Maksutov-Cassegrain MAK127AZ-GT anyone got a review ?

[Stu Ward]

Can be found at Andrews Comms for what seems like a very reasonable $799

Goto and all that jazz

Is it any good to get into Astrophotography ?

I have an 8" Dob for visual and love it, but i'm the type thats always looking for new toys


Stu

[Stu Ward]

Nobody used one ?

Heres a link

http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

About a quarter way down

[Wavytone]

There's nothing wrong the Mak OTA and optics per-se, however from the image I'd say there could be a bit of a problem with the mount - if you try to point it up at the zenith it looks like the OTA will hit the base of the mount. Might be worth ringing Andrews to clarify this before buying.

From memory those mounts were originally designed for a much smaller 90mm Mak. The Mak is f/12... fine for visual observations of the moon and planets, but it will be basically useless for astrophotography.

Also you really need an equatorial mount to track the sky with enough accuracy for photography; this mount is only an altaz GOTO, which means it will be good enough to find things for visual use, but that's about where its usefulness stops.

The iOptron Cube in equatorial mode is probably the smallest entry level mount for some limited astrophotography.

[Stu Ward]

Thanks for the very helpful reply, looks like i'll be steering well clear

Maybe my Astrophotography cravings will have to wait a while yet


Stu

[LeeSMaz]

Howdy,
Yep, bought one.
Light n easy to move n setup. Small.
The gadget has protection against hitting the mount,
which u can over ride.
Though with the scope mounted as far forward as u can go
it nearly clears a full revolution.
Good clear image, of course a 6" version would be nicer but
here in Aus its a bit pricey.
Got mine from andrews. it does come with moon filter n 2x bar as well.
The alignment process is a bit trial n error as a beginner,
took 2 nights to get it worked out but now all is good n easy.
Manual isn't so fully explaining the process n use, just have
to fiddle with the menu options n buttons a little.
Especially to do the star alignment.
The second star took a while to work out the buttons to push
n timeing before modifying the alignment.
The pointing accuracy modifyer then helps get it more acurate.
It has a park scope function, so if u mark where the mount was
u can bring it out again as was ligned up to go straight away.
The goto works reasonably well.
Just sorting out the tracking now.
Very high tech looking, though only 35cm tube length.
Nice image of Saturn, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Moon.
150x, 250x n 300x used on the planets, 500x on the moon.
Digi cam worked well on the moon n jupiter n saturn.
Cheers.
Lee. :D
the specs for the skywatcher mak127 give it a star magnitude 13.2.
A 6" newt has a 13.6-14. A 5" a 12.3-13.5?? pay more get a better scope i guess.

[Stu Ward]

Nice one Lee

Any chance of posting a pic that you took on here ?

Thanks

Stu

[LeeSMaz]

Heres a pic of jupiter taken with no particularly good equipment or
any software used other then cutting it to a smaller canvas to upload.

Skywatcher Mak127 on goto-az scope.
10mm eyepice.
Digi cam adapter thingy.

All from andrewscom.

Then a samsung s860 digi camera.
8.1 mp, it is a ccd camera on investigation.
Was set at 8 or 4 sec shutter time f8.6 picture settings
with I think iso 400 or thereabouts, that part
was on auto.

Cheers.
Lee.
ps. Saturn well, looked better through the scope then
in the pic so will do it again.
Might try that staking thing with registax.

[renormalised]

Not really...for the moon and planets it'd be fine. For DSO's, f12 will give you closer views of small area targets, like most PN's and such, but for large nebs and galaxies you'd have to use a focal reducer, get it down to at least f6. Only problem being with the small aperture, that long FL will cut back on the brightness of the images quite a bit. Alright for the big and bright objects (moon and planets) but not so great for anything else.

[Stu Ward]

Thanks for that Lee

I'm sure that with Registax and a few more frames, probably a lot of practice too, you could get a nice image

Stu

[Liz]

Did you get it Stu?

I am tempted myself, for a quick and easy goto 5" - had a chat with guys at Andrews, and probably will.
Sorry, incoming Townsville weather. :cloudy:

[Stu Ward]

No haven't bought one yet, would love to hear what you think about it should you purchase one.