Takahashi MT-130 Review

My first proper scope was a Tasco 3T-RB Newtonian reflector on an alt-az yoke mount. I loved it and used it loads in my early teens. I still recall the thrill of seeing the Moon’s craters, only recently departed by Apollo 14, with my own eyes.

Back then small (90-150mm) Newtonians were ubiquitous. Now they’ve largely vanished in favour of the refractor. Part of the problem was quality.

My little Tasco 3T-RB 76/800 was great, but the next size up – the 11TE - just wasn’t: the mount was wobbly, the finder couldn’t. The all-spherical 76/800 had outstanding optics; the 114/900 11TE didn’t.

But what would an 11TE done properly be like? The answer can be found in Takahashi’s MT series. On review here is the larger of the basic models, the MT-130.

MTs are quite rare in Europe so this one was imported from Japan as a complete setup. It was new-old-stock and has a few storage marks but is otherwise unused.

I was curious to compare a quality Newtonian with a refractor, so throughout this review I compare the MT-130 with an FS-102, a classic Takahashi fluorite doublet that has the same focal length making direct comparison easy:

At A Glance

Telescope	MT-130 Newtonian Reflector
Aperture	130mm
Focal Length	800
Focal Ratio	F6
Central Obstruction (incl. holder/baffle)	40mm (30%)
Length	760mm
Weight	5.3Kg OTA

 Data from Tak/me.

What’s in the Box?

The MT-130 set as reviewed here was sold as a complete setup on its EM-1 mount and shipped in three separate boxes – for the OTA, the tripod and the mount head.

Included are the tripod and eyepiece tray, the mount with battery box and controller, the OTA and ring, the finder, a flattener and a pair of eyepieces. It’s everything you needed to get out and observe or image.

It’s a great set, with everything of the highest quality. But this would have been an expensive rig.

Design and Build

Takahashi made two basic MT models, the MT-100 and the MT-130 on review here. Both were pure Newtonians (no built-in correctors). Both were supplied on a medium EM-1 equatorial. Both appeared in the Takahashi catalogue from 1983.

Takahashi also made two larger MT models, the MT-160 and MT-200, but these were better equipped for imaging with focuser rotators and F4.8 reducers included, supplied on larger mounts.

The small MTs were typical of small equatorial Newtonians from the 1960s through 1990s. Their basic design is identical to that Tasco 11TE. The difference of course is quality and that difference isn’t small.

From the internal finish, to the end castings, the tube ring, the finder and focuser, this is a beautifully made device. It has all Takahashi’s signature features that combine beauty with real utility.

The MT series are long discontinued. Takahashi do still make a trio of Newtonians – the Epsilons 130, 160 and (theoretically) 180 – but these are fast (~F3) imaging machines with hyperbolic primaries that require a built-in corrector in the focuser and secondary obstructions that approach 50%. They’re not ideal for visual use, unlike the old MT series.

The MT-130 is from a time before digital imaging, a time when blur, b&w and vignetting were all part of the fun.

The MT-130 is like a premium-quality version of the once-ubiquitous Tasco 11TE-5.

Original 1983 brochure.

Optics

The MT-130 has a 130/800 (F6) parabolic primary (many cheap Newt’s of the era had spherical primaries) paired with a 40mm (30%) secondary flat. I believe the mirrors were (most unusually for Japanese production) made in-house and reputedly to a very high standard.

A central obstruction of 30% is very usable visually, but still noticeable. You have to drop to ~20% (possible at F8+) to get truly ‘refractor like’ views. Noticeable how?

1)    The secondary shadow can become uncomfortable at very low powers

2)    Performance is noticeably worse in poor seeing

3)    Contrast transmission is degraded for the aperture

Note that true reflectors like the Newtonian bring all wavelengths to the same focus point, so don’t suffer from the false colour fringing (chromatic aberration) that plagues refractors (esp. the achromats from this era).

The primary has push-pull thumb screws for collimation. The secondary has thumb screws too. Support for both mirrors looks very solid and collimation in this example is spot-on from the factory despite being shipped across the World.

Tube

The tube is rolled steel with a spot-welded seam, just like any small Newtonian, but quality of finish is high and here it seems as if the tube is double walled. The internal skin in painted a very flat camera black, the outer enamelled in that distinctive MT colour.

The end rings and mirror cell are castings as usual (Takahashi started life as a sand casting company), as is the focuser body, ring and finder mount. Quality of the cast parts is very fine and contributes much to the overall sense of a premium product.

All the cast parts are in finished in the blueish grey coating that was Tak’s signature finish in the 1980s. It has a smoother, shinier texture than the green and later blue that replaced it. Some may not like the turquoise-and-grey colour scheme; personally I love it.

The end rings are fastened with shiny-chromed dome-headed screws, as is the finder mount. The secondary spider is attached with knurled knobs that match the push-pull adjusters on the mirror cell. Again, all the fittings have a quality feel.

The end cap is made of pressed steel in that same grey finish and is thoughtfully provided with a handle.

Both internal and external build and finish are flawless and the overall sense is that the MT-130 was hand-crafted with real care. I’ve seen slightly rough castings on some early Noughties Tak’s, but not here.

The MT-130 came with a 0.965” eyepiece holder, but a 1.25” threads straight on (shown with Tele Vue Plössl).

Focuser

The focuser is classic a Takahashi rack and pinion unit, with a cast body and drawtube, a very progressive lock-knob on top and the those signature silver anodised wheels (in this case the proper cast ones, not the plastic imitations found on the FC-60, for example).

The single-speed action is super-smooth and precise as usual, but the absolute focus snap had me wanting a fine focuser at high powers.

The 60mm diameter drawtube is finely ridge-baffled and blacked internally, ends in (I think) an M53 thread. Travel is very short at just 20mm, but sufficient for all Tak’s 0.965” Orthos, and most 1.25” eyepieces with a 1.25” visual back fitted (see accessories section).

The MT-CRT flattener threads straight onto the bare end of the drawtube for a very secure and orthogonal connection.

Mounting

The MT-130 is heavier than most small Newtonians – thanks to all those cast parts - so needs a medium mount. Since it shipped as a set, I’ll make a some notes about the EM-1 mount.

The EM-1 head has the standard pair of M8 bolt-holes at 35mm separation, so you could bolt on most Takahashi rings. The EM-1 holds the MT-130 securely enough, but needs the supplied 5Kg weight at nearly full extension on the bar, ditto for an FS-102 4” refractor.

The EM-1 is somewhere between the old-skool design of a P2Z and a more recent EM-11. The RA motor is internal like an EM-11, but the slo-mo drive gears are external. Similarly, the friction clamp to lock the RA axis is internal with a lever atop the RA housing, but external on the declination like a P2Z.

Switching between RA slo-mo and motor drive takes a twist on the knurled silver clutch knob (its finish matches the focuser wheels – nice). The super-chunky slo-mo knobs match the one on the ring and are just perfect for gloved hands in the dark.

The supplied battery box takes four D cells and the hand controller just offers two buttons – one for faster, the other for stop. There is an internal polar scope, accessed by the threaded cover like other Tak’ mounts. The polar-scope light is internal with brightness adjustment from the control panel. The mount tracks well once properly aligned and didn’t seem fussy about minor unbalance across the RA axis.

The tripod features fixed-length wooden legs and a cast top that attaches to the mount by a single threaded knob. There is a nice central tray, but the eyepiece holes are 0.965” only.

Overall, the EM-1 is hugely superior to the kind of equatorial that typically shipped with a Tasco, both in build quality and function. However, despite the solid wooden tripod and hefty castings, vibes take several seconds to damp and a heavier mount like an EM200 might be a better bet for serious imaging.

EM-1 can be used with any smaller Takahashi - here with an FS-102N.

Accessories

The MT-130 shipped with the black accessory box typical of 1980s and 90s Takahashis. Inside are the usual pair of eyepieces 0.965” Takahashi MC (for multi-coated and they are) Orthoscopic eyepieces – a 25mm and 7mm (giving 32x and 114x respectively) - and an MT-CRT flattener for photography.

Takahashi’s MC Orthos are good eyepieces. Quality is on a whole other level compared with the type of thing you got shipped with a Tasco, or even a Vixen of the same era. However, a Takahashi 1.25” eyepiece holder threads straight on to allow a much broader choice. I found a Tele Vue 25mm Plössl was a great match.

But what about modern widefield eyepieces? These have the advantage of a built-in barlow that naturally helps kill the field curvature. I tried a 3.7mm Ethos, a 5mm Nagler Type 6 and (!) a super-high-end 12.5mm Nikon NAV I had on loan. All focused fine. The NAV surprised with a great edge-to-edge sharp and bright view at 64x.

The 1.3x MT-CRT flattener threads directly into the end of the drawtube (on a male M53 thread?) and has a T-2 thread at the other end for easy connection to a camera. I believe an F4.7 reducer was available, but wasn’t included in the set.

The included finder is Takahashi’s 6x30 that sets the standard for small optical finders: it gives a great view and has plenty of eye relief. Just don’t confuse it with the similarly excellent but much smaller 5x25 unit that shipped with their smaller refractors. In any case you’ll want to look after the finder – you won’t find a replacement in that colour!

Flattener and eyepieces shipped in this handsome box. Even the logoed tissue paper wrapping the eyepieces is original!

The MT-130 comes with a pair of 0.965” MC Orthoscopics, but modern eyepieces work well, even this Nikon NAV!

MT-CRT 1.3x extender/flattener is included, threads onto the drawtube with no spacers or adapters needed.

In Use – Daytime

Most small refractors can do double duty as a daytime spotter, but the MT-130 is too large and won’t focus much closer than ~100m. That’s a shame because daytime views are bright, super sharp and (of course) completely free from false colour fringing. I enjoyed watching a pair of Jackdaws on a TV aerial about 300m away.

In Use – Astrophotography

The included MT-CRT flattener increases focal length by about 30% from 800mm to ~1060mm, F6 to ~F8.2. It kills the severe field curvature and coma suffered by fast Newtonian optics.

Unfortunately, I found the MT-CRT flawed. It was presumably designed for 35mm film cameras, so it’s odd that vignetting is quite severe with my full-frame Canon EOS. This seems to be a limitation of the lens group diameter, which is quite small at ~23mm.

Vignetting isn’t the only problem. Stars are slightly distorted in the corners. Lack of false colour or violet bloat should be a major advantage for a reflector and the MT-CRT introduces just a trace on brighter O-A stars. It is however multi-coated and didn’t produce any internal reflections.

However, a crop of the main cluster stars shows attractive spider spikes, low vignetting and minimal lateral distortion - APSC sensors should yield good results with the MT-CRT.

The central part of the frame appears well corrected and sharp. The image of the Moon below, taken with the MT-CRT in quite poor seeing, surprised me. It is similar to one taken with an FS-102 on the same night. Instead of my usual straight-from-the -camera snap, I thought it would be fun to process it to look like an emulsion photo pushed during development, like the 1983 MT-100 brochure cover shot above (I still had a darkroom in 1983 and used to do this).

The basic Newtonian optics of the MT-130 are good, but the MT-CRT flattener is best used with smaller sensors.

Pleiades 20s ISO 3200 Canon EOS 6D MkII: shows vignetting and some off-axis distortion. Crop of the cluster below shows attractive spider spikes.

Snap of the Moon taken with the MT-CRT. Processed for fun to look like the MT series brochure cover!

In Use – Observing the Night Sky

General Observing Notes

The focuser is typical Takahashi – super smooth and precise with no shift. The wide drawtube and short travel give great stability. Focus is very snappy, indicating high quality optics as expected. Focus point so fine that I almost wished for a fine focus knob.

Now we discover why Tak’ equipped the Mt-130 with that massive ring and oversized clamp knob. The eyepiece of a Newt’ ends up all over the place when equatorially mounted and you frequently need to rotate the tube. The chunky knob and smooth action, progressive clamping make that easy and secure. It’s then very easy for me to get a comfortable eyepiece position for objects at a range of altitudes.

Unlike most optical finders, the Takahashi 6x30 is actually useful and will help find things too faint for a red-dot finder.

Cool Down

I don’t know if the mirror is Pyrex or basic plate-glass, but at this aperture glass mass is low and cooldown fast.

Star Test

The star test is good, with very similar diffraction rings either side of focus.

The Moon

A waning 19-day gibbous Moon is sharp and detailed through the MT-130, even at just 32x with the supplied 25mm MC Ortho.

At 160x with a 5mm T6 Nagler, I got excellent views of prominent craters Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catherina (my favourite grouping through that childhood Tasco and all early Christians – 2 bishops and a saint - from Alexandria in case you were wondering) in the south and distinctive Posidonius, with its central crater and rille, in the north.

Jupiter

The MT-130 gave really excellent views of Jupiter at 160x with a 5mm Nagler: perfect focus snap and no issues with blurring or unfocused light around the limb. I noted several fine belts in the grey polar hoods and subtle variations in thickness and some cinnamon colouration in the central belts too. I just managed to spot the GRS.

Mars

Mars at 11.2” on the way towards the January 2025 opposition gave a great view at 160x with a Nagler 5mm - excellent colour transmission and a sharply defined gibbous disk with hints of albedo detail – Mare Acidalium.

Mars can be a difficult object for refractors, even “apochromatic” ones intended for imaging that perform poorly in the red; reflectors have a big advantage here.

Saturn

With its rings now closing fast, Saturn is more challenging than it once was. Even so it’s a good view through the MT-130 at 160x, with hints of the polar hood, gap between the ring and planet.

On a night of stable seeing the MT-130 gave lunar and planetary views highly comparable to the FS-102, but notably worse in poor seeing.

Deep Sky

The view of M42 was great, even in moonlight, with plenty of structure in the nebulosity and hints of colour and a nice split of the trapezium at 32x with a 25mm Tele Vue Plössl. Staying in Orion, I split Rigel (just) in poor seeing, but with the diffraction spikes from the secondary spider getting in the way compared to the refractors I’m used to.

Castor was an easy split and I managed the Double Double in Lyra easily enough at 160x too. But in general I found double stars harder than with a fine refractor.

The Pleiades just fitted in the field at 32x with the 25mm Plössl and it was a beautiful view - brilliantly glittery the way only fine optics, usually refractors, deliver them.

Summary

The MT-130 setup remains an excellent starter set today, with everything you need and nothing you don’t: properly designed and executed to make it easy and pleasurable to use. It comes from the pre-goto era and you’d have to learn to align the mount and finder, but those are great skills to acquire anyway.

It’s a rig that will show you a lot, too – Moon planets and deep sky. You can even plug in a modern DSLR and start imaging with the supplied flattener. It should yield good results on APSC-sized sensors, but less so at full frame.

The MT-130 is the scope the Tasco 11TE should have been: beautifully made and highly functional. But then you can’t pick one up on EBay for fifty quid!

The MT-130 is one of those scopes that’s just right: it is easy to use, gives great views and decent images even today. Highly recommended and not just for Tak’ collectors!

 

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