[marki]

That 12" makes a massive difference to torque around the pivot (wobble wobble wobble). You need the mount from hell to get it to work. The imaging train on an RC is about 4" thick whilst the newt is 8 inch's thick all the way to the end and it works as a big sail in the wind not to mention that a newt has to have a similar camera setup flapping in the breeze at the top of the tube. This and flex and the long moment as well as poor balance in the tube itself just make imaging too tedious to contemplate when there are easier ways to get the job done. These are my thoughts and experiences after trying to image with a newt. The difference stepping up to a cat made was similar to someone trying to image through a F15 Mak then an F6 apo. Yes apo's are for pussies but it certainly makes life easy and the results speak for themselves. Optically newts can be very good indeed but technically they have the same effect as haemorrhoids, you are really going to need some preperation H to sooth your sphincter. To me putting a newt on an EQ mount is going to be as effective as putting a cat on a dobsionian mount.


This thread is annoying. People expect a 2K tube to have a image ready focuser and optics as good as a RCOS. Sorry folks it ain't gonna happen. A decent focuser will cost you $500 + and with the extremely rare exception you are ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE TO BUY ONE so factor that into the cost. A dam fine imaging RC ready to go at 2.5K was unheard of 12 months ago so whats all the fuss about?. It is not hard to install the focuser, just screw off the old one and replace it with the new one. You have to do it everytime you pack the thing away anyhow, it's really not that hard.

Mark