My new baby raptor arrived today. It shipped from Opt on Friday morning and arrived at my home this afternoon (Monday). In fact, I almost fell off my chair when Australia Post rang to tell me that they were at my front door. This is the first time EVER that Aus Post hasn't done a hit and run leaving a card in the letterbox in their wake.
The 80mm Raptor is very nice indeed. I managed to set it up for about 5 minutes before cloud enveloped my whole viewable sky. A quick peek at the moon through a 16mm nagler, and then a 9mm nagler showed super crisp views. The focuser is super smooth with zero slop, and there is surely no going back after using the fine focus. The finish of this scope is just excellent.
It came with a tube ring and RDF with multiple reticules too. All very nicely packed into a custom die cut foam lined carry-on luggage bag. The rail on the bottom of the tube ring is tapped for a standard tripod, which is great for grab'n'go viewing. Whilst a photo tripod isn't the best thing to use, it certainly serves its purpose when you want to travel light.
I noted that the 2" extension tube that I purchased didn't seem to cater for a 1 1/4" reducer, as the slot on the top edge (for the fixing screw on the reducer) wasn't there. So, the reducer needed for the guide camera wouldnt fit all the way down into the extension tube. A bit of time with a dremel fixed that problem.
I'm itching to take a look at the night sky with it properly before I mount it up and start using it as a guider. I wonder when the clouds will clear
Dean