Well, whilst I wait for my Gran Turismo to arrive, I have been enjoying another fine APO, namely a Takahashi FS-60CB. So how did it go?
The DM-6 has changed my life... why did I persevere with GEM mounts for all those years? and my worries about guiding at high power were unfounded.
Last night I spent much of the evening gazing at Jupiter at 142x (Extender-Q and Zeiss 4mm), saw the 4 moons, banding on the planet etc. Also saw the Eta Carina nebula, M5, Omega Centauri and the jewel box. Just gorgeous! Star resolve to pinpoints like nothing I have seen. The FS-60 has more detail, resolution, everything than the 4" Nextstar I owned (and tracks better by hand with the DM-6!), isn't as good on dim fuzzies as the 6" chinese newtonian I had, but once again, better on planets and much nicer on star fields. Only the 8" Meade LX-90 has given me more detailed views, but I still think I prefer the 60mm Tak and its rendition of the Jewel Box trumps the 8".
Tracking was no problem at all, even at 284x when I stuck the Zeiss 2x barlow in just for kicks (at this resolution the baby TAK did experience some image degradation). I'm glad I ordered the optional handle, it is very convenient to use. Did I mention that the DM-6 has no back lash?
The Sky Commander performs as advertised, and once again I was wondering why I had put up with batteries, cords and whirring motors. The push-to is much faster.
In hind sight, I wish I had just bought a nice Tak or Vixen apo to start with all those years ago on a Alt-Az mount. I would have saved myself alot of chopping and changing.
PS. I have compared the DM-6 to the Tak Teegal, and it is clearly more stable... still I'll put up with a 2s dampening time and be able to take my scope into the country with me on my motorbike. They are different beasts.. and I'd have either over any GEM, never never again..
Daniel.
Perth, Australia
PS. Other photo's of the scope are in the Takahashi FS-60CB first light thread, or in my post on the DiscMount discussion group;
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/discmounts/messages