Quote:
Originally Posted by kosborn
I'm very late to the conversation but thought I'd add my recent experience.
I started with an Esprit 100ED about 3 years ago and wanted to add more focal length. I thought carefully about adding an 8" RC but in the end decided to go for a high end Newtonian. I was nervous about the size and weight of the Newt (and it really does look top heavy in the attached pic) but it actually works well on the EQ6-R as long as there isn't too much breeze. I was equally nervous about the collimation and the big f number of an RC. A Newtonian is infinitely easier to collimate than a Ritchey-Chretien!
I dither every sub and lose a lot of time waiting for the scope to settle, but I live in a Bortle 4-5 suburb of Canberra and don't have to throw away too many subs. The Newt is a carbon fibre tube from Sidereal Trading and I've added OAG to reduce weight as much as possible. It weighs in at 17kg with imaging train which is a lot for an EQ6-R but it all seems to work. With a Baader MPC Mk III coma corrector it gives me a great flat field edge to edge and the focal length of 1270mm together with an ASI1600mm and ASI2600MC (and with the Esprit with or without a Starizona 0.65 reducer) gives me a great range of focal length and framing options.
The bottom line is don't underestimate what you can get with a good quality Newtonian!
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Couldn’t agree more , except I use basic entry level newts and have done so since I started this hobby just over 4 years ago
6” f6 Bintel newt on an EQ6-R mount in Sydney for AP
8” f5 Bintel newt on an EQ6-R mount in my NexDome on the South Coast NSW for AP
12” f5 Skywatcher Goto dob for visual on the South Coast NSW
My next scope for AP at some stage in the future will definitely be a 10”f5 newt
Never really looked at refractors when I first got into the hobby. As a novice , I thought they were just too expensive compared to newts , so I just stuck with newts and have done ever since.