Telescope-Refracting Telescopes-William Optics RedCat 71 f/4.9 APO Imaging Astrograph with WIFD Free William Optics Slide-Base 32mm UniGuide Scope With Purchase – $114 Value!

Pristine Optics

William Optics’ RedCat series of telescopes are known for their quality optics, and the WIFD RedCat 71 keeps this tradition alive with its 71 mm APO Petzval design. This provides a 45mm (full-frame) image circle, and makes add-on correctors as well as backfocus concerns a thing of the past – thanks to its Petzval optics arrangement, so long as you can space your camera out to a point where it will reach focus you’ll have a flat imaging field! Combined with its FPL-53 glass elements for superior chromatic aberration/ optical performance, and a fast f/4.9 focal ratio, the William Optics RedCat 71 Imaging Astrograph with WIFD gives you a sharp, clean, 350mm focal length view of the universe.

WIFD Focuser Design with EAF Compatibility
The job of a focuser is simple; place the in-focus image plane at the correct location for this to be captured by the camera or viewed through the eyepiece. Traditionally refractor focusers accomplish this by allowing the user to move the camera or eyepiece to that point. This is a good system, but it does have some drawbacks that have begun to become apparent as optical imaging trains have become heavier and common imaging sensor sizes increased. This comes from the drawtube necessarily needing to be smaller than the focuser, meaning the total possible area that the light path could travel is vignette a bit on the edges, and as this tube becomes less supported the further it is extended, sagging becomes more of a possibly with heavier setups. William Optics have taken an interesting approach to address both of these concerns and has moved the optics rather than the camera. With this patented WIFD system you’ll have a solid, static, mount for your imaging equipment with the largest possible light path from the WIFD RedCat 71’s optics. This novel focuser design also brings out-of-the-box compatibility for popular electronic focusers such as a user supplied ZWO EAF, meaning you now can add motorized focus to the RedCat 71 without the need for specialized helical focuser adapters! Please note:The internal focusing mechanism shows 30 mm of travel, however, it only actually moves to 22 mm.

The Complete Package
Included with the WIFD RedCat 71 scope is a number of handy accessories to round out this great offering from William Optics! Supporting the telescope and a wide variety of other equipment are the scope rings, featuring threaded accessory attachment points on the top and left sides as well as cat-ear milling on the interior for added visual flair. Preinstalled on these rings is a 210mm Vixen-style dovetail plate and the combination carry handle and Synta-style accessory bar, which provides ample space for connecting Synta-style accessories such as guide scopes (like the perfectly matched William Optics Uniguide or Apertura 32mm guide scope, sold separately). To protect the optics when your RedCat 71 f/4.9 APO Imaging Astrograph with WIFD is not in use, William Optics has included their unique dust cover. This cover features their popular integrated Bahtinov mask design, which allows you to easily dial in focus without needing to bring anything extra to the observing site. Finally, to keep everything safe and secure while transporting or traveling with your RedCat, William Optics have included a padded soft carry case.