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Hi everybody.
I am surprised and pleased with the number of responses from the IIS clan that my query generated.
There seem to be a number of votes for thermal equilibrium and relative apertures, and collimation gets an honourable mention too. I also like Morton’s thoughts on central obstruction.
The ‘scopes were both outside for about 45 minutes before we noticed the differences. The dob is definitely well collimated according to my laser collimator, though I can’t be sure about the C6, but out of focus stars are circular, and I believe that is a good sign. I haven’t yet got into the finer details of SCT collimation. During the observing session we were able to see the Cassini division and were able to see an eclipse/transit (not sure of the correct nomenclature) on Jupiter's surface by one of its moons with the C6 (one of several astronomical firsts for me with this ‘scope).
Andrew, you might be pleased to know that after comparing ‘scopes we walked back to my place and dragged out my recently completed 14” f7.2 (I picked up the mirror and diagonal on ISS classifieds without any real idea of its quality or provenance, but I got lucky). we had some great views of Saturn, got a good look at the eclipse, but especially seeing detail in Jupiter’s cloud bands for the first time. Yes, it didn’t take long for me to get aperture fever.
My neighbour is quite taken with the C6 and wants one for himself. He regularly works in the country and has access to pristine rural skies, but the dob is a bit too big to cart around and set up after a day's work. He also loves the slow motion controls on the alt/az mount vs. the nudge, nudge of the dob.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback.
Michael
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