Yes, Lord help me, I've added to the collection. My Skywatcher MN190 Mak-Newt arrived yesterday. I've had my eye on it for some time and did all the research, looked at alternatives, priced Intes-Micro, etc. I checked out owner comments and threads on all the forums, looked at the images on Astrobin, etc.
Reviews are here:
http://www.myastroshop.com.au/guides/swdm190.asp
http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/documents/89.pdf
Orion had a version of this scope for some years but it seems to have disappeared now.
The Mak-Newt is, I believe, an over-looked astrograph variant that delivers supposed large APO performance for much less cost. Faster than most at f5.3, Coma free to the edges, no need for a field flattener, No diffraction spikes due to the secondary being mounted on the corrector plate, and amazing contrast - so the owners say.
Yes it is heavy, compared to say a 8" newt but that's due to the Schott glass corrector at the front, and the more robust construction to handle the weight. However, it comes in about the same weight as my 10" imaging newt, so no problem for the NEQ6. People will say it takes forever to cool down but I have a solution for that with a fan mod coming up.
Spent some time cleaning, and collimating. Why you say? Supposed Skywatcher quality seems to have slipped a little. There were a few little issues on shining a torch down the tube: dirt and what looked like a few metal machining shards inside the closed tube and on the back of the corrector plate, dirt or some sort dried rinse agent on the primary leaving blotches. Oh and it was way out of collimation. Send it back you say, well yes I thought of that but then I lose a week getting it replaced and would the next one be any better, the problems could be easily fixed by a cleanup. Still it was disappointing to open up a box supposedly sealed at the factory and find those issues - Skywatcher you listening?
Anyhow it's all fixed up now, and collimated.
So blame me for the rain on the east coast.
