.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40435


Borg 100ED
I recently compared this scope side by side with an AP Traveler.
They were close, oh so very close with the AP having a slight edge in oustside of focus fresnel pattern. In focus, both scopes gave very similar images.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40434

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