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Originally Posted by astro744
10.1" F6.4 Suchting Mirror, Clave Plossl eyepieces, evening twilight; piece of cake!
This was the first time I ever split Antares and was surprised how easy it was. A good mirror and eyepieces help but I think it was the twilight that made the task easier.
I have Newtonians, Refractors & and SCT. I have looked through both 7"/f9 & 6"/f12 Starfire, 9"/f15. At one point I was convinced the 7"/f9 was simply the best ever telescope. It was mounted on top of a 16"/f5 Newt/Cass that simply never produced images worth looking at mainly due to local atmospheric disturbances and city light.
I love the pin point stars and and flat field of my 2.4" & 4" refractors and the fact that I can get well over 4 degrees of stunning star fields. Planets are very sharp and contrasty but I often want a brighter image as I simply run out of exit pupil diameter; that's how much I can push the refractor.
I love my 9.25" SCT because it is compact and yet has ample light gathering and good focal length. Higher powers with bigger eyepieces is nice.
I love my short 6" Newt when combined with Paracorr delivers a near 3 degree field of pinpoint stars that rivals that of the 4" refractor. One day I'll do a side by side comparison.
I love my 10.1" Newtonian because it is the largest aperture I own and gives me the brightest images of deep sky objects and also gives me plenty of light when pushing up the power on planets. The mirror can certainly take it. This telescope is also a great galaxy buster not because it is a big Dob but because it has a great mirror that gives me excellent contrast and lets me pick up very faint galaxies.
I have seen Jupiter in a 16"/f5 Suchting mirror that was better than any view I had ever seen of any planet in any of the above mentioned telescopes including that of the 9"/f15 refractor. However the big refractor had tracking and a good long focal length and looking at a 'big' image of a planet for extended periods without having to nudge the telescope has considerable advantage.
There is no one perfect telescope and after 30 Years I have acquired a few different types. I'm yet to own a large reflector but I am having so much fun with my TV-60 that I don't think I really want and definitely do not need one.
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Certainly you are a proponent of different telescopes for different purposes. Thanks for sharing your star splitting experience. I'm still fascinated with the concept of the 7" telescope mounted on the 16" one, and the 7" one being the superior performer.
Yes, one can see thousands of galaxies with a 9.25" and 10" telescopes, one of the delights of life. Oddly though, on occasions I was in really dark places in central Victoria for work, I've been quite amazed at the views with the performance of my 25X100 binoculars, where each sweep across Virgo was showing dozens of tiny galaxies that stood out like sore thumbs. I never got that effect with my small travel telescopes.
Fascinating to hear of your enthusiasm for the TV-60. I have a little WO 66mm refractor I bought for camping (when all my wife's stuff left me with no room for my 80mm in the boot), and it was quite a lively telescope out in the country, but I must confess to not having used it at home. You have piqued my interest.
Regards,
Renato