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G'Day Paul,
Looks like these scope are going to be pretty good for imaging. I must say I admire your bravery in buying one of these, being first cab off the rank can be a bad experience.
The imaging issues look to be all in the focusser, looks like there is tilt in the camera plane, I reckon the Moonlite will fix the issue. I have a spare one for an SCT (motorised) if you need to borrow one for a while. What are the threads on the back of the OTA?
What mount do you have it on?
I still think that the Meade 8" ACF is a worthy contender at $2699 from Bintel (OTA). It's a bit longer in focal length, but already has a flat field, so the AP focal reducers work straight out of the box and don't cost the Earth. Anything of much less focal length (sub 1000mm) I reckon a quality APO is available and would be better.
Noting that the scope is for imaging only, the Meade represents good value as it's a nice visual scope as well, perhaps not as good as a big APO, but significantly cheaper.
Of course a top quality mount should be the #1 priority for imagers, but for those of us that like to look at stuff as well, nice optics make a difference. That's why I'm still battling with the Meade fork mount on the RCX, which BTW at f/8 native makes a top imaging scope and very nice visually (still for sale as I want Theo's bigger one!). Shame they're not making them anymore.
I'll be very interested to see the progress you make with this scope, the 10" or 12" might make it onto the shopping list in the future.
Cheers
Stuart
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