beren
15-12-2006, 12:27 AM
Gday plenty of action lately with equipment purchases, thought i would add a first impression on a new scope I brought/received. It's a Intes micro MN56, 5 inch F/6 maksutov-newtonian.
The OTA feels quite heavy for a smallish scope {listed at 5.5kg} but the CG5ASGT mount that will carry it does it no worries.The build looks good {colour of the tube is a light beige-white :P } and solid particularly the impressive baffling arrangement inside the tube. The Meniscus {front corrector plate} upon removing the dust-cap for the first time had a fair amount of particles on the front surface and some on the rear.Found this a little alarming but managed to clear it with a blower brush , the particles looked they came from the felt lining that's used with the dust-cap. The crayford focuser that comes with the scope is OK but the adapter tubes {2&1.5"} have a sloppy fit with some lateral movement when tightening the set screw. This makes it tough for star testing and collimation {have a laser collimator}, but from the brief times I've managed to get the scope outside since I received it results from my rather average star testing skills seem pretty encouraging and positive. A aftermarket focuser is a definite must for the scope along with a new finderscope , the 8x40 issued would be more akin to a kids toybox then a astronomical tool .The scope comes with a soft-padded carry case which isn't bad {not a lot of padding for protection}.Overall :D so far .....checked briefly to see how a DSLR would go unfortunately there's not enough infocus travel but there may be solutions out there .
PS:thanks to Garry {Beal} for generous advice given and Tony {Striker}
The OTA feels quite heavy for a smallish scope {listed at 5.5kg} but the CG5ASGT mount that will carry it does it no worries.The build looks good {colour of the tube is a light beige-white :P } and solid particularly the impressive baffling arrangement inside the tube. The Meniscus {front corrector plate} upon removing the dust-cap for the first time had a fair amount of particles on the front surface and some on the rear.Found this a little alarming but managed to clear it with a blower brush , the particles looked they came from the felt lining that's used with the dust-cap. The crayford focuser that comes with the scope is OK but the adapter tubes {2&1.5"} have a sloppy fit with some lateral movement when tightening the set screw. This makes it tough for star testing and collimation {have a laser collimator}, but from the brief times I've managed to get the scope outside since I received it results from my rather average star testing skills seem pretty encouraging and positive. A aftermarket focuser is a definite must for the scope along with a new finderscope , the 8x40 issued would be more akin to a kids toybox then a astronomical tool .The scope comes with a soft-padded carry case which isn't bad {not a lot of padding for protection}.Overall :D so far .....checked briefly to see how a DSLR would go unfortunately there's not enough infocus travel but there may be solutions out there .
PS:thanks to Garry {Beal} for generous advice given and Tony {Striker}