SOLD: Takahashi Mewlon 180 DK Cassegrain OTA for sale.

[Robert_T]

OK, a few nibbles, I'll make the bait tastier. Cost for OTA now $2250AU posted within Australia... that's ~$900 off the retail price. Buy now, you snooze,you lose ;)

Hi All,

I (when I say I, read "someone else who calls the shots in my house") can no longer justify keeping two scopes, and after much hand wringing have decided my Mewlon 180 optical assembly has to go...:sadeyes: to a good home I hope :)

Scope is a Takahashi Dall-Kirkham Cassegrain OTA (optical assembly) F12 and 7in (180mm) primary mirror.

Anyone whose been kicking about for a bit can tell you the quality of these Tak dall kirkham cassegrain scopes, and the images I've posted in the planetary forums in the past should attest to the scope's potential. It has several big advantages. Open tube for quick cool down and no dew woes, lightweight at just 6kg (not bad for a 180mm scope!), and what you'd expect from a Takahashi, exceptional optics rated at 1/20th of a wave!!!

Ok, the business end of the deal. The OTA is just over a year old and has been used only very rarely and kept well covered so is in "near new" condition. They currently retail for $3120AU (see link attached). More often than not you have to go on a waiting list to buy one! This OTA also has added as part of the package "Bob's knobs" for easy collimation and an illuminator for the finder reticle (travesty, but these actually cost >$100). Fixed dovetail plate allows attachment to most EQ style mounts (seen here on LXD75).

Anyway, the deal is $2400AU posted within Australia, which is more than 25% of the total retail price not including post. It comes in the original packaging.

Payment by Direct Bank Deposit or Paypal only please. PM if interested.

http://www.astronomy-electronics-centre.com.au/

cheers,

Robert

[leo]

Could you please send a website with more details on this brand and type. For example compare with Meade 8" cassegarain which is where I have been heading. Leo

[Robert_T]

Hi Leo, the website address for the sole Australian agent is attached below in my original post. Otherwise you could simply google on mewlon 180 and you'll find stuff.. I recall a comparison between the Meade 7in Mak and the Mewlon 180, but not the Meade 8 in.

I have a SCT as well. The biggest advantages of the Mewlon are no corrector plate which means no dew and fast cooldown time... this can be quite a big deal, esp. for planetary imaging. The Mewlon is also lighter. After that it comes down to optical quality, you simply can't compare Tak 1/20th wave optics with the more common commercial Meade and Celstron optics (it's a bit like rolls royce versus holden commodore). What that's worth to you depends on where your interests lie...some applications are more demanding on quality (e.g. high res imaging, double star splitting etc) than others (e.g. deep sky observation). The Meade will have the advantage of more available and cheaper accessories.

Good luck with your deliberations:D

[Robert_T]

OK, a few nibbles, I'll make the bait tastier. Cost for OTA now $2250AU posted within Australia... that's ~$900 off the retail price. Buy now, you snooze,you lose ;)

[Dennis]

PM sent

Cheers

Dennis

[Robert_T]

under offer - sale pending!

[Robert_T]

Sold!:)

[Dennis]

Hi Robert

Well, what a fantastic OTA!

Thank you for delivering the M180, it was great to finally meet up with you. When you opened the box and I first saw the OTA, that indefinable Takahashi quality and character were immediately obvious.

Your comments about the M180 size, weight, ease of handling and quick cool down time were confirmed tonight on my first light (finally!). The finder scope “handle” made it easy to carry the OTA and the finder/OTA alignment was spot on, even with a 5mm eyepiece at x432.

I touched up the collimation and for once, the Takahashi manual was very helpful. They are generally poor, terse and very limited in their content.

I was astonished at the appearance and quality of the inside and outside of focus diffraction rings. They were, here we go, “Apo refractor like”. So this is what 1/20 wave optics look like in a compound ‘scope - wow? The C9.25 patterns now look quite rough and ragged in comparison. I’m not knocking the C9.25 (we both have one); it’s just that I haven’t seen optics this good before in a compound telescope.

The Moon was full so I wandered around the limb and the detail was just so crisp and sharp. Focus was again refractor like, simply snapping into focus without the need to iterate the focus knob to get best focus.

Saturn at x432 was quite astonishing. The image was faint at this magnification but what was immediately apparent is that the image had not broken down – it had just got dimmer. From memory, (and I must test these two OTA’s side-by-side), the C9.25 images does begin to break down at these magnifications. Wow – these Tak optics are good!

Using the formula πr2, I get an (unobstructed) area of 434cm2 for the C9.25 and 255cm2 for the M180, so there is a significant difference in light gathering capacity.

Once again Robert, it was great meeting with you and thanks for dropping off the OTA.

Dennis

[gbeal]

Good to hear a happy ending like this. I have had an M180, and must admit to being "uneasy" when I saw this for sale. It did start me thinking what I could palm off to acquire the funds, really it was tempting. I mean sitting side by side with the Epsilon 130? Ask yourself.
They really are that good. Enjoy it Dennis.
Gary

[RB]

Great purchase Dennis, looking forward to seeing what you image through the new scope.

:thumbsup: