Hi Folks
Got a good session with the 24 last night with some guests we have here and happy to report the scope is a keeper
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The seeing wasn't very good but got some great views at 210X ( with Paracorr and 12mm Nagler ) the optics are very sharp which was a worry with a F3.66 mirror but I've never heard a bad word about Steve Kennedy's mirrors.
The scope moves equally smoothly in both axis manualy and when the Servocat is engaged the the gotos are within the field of the 12mm and just need to be moved to the centre using the remote when up at the eyepeice the tracking seemed to drift a bit but I think this should improve with a beter alignment and zenith pointing.
Dobzilla being so short is very stable , a lot of wind last night but still got good views even with the dome pointing into the wind.
Amazed with the differance between the 18 and the 24 , while I couldn't compare them directly ( the NGT18 is in bits now ) the 24 was showing more detail in galaxies like NGC1566 ,1365 ,55 and 253 with the moon up than the 18 could with no moon NGC1566 very impressive beautiful spiral stucture I think Galaxies are where big scopes realy have the advantage.
The filter slider is a great option saves time and filters are a pain to put in and out in winter with gloves.
Damn forgot to try the binovue should be good though particulary on the show piece stuff .
Anyway as you may have suspected I'm very happy with the scope and Peter read at SDM ( Size Does Mater ) and Steve Kennedy are great to deal with
Zane
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