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Mark,
I would much appreciate any help with little comparo. I last attended the SPSP in 2005, was a regular in the 1990's, and am hell bent on making the 2013 affair. (it was one look back in 1993 with the re-figured 17" club telescope that led me to want something similar)
Let me say that any comparisons so far between the 18" and 5" have been made after a very brief aquaintance with the SDM. The mirror is very dusty on this scope, observing was from my Bowral backyard which over 20years has had much light encroachment. So I am comparing the views in the 18" to those best views I have had from a dark sky with the 5".
Just a few notes from my obs of 11th Nov:-
Star test v.good. Mirror/ambient diff around 2 degrees
NGC 253 large at 75X.
Not sure this scope reveals much more than my 130EDT. Shows galaxies brighter and more detail but not doing much 130 cannot do.
Failed to find NGC246 and 255.
Plenty of galaxies noted in Fornax cluster.
NGC 1360!! planetary with bright star near centre.
IC 5332 - noted small double star nearby.
Helix nebula - very diffuse, large not much contrast.
NGC 55 - almost as good as 253
NGC 300 - disappointing.
Beta phoenix - not resolved at 288x.
47 tuc - spectacular
SMC looks very interesting in this scope.
In relation to the above, I have never resolved Beta phoenix in any scope, and the 130 shows NGC300 clearly from a dark site.
A couple of days after this I was back at work in Whyalla. Won't be home again until Christmas, but looking forward to making this SDM really work!
John
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