Yes it has been a long time coming. Currently the scope and mount are doing a pointing run. Collimation was near perfect from the last time the OTA was on the mount and I have therefore decided not to adjust it.
The idea of this thread is to examine all things with the GSO RC 12. I will give you my impressions of the entire scope over the coming months. I am going to complete an image this month or next month with this telescope. And; then I intend to do several more images with it should the performance be all that I have hoped for.
So for initial impressions.
The ali tube does shift a lot as it cools. Half way through my pointing run tonight I had to stop and refocus. The scope and mount were still mapping but there were donuts forming in the stars. This was after about 45 minutes from initial focus. Fans are working well though and that would be contributing to the focus shift.
As far as I can tell there are no rough edges or surfaces or any real defect in the finish of the mirrors. Nor is there any problem in the baffle as in the first generation of GSO RC's.
The mounting mechanism (rings and dove tails) appears to be working well and that makes for a cost that can be avoided. It clamps really tightly and allows you to use other instruments above the main scope. On mine I am use the top dove tail to support my mount hub pro.
The focusor I replaced with a Feather Touch unit. In my initial tests with the GSO focusor in place I found just slight movements from one side of the meridian to the other. While for the most part this would be ok to image with my main concern is with the mirrors and I am more than happy to pay an extra 1k for a beefy large 3" focusor. Besides places like AstroTech ship this scope without the GSO focusor.
With collimation I did find that the allen screws in the secondary holder are very stiff and difficult to move. This did make for a bit of stuffing around with collimation, but in reality not as much a problem as it could have been. The screws seem to hold collimation well despite being off an on the mount several times in the last 12 months.
The secondary holder and vanes are very solid and almost bullet proof, but I think this might lead to rather thick diffraction spikes. Time will tell though.
So with that I will post up some images as they come to hand and this thread will form the basis of my long awaited review of this telescope. Stay tuned as wish me clear skies.