Hi Guys
I inherited an old Tak MT160 newt from Chris (Omaroo) on a whim, given it was in very good condition, is reputably of good quality (especially the optics), and I was looking for something portable for field use.
It was a bit of a punt due to doubts about weird adaptors, backfocus and suitability for imaging generally, but I purchased an MPCC and fitted it with a 40D with no trouble at all, with stock adaptors
.
Reaching focus was no problem ( and the focuser is typical tak quality, solid and smooth as) with plenty of back focus to spare for my CCD and filter wheel later (but not an autofocuser, small sacrifice). The focuser also has a rotator built in, bonus for internal guide (but not OAG, unless I go a QSI cam).
Here is a pic of Omega cent with the 40D and MPCC. Its very large at 9megs, with a little stretching and colour correction and no croping or other processing. I posted a large pic, cause im interested if someone can tell me if they can determine the optical quality of this scope from the pic, and its suitablility for imaging before I go nuts and possibly select a cam for it and generally spend a lot of money on cam/mount etc for field use.
Seems to me its pretty good, with a good image circle for large chips, but I have no experience with short FL, wide field imaging, so I cant really tell.
The scope is 160mm 976FL at f5.7 with an image scale of 1.2 arc/secs with the 40D. It was guided with an ST10XME on a 10" RCOS RC at 2275FL, theres an irony there somewhere
. The attachment shows the MT160 mounted on top of the RC. The PME just laughed at the load
.
The pic was 20 off 2min subs with ICNR and no flats with the moon up, so there is a gradient. The short subs maybe hiding some defect, its not a deep exposure. Im suprised at the blocky stars, given the 1.2 arc/sec scale (with much zooming), not sure what to make of that.
Anyway....... Im tempted to procceed fitting a rig up with this OTA, would an EQ6 pro do you think?, with maybe a tiny ST80 for guiding?.
Opinions appreciated.