Professional Telescopes
RH Veloce
Telescopes and Instruments "RH Veloce"
"Veloce", in Italian, means fast.
We choose this name because no other design allows such fast f/ ratios with a so high definition over a wide and flat focal plane. Any Veloce offers pinpoint stars all over the field of view. To put is simply, the best astrograph you can buy.
Overview "RH Veloce" SERIE
The RHVeloce is a really unique design, and uses several unique solutions, created by Riccardi and Honders (from this the “RH” in the name). The RH Veloce uses a double front lens that is weakly convergent, and the primary mirror is a “Mangin” mirror (from the name of its French inventor). A Mangin mirror is a mirror that is coated on the back surface, not on the front. The light passes through the glass, is reflected by the coating and then passes again through the glass. For this reason, a Mangin mirror is called a refractive-reflective optical element, and opens exciting possibilities to optical engineers. This complex design includes also a corrector group before the focal plane, achieving performances impossible otherwise, with extraordinary “fast” photographic performances over wide focal planes.
A curiosity about the RH Veloce: since the double frontal lens is convergent, the Mangin mirror is smaller than the “nominal” diameter of the scope, while the meniscus itself is bigger than the nominal diameter, to ensure a good illumination over the wide field of view of such scopes. For example, the 200 mm model has a 220 mm meniscus and a 190 mm primary mirror. The secondary mirror is a separated piece of glass, or it is made coating the middle of the meniscus, depending on model.
For this reason, we talk about “entry pupil” and not “primary mirror diameter”, for this instruments.
The original RH Veloce series was only three models (200, 300, 350mm). The 250 model was designed for a specific application, but we were so happy about it to put it in production. It is f/5.6, not f/3.
The RH Veloce frontal lens is the only piece of optic in our production that we outsource. It is made in Germany under Officina Stellare specifications.
SPECIFICATIONS | |
---|---|
ENTRY PUPIL DIAMETER | From 400 mm (16'') to 800 mm (32'') |
FOCAL RATIO | F/8 |
FOCAL LENGTH | From 3200 mm (126'') to 6400 mm (252'') |
LINEAR OBSTRUCTION | 47% |
FULLY CORRECTED AND ILLUMINATED FIELD | From 60 mm to 90 mm |
WEIGHT | From 40 Kg to 180 Kg |
BACK FOCUS EXTRACTION | From about 220 mm (8.6'') to about 300 mm (12'') |
All telescopes share the following mechanical characteristics:
- Two (optionally four) Losmandy or 8″ dovetail plates, to connect the telescope to your mount, or to accommodate accessories.
- Computer optimized baffles.
- Focal plane tilt adjusting.
- Optional shutter to protect the primary mirror.
- High precision spherical joint and high strength carbon tubes in the truss structure for zero-backlash assembly and extraordinary rigidity.
- Double concentric light shield for the secondary mirror/spider support.
- Radial micrometric adjustment for the secondary mirror support.
- All collimation screws are spring-loaded, with lock if needed.
- Zero image shift secondary mirror movement, with electronic/PC control (optional on smaller telescopes, standard in the big ones).
- Special ultra-dark and ultra-opaque space-grade paint for all sensible parts. Space grade glue for glued parts. Space-grade rubber for all seals.
- Unique mirror supports design.
- Wide choice of focusers, filter wheels, and optical train accessories in general.
- Customization available.