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ab1963
13-03-2016, 07:11 AM
Hi everyone
just bought a sw 150 mak unseen and should have probably asked to see pics first and need a little advice ,firstly it is in silver and not the sw black and looks like it has push pull collimating button type things instead of the standard screws but collimation is fine,has a 10.1 gso crayford and that is fine,looks like someone has played footy with it on the ota which astounds me with astro gear but the optics look fine and it was cheap enough.
i had a little play around with it last night and cannot seem to get sharp views as i have become used to with my 3 and 4 inch refractors,i know the thing about horses for courses and all that,after all that the things i would like guidance on are
is it skywatcher or a rebrand as i can't seem to find one in anything but black,what could be the reason i can't bring it to sharp focus,
help would be most appreciated

raymo
13-03-2016, 04:33 PM
Hi Andrew, The Pro series SW 150 and 180 MAKs as far as I know were all white and gold from the beginning. I bought mine nearly nine years ago, and every one I have seen since was white and gold. If it is a SW scope, it must be an earlier series that I'm not familiar with. Every one I have seen also had the standard collimating screws.I've never seen a black one. I have owned or used several 150s and one 180, and all were pin sharp. I can only think that a previous owner has disassembled it, and
neglected to mark the position of the corrector plate, and put it back in the wrong position. I imagine that you have checked that the meniscus
is in good condition.
raymo

Regulus
13-03-2016, 06:24 PM
Can you post a series of pictures of the tube damage, the collimation system and the corrector plate please. Oh, and any branding on it.

Trev

MortonH
13-03-2016, 06:44 PM
As far as I know only gold and black versions have been sold by Skywatcher. I suppose it's possible that there was an earlier model for a short time. I've seen purported 'prototype' scopes sold on Astromart but I've no idea how you verify the origin if it's not branded.

ab1963
13-03-2016, 07:18 PM
thank you everyone for your posts but it looks like it is not a skywatcher as stated,have noticed with a little help from an astro mate is the one i have has a focal length of 1900mm and the skywatchers are 1800mm,seller has been contacted but just for interests sake what could it be?it definitely isn't skywatcher quality

MortonH
13-03-2016, 07:32 PM
I'm sure at least one vendor in Australia used to sell a 150/1900mm Mak branded as Saxon.

It was possibly this version made by HiOptic.

http://www.hioptic.com/telescopes/Cassegrain/MC-Maksutov/MC1900x150EQ3_AT3.htm


[Saxon now sells the standard Synta 150/1800mm Mak-Cass.]

Regulus
13-03-2016, 07:51 PM
I think Morton has nailed it, and I remember the HiOptic from old magazine ads was white and black
And then there's this
http://www.hioptic.com/telescopes/Cassegrain/MC-Maksutov/NMC1900x152EQ8_AT6.htm

Trev

ab1963
13-03-2016, 08:37 PM
Yes there was no way it is a skywatcher but contacted seller and things will be fixed,it looks like he was duped when he bought it but that's not my problem and thanks again everyone for your help,will probably get to meet soon regulus just in the infant stages of selling up in Sydney and moving to Devonport with my family in the next year and really looking forward to the move

Renato1
13-03-2016, 09:27 PM
You say that collimation is fine.

Did you determine this by aiming at a bright star at high power, throwing it out of focus and observing a lot of very concentric rings in a bullseye pattern?

Or aiming and focusing on a bright star at very high power, and observing concentric diffraction rings around it?
Regards,
Renato

doppler
13-03-2016, 09:49 PM
Here's a quick daylight collimation check.
http://www.robincasady.com/Astro/collimation/

If you search for mak cassegrains in google images, you will find some silver ones (Orion being one brand that sells silver maks)

ab1963
13-03-2016, 10:18 PM
Yes Orion do a silver 150 mak but the fl is 1800 mm not 1900mm like the one I got,would have been happy with that scenario,and as for collimation I de-focused on a bright star but gave a centred view.