Hi All, I'm actually thinking of getting a new OTA to put on my Losmandy G11 mount. As I'm also saving up for a serious CCD cam I'm currently considering the cheapest options for a new OTA.
I currently have a 10" Newtonian f/5 and am happy with that, but would like to maybe get a 12" or even 14", depending on the resulting load on the G11.
I'm mostly doing photography but I enjoy the odd visual session now and then too.
It has to be said that I'm
not after any state-of-the-art system. My current OTA is a self assembled kit that I bought 15 years ago and I have since installed a motorised Crayford focuser on it. It consists of some no-name optics which has never been re-coated in 15 years (!), a very basic mirror cell and a paper tube which is rather unstable and absorbs moisture... So really anything will be an improvement!
I'm fairly handy and could probably build one myself (and re-use the focuser). In that case the immediate question would be where to get the optics from?
Alternatively, I also looked at available Newtonian OTA's and noticed especially the truss Sky-Watcher dobs.
Optcorp sells a 12" Sky-Watcher for US$995:
http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?...396-1456-12122
The Sky-Watcher's tube seems to extend up to and including the balance point - which would indicate I could just mount it in rings and place it on the G11.
Has anybody tried this?
Does the SkyWatcher have decent optics?
What's the build quality like?
Or should I rather consider something else?
Hope you guys would like to share your wisdom
Regards,
Rolf