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Old 17-08-2008, 02:56 PM
ausastronomer (John Bambury)
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Shoalhaven Heads, NSW
Posts: 2,620
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian Robinson View Post
Forget about Meade, Orion TS, Konus, Celestron and most others for high quality in newtonians.
The sad thing is most people that express an opinion on the lack of contrast in a newtonian, compared to a refractor, have only ever used these lower end newtonians, which are poor examples on which to form an opinion on the full capabilities of the newtonian design. Out of the box the standard of baffling on these scopes is pretty horendous. Further, whilst the mirrors generally have a good figure and correction, they don't have the same surface smoothness as a premium newtonian mirror and accordingly they lose a good bit in contrast.

Comparing one of these newts to a premium newtonian is a bit like comparing a keg of beer to a keg of 1979 Penfolds Grange Hermitage

Cheers,
John B
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