high qualty reflector?

[Nic]

hey all,

What are some high quality reflectors readily available in this country?

thanks,

Nic

[RB]

G'day Nic and welcome.

What sort of price range are we talking about roughly?

[Nic]

Hey Andrew,

Right now I'm just trying to learn what's available, so consider price irrelevant! (I always wanted to say that :) )

Thanks,
Nic

[rumples riot]

Nic,

There is the Schmidt Cassegrain type of scope, made by Vixen, Meade and celestron. Also Takahashi. Largest sizes around 16" average size is 10"

There is the newtonian type of scope. It can come with an EQ mount and dobsonian. Dobsonian scopes can be as large as 40", most common though is the 12" and 10". With the EQ mount the size of a scope is limited by the mount size. With scopes of 16" and above the main expense is the mount. Mounts for scopes over 16" just are not very affordable.

There is the Mak/Newt or Mak/Cassegrain. Great scopes and can be found in sizes up to 13". Typically very expensive though.

There are a few other varieties, which cost in excess of 40K just for the scope. The mount is more still.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Paul

[iceman]

Reflector huh? Dob mounted or EQ mounted?

There's plenty of dob owners around here, and a few with reflectors on EQ mounts.

Do you want it for visual or astrophotography? Do you live in dark skies or will you need to travel to dark skies?

The best high quality is probably achieved by getting a custom made mirror and put it in a tube. For "off the shelf" quality, you'll have to import an obsession or similar.

Readily available in the country are GSO and SkyWatcher newts.. both are quite good quality for the price. The mount can add extra to the cost, if you want a solid EQ mount to put it on.

So give us a bit more info about what you plan to do and we can help you some more!

btw where abouts do you live?

and :welcome: to the forum, how did you hear about us?

[Nic]

Hey Guys,

I found this place from the article in Australian Sky & Telescope. So far I'm impressed!

To answer your questions and be a little more specific on my part,
what I had in mind was a Newtonian Reflector, no catadioptrics thanks, around the 8" to 12" mark, most likely dob mounted, but hey, I'll give equatorial a thought.

I live near liverpool, near Sydney (Lat -33.917, Long 150.850) so my skies aren't all that great.

There's currently no plans for photgraphy, but maybe in five or ten years time. So this will be for visual use.

As for finding a custom mirror, where would I start?

Again, thanks for the input,
Nic

[rumples riot]

How many times have I heard this. Give me a buck for everytime. :P :lol:

[Nic]

Glad I could give you a laugh.

[Starkler]

There are some nice premium newts in that aperture class, but none that I know of made or imported by dealers into this country

[ballaratdragons]

Nic, The new range of Truss dobsonians are creating a lot of interest! Meade have theirs out now and GS will have theirs out in March.
They come in various sizes.
The 16" will still fit into an average car as truss dobs collapse down for transporting.

The Meade will cost you more than the GS. I think (anyone help) both brand mirrors are made by GS anyway.

The cost of the new GS 16" truss is $2499 if my memory is correct.
You can get very portable dobs starting from around $300.

Or if you want a good set up with EQ you can get a 10" Newtonian reflector on an EQ mount with Goto from MyAstroShop at a good price too.

$2530 without Goto, $3400 with Goto! With a set up like this you would be happy for many years and when it came time to get into Astrophotos you have it all ready to go. At f4.7 it will be excellent for Deep Space stuff!!! All you need to add for a terrific scope is a 'Crayford or Moonlite' Focuser.

Here is the version with Goto: http://myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-109

As you can see, there are heaps of choices. Take your time & ask more questions.

[acropolite]

Welcome to IIS Nic. If price isn't a factor and you want a dob it would be well worth waiting to see how the 16 inch GS dobs turn out. If you're not aware, all reflectors (and SCT's) require a lengthy cooldown period for optimal performance (at least a couple of hours), so if a quick peek is what's required you may be better with a refractor. If you're in Sydney a trip to Bintel or Andrews communications would a good idea, however the best approach would be to attend a local get together and experience first hand what others are using.

[ballaratdragons]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that too Phil! :P

Hey Nic, what he said! ;)

[bird]

Nic, I've put together a "premium" reflector from custom work - optics done by Mark Suchting (Deep Sky Optics in Berowra, username "lambda20" on this forum) and tube made by Gary Mitchell in Condell Park, Sydney.

I bought a Losmandy G-11 to carry it, very happy with the results. There are some images on my website: http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro

Mirror cost around $1300, Tube cost around $300.

All up, with mount, goto and accessories it was probably around $10k.

regards, Bird

[fringe_dweller]

it *seems* to me a lot of people in oz buy Parks mirrors, well at least in the past for a time?, when they want a quality, hand figured, newt mirror. they may come up for sale occasionaly, second hand.
I have heard once that parks mirrors can vary in quality a bit tho? (but are never bad - just averagish to very good) - that may be old out of date info? or even incorrect?

[ving]

nothing else to add, I'll just say hi :)
get yourself to bintel and see what they can offer you. :)

[Nic]

Bird, those images are very nice.

Actually, I've been to Bintel a few times already. I like that store. About six months ago I bought one of their ten inch dobs....One of the things I don't particularly like about it is that at high power it's hard to keep it steady, particularly when near the horizon.

Forgive my ignorance, but what does GS stand for?

- Nic

[Starkler]

GS , or GSO = Guan Sheng Optical.
Based in Taiwan they are the main competition to Synta in the mass produced scope market.