Mark I appreciate your post. Looking over optical designs in general
and realisations of those designs, color and contrast always go together
and where crisp color rendition is missing one usually (always?) finds
low contrast coupled with light scatter (the light scattered from any number

of sources including poor polish on optical surfaces).

Having never had our lx200 apart I cannot confirm an oversized mirror, but
the
seller told us it was (as a selling point!). I had nothing to do with buying
this
scope in fact it probably would have been the last scope on Earth I would
ever have spent (the bucks$$$) the club spent on this 'project'. The scope
has been "controversial" ( to say the least) since its acquisition.

Mirror flop in this beast is unbelievable. The scope is basically useless
without
locking the mirror down and even then you never are as sure as you would
like to be about where (relative to axis) the mirror is being locked in at.
Ive
tried every normal remedy to no avail - others likewise. Nevertheless I
continue to work this scope if only to get to know it - like a client! It's
pathologies are ubiquitous and a case study, I say with humor!

Finally while roaming carbon stars several wekends ago the issue of color
came up. Our prominent club engineer (Rockwell etc) suggested size alone
accounted for this and I knew he was wrong. I am sharing everything here at
saa with him and being the great fellow he is (he) is very interested in all
of the
comments posted here. (John is a great person and a good friend).

So, is it worth tearing what John has dubbed (the *******!) apart to flock
and this and that ... when there are a million other things we both would
rather
being doing. I think I will defer this to next year unless I get the urge to
pull
the corrector and "flock away".... some rainy evening.

Thanks Mark, and all.
Jerry Warner









Mark D wrote:

Also, I recall a dealer many years ago once telling me about Meade's
claim of using an over size primary mirror versus Celestron, and I think
Meade's claim was more light gathering power, (and they in other words
professed that they were giving you more than celestron was) but this
dealer stated that all the oversize mirror succeeded in doing, was
scattering light, and reducing contrast.

Was said the light that reflected from the outermost perimeter of the
oversize primary really never made it to the eyepiece to be of any
benefit, and that any reduction in baffle length to perhaps accept said
light would certainly not be a benefit to contrast.

I'm not sure if this is an issue anymore with any of the current Meade's
SCT's, but perhaps it is?
Mark