Quote:
Originally Posted by alistairsam
For me, a Carbon Fibre 10inch F4 From GSO/Skywatcher at Andrews.
I believe its $999.
the 12inchF4 Steel at $899 sounds really good and comes with a 3inch focuser, but the flexure in the OTA, total weight and need to reinforce the focuser area make it a questionable buy.
The CF on the other hand has obvious benefits, 10inch is ample aperture for imaging, speed of the F4 has to be seen to be believed, and the overall weight of the OTA is very reasonable.
The GSO mirrors hold up well and whilst not Royce quality, more than adequate for some really good images.
Just look up astrobin and filter down by this OTA.
Cheers
Alistair
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+1 for the CF 250f4 - the Skywatcher tube is a good design with an effective mirror mounting system, internal baffles and plenty of back focus. The optics are nothing short of excellent (always seeing-limited) and even the focuser is OK for a bit over 1kg camera (eg a DSLR - for which the design has sufficient back focus). Would need a better focuser for a heavy camera, but apart from replacing the secondary alignment screws, there is nothing else that could be improved much. Oh, and the cost must include a decent coma corrector - I have an RCC1 which works very well, but others use the Paracorr, which also seems to work well.
I changed from a steel tube scope to the CF and it was like a breath of fresh air. The CF scope is easy to align, holds collimation and stays in focus through significant temperature fluctuations - it works very well regardless of price and is exceptional value at present. I can lift it without much trouble and my EQ6 handles it OK - unless it is windy.
The other scope that you might consider and that appears to offer exceptional capability for the money is the Skywatcher Mak Newt. It is a fully corrected astrograph - just add camera and away you go. I have not tried one, but reviews and sample images are positive - the only downside might be that it weighs quite a bit more than other similar sized scopes and might be pushing the EQ6 a bit.
edit: just reread - no, I have no ties to Skywatcher