On 24 Jul 2003 21:36:43 GMT, (Rod Mollise) ...reflected:

I'm considering a Parks classic Newtonian,
and to mount on a Vixen GP-DX equatorial
mount. While their 8" f3.5 seems to be just
a wee bit too fast, and their 8" f6 a tad too

Hi:

Well...Parks has made some nice optics over the years--if sometimes not as good
as you'd expect--but...you know, lots of Synta and Guan Sheng 8 inch f/5s are
testing out at 1/8 wave...and you can get a whole OTA for a song.

Just a thought...

I'm intrigued. I went and looked at the "Skywatcher" 's,
and will look again, but I couldn't be assured of receiving
a primary and secondary of such a tolerance, not to
mention the Parks-like tube and component qualities.

But, no, I really couldn't count on that mirror tolerance
with Parks, either.

Also, and perhaps a minor point, the Parks mirrors are of
Pyrex. I didn't see that the Synta's were, but I didn't
research them extensively...yet.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
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Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

Alan