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[B]Thanks Truff thats exactly why I've asked this ,Idont want that view.So I'm leaning heavily towards the 2"powermate for some quality ep's(my eyes only) and also the orion shortyplus for the 1.25"s for general family use.
Same specs both scopes 12" f5 .The old one has Park optics Pyrex mirror.No real difference in specs.Have plans to remount the older scope later,one dobs enough. As for 2"ep's that I'll want ,that is another dilemna. At the moment I use 20's<30's for hunting, 15 for general viewing & 6<9 for powering up. But add a wider f.o.v to the equation and this makes it so much harder to decide. With what I've read in this thread Im thinking of going for a 2x powermate & 15mm ep & then maybe a 40? to cover my most used magnifications. Im not looking to build a treasure chest of ep's(be nice though) just trying to get some quality ep's to cover most bases.
Geoff,
I replied to this part of your post separately because they are separate issues.
The old scope if it has an old Parks mirror should have damn nice optics, provided all is as it should be, collimation good mirror cell and secondary etc. The old Parks mirrors are excellent.
Don't sell the Shorty Plus short and put it into the poor relations category compared to the Powermate, it is an outstanding barlow and 10 years ago rated with the best available. The powermates are marginally superior but the differences are subtle and it often takes an experienced eye and excellent seeing to even detect a difference.
The only problem I see with your choice of 2 different barrel size 2X barlows is that you are not maximising all available magnification options and there is a lot of overlap. The 2" powermate won't do a lot that the 1.25" Shorty plus can do in terms of 1.25" eyepieces. What are the 2" eyepieces that you own, or plan to buy that you wish to barlow in the 2" powermate ??
The option I took was to buy the 2" 1.6X Antares barlow and the 1.25" 2.5X Powermate. This basically gives me 3 eyepiece sets wheres your option still only gives you 2 eyepiece sets even though you own 2 barlows and the native eyepieces.
Clear Skies
John Bambury
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