Buying an SCT

here we go again........:O)

Gaz

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 23:44:08 GMT, SCT Buyer wrote:

I'm not trying to start a war over product loyalties - I know there
are those that are loyal to one brand or another. I just want to get
some honest opinions from people who have used both scopes.

Unfortunately, I'm in an area that doesn't have a local astronomy club
so I observe alone and don't get to compare scopes at star parties or
whatever.

Realistically, there is no difference. Both are mass-produced items, with a
certain quality spread, but both companies seem to have good quality control
these days so your chance of getting a lemon is fairly low. I'd say there is a
very slight bias of opinions in favor of Celestron's optical quality, and
Meade's mechanical quality and control firmware. But believe me, whatever
difference might be there is pretty subtle. There is no reason to think you'll
regret either choice.

Take the one you can get the best deal on, or the one available at the place
you'd rather shop.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Chris L Peterson wrote:
But believe me, whatever
difference might be there is pretty subtle.

The worst part of any telescope being the atmosphere anyway...

--
Frédéric

with SCTs you get what you pay for. when comparing one size SCT there
is more variation within one manufacturer than there is in the average
quality between the two manufacturers. it is a question of choosing the
features you want.
before you buy you should remember the disign of an sct is a compromise
between ease of manufacture and tube length. your money will go further
in terms of aperture and quality if you choose a newtonian.
Ian Anderson
www.customopticalsystems.com

On 21 Jan 2005 16:06:21 -0800, wrote:

with SCTs you get what you pay for. when comparing one size SCT there
is more variation within one manufacturer than there is in the average
quality between the two manufacturers. it is a question of choosing the
features you want.
before you buy you should remember the disign of an sct is a compromise
between ease of manufacture and tube length. your money will go further
in terms of aperture and quality if you choose a newtonian.
Ian Anderson
www.customopticalsystems.com

When you buy an SCT, a good part of the value is going into the mount, typically
a GOTO, which shouldn't be discounted- that's a valuable feature for many
people. However, most SCTs have exceptional optical quality these days- pushing
perfection for the design. I don't think most people will see any difference in
optical quality between an SCT and a good Newt. The bang-for-the-buck with a
Newt comes from the ability to trade some extra aperture for an inexpensive,
manual mount (and that assumes a classic Newt- nothing exotic like an off-axis
design).

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

SCT Buyer wrote:





On 21 Jan 2005 15:18:09 -0800, wrote the
following in sci.astro.amateur:

here we go again........:O)

Gaz

I'm not trying to start a war over product loyalties - I know there
are those that are loyal to one brand or another. I just want to get
some honest opinions from people who have used both scopes.

Unfortunately, I'm in an area that doesn't have a local astronomy
club
so I observe alone and don't get to compare scopes at star parties or
whatever.


I understand, I was just kidding:O)
It's just the same question gets asked with the same answers.

;O)

Gaz

SCT Buyer wrote:
On 21 Jan 2005 15:18:09 -0800, wrote the
following in sci.astro.amateur:


here we go again........:O)

Gaz


I'm not trying to start a war over product loyalties - I know there
are those that are loyal to one brand or another. I just want to get
some honest opinions from people who have used both scopes.

Unfortunately, I'm in an area that doesn't have a local astronomy club
so I observe alone and don't get to compare scopes at star parties or
whatever.

Actually, I think this is an advantage. Until I started comparing
equipment, I was pretty happy with what I had.

I'm not a "fan" of any particular design. I look through a scope, if I
can see stars without flaring, some of the finer detail on planets, and
globular clusters resolved at least to some extent, then it's a good scope.

-SP

SCT Buyer wrote:
On 21 Jan 2005 16:06:21 -0800, wrote the
following in sci.astro.amateur:


with SCTs you get what you pay for. when comparing one size SCT there
is more variation within one manufacturer than there is in the average
quality between the two manufacturers. it is a question of choosing the
features you want.
before you buy you should remember the disign of an sct is a compromise
between ease of manufacture and tube length. your money will go further
in terms of aperture and quality if you choose a newtonian.
Ian Anderson
www.customopticalsystems.com


One of the concerns I have is with portability. While I can get to
fairly dark skies within a short drive of my house, to get to really
dark skies requires a longer drive. That and the fact that I usually
observe alone means I need something that's easy to set up by myself.
Because of that, I've pretty much decided on an SCT.


Alternative easy setups:

Celestron Advanced Series CG-5 with 8" F5 Newtonian, or 8" SCT (with or
without GoTo). I have something akin to this and it really doesn't take
long to setup or breakdown. It is certainly easier than my old Ultima
8-PEC. I always had trouble balancing an EQ Fork Mounted SCT, as well as
managing the forks plus scope on and off the wedge.

Orion 8" F4.9 Newtonian OTA for $269, you provide a Dob base and
altitude bearings.

Orion 8" F6 Dob as shipped, for $349.

Bottom line on OTAs... choose a scope that meets your optical needs. The
8" F5 is 1000mm focal length and capable of a 2 degree field of view. It
suffers somewhat from coma. The 8" SCT is twice that focal length,
suffers from mild view dulling chromatic aberation, and natively is only
capable of a 1 degree field of view. You can of course use the .63 R/C
to reduce the SCT to 1280mm, but it will still not be capable of using
the maximum diameter field stop in a 2" eyepiece, without vignetting.

Bottom line on mounts... a GEM is capable of handling a variety of
telescopes, with or without imaging capabilities. A Dob and a Fork Mount
SCT are both limited to "what you get is what you have".

I have the 8" F5 Newtonian, and a 4" F9 ED refractor that are equally at
home on the CG5 with 2" steel leg tripod. I am considering a C8 to go on
this mount as well, but only because I like the SCT's eyepiece position.
There's not much, if anything that the 8" SCT can do visually better
than the 8" F5 Newtonain, so I'm not looking at the C8 to seriously
right now.

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