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Example of image taken with a good SCT

Started by Florent , Jul 19 2005 05:03 PM
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6 replies to this topic

#1 Florent

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Posted 19 July 2005 - 05:03 PM

Hi Guys,

I wanted to show you a good SCT, with good optics can be a real fine instruments for the High Resolution CCD imaging of the Deep Sky.

Here in France, I heard a lot of critics about the quality of the Meade SCTs optics.

I am realizing a CCD project on M-27 nebula with my Meade 12" UHTC SCT OTA at 1800mm with my SBIG AO-7 Adaptive Optics and my SBIG ST-10XME.

A good SCT can be a terrific instrument. I was suprised by the result too.

My image represents the 2 first nights on this object with 5h40min. of exposure. It is only the beginning on the 15hrs I want to take.

My image at : http://www.astrosurf...o/m27haAO7.html

The material used (sorry for the french, only in this page) : http://www.astrosurf...o/AO7night.html

If you are interested I will keep you about this project with my SCT.

Best Regards,

Florent :jump:

--------------
Florent Poiget's Digital Photography
Astronomical & U.S.A Ntl. Parks images

Deep Sky CCD Photography : http://www.astrosurf.com/ccdaltazao

Pithiviers le Vieil/Jouy-En-Pithiverais-----------------FRANCE

Losmandy HGM TITAN / Gemini Goto mount
Meade 12" UHTC SCT OTA
William Optics FLT-110 Triplet SD APO OTA
William Optics Megrez 80 Triplet Fluorite APO OTA
SBIG ST-10XME/CFW-8A/AO-7

#2 Guest_**DONOTDELETE**_*

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Posted 19 July 2005 - 05:13 PM

Meade bashing seems to be the thing, but their optics are no better nor any worse then Celestron....the only reason they get bashed more is because they outsell Celestron 7:1, hence there are 7x's more of them out there to get critisized. Percentage wise, I am reasonably certain they are on par. (great pic btw....here is a site of another guy doing excellent work with his 10" Meade) www.pknoll.net

#3 Guest_**DONOTDELETE**_*

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Posted 20 July 2005 - 03:32 AM

Meade bashing seems to be the thing, but their optics are no better nor any worse then Celestron....the only reason they get bashed more is because they outsell Celestron 7:1, hence there are 7x's more of them out there to get critisized. Percentage wise, I am reasonably certain they are on par. (great pic btw....here is a site of another guy doing excellent work with his 10" Meade) www.pknoll.net


EXACTLY right. My views are great and I came from a Newt. Now, at comparable sizes and even sometimes smaller, other designs are better at other things. SCT's are a nice compromise of a good image, compact portable design. That's what they're designed for and they deliver. If you can afford a great 10" APO then get THAT.

This is part of why so many scope owners own more than one scope and most often more than one type! Even seeing conditions in the atmosphere can affect different designs of scopes in different ways so a great night for an APO is not necessarily a great seeing night for an SCT or other model and vice versa.

In the end, the top manufacturers in almost every field take the most shots and grief, but in the end, numbers don't lie. There's a large number of most products out there for a reason. They're good. If they outsell the competition then there's likely some type of reason, ESPECIALLY when the competition is cheaper! In the end though, cheaper or not, features or not, it simply depends on what features YOU want now and what you want to do with your scope now and in the future. The unfortunate thing is that with all the Meade bashing surrounding the SCT's people miss a lot of great features and performance. They also overlook the fact that whether you pick the big M or the big C, unless you get a lemon, you're going to have a great scope and enjoy it.

#4 matt

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Posted 20 July 2005 - 03:36 AM

In France SCT bashing is more prevalent than Meade bashing. Until 1985 they were told the best thing out there was a Perl-Vixen 80mm f/12. Then it was time to have a Mewlon on a mount costing the price of a car. Now all the rage is about Clave's last scope, which is supposed to be the best in the world but only 12 have been rolled out over the past year.

Those self-proclaimed pundits are usually oblivious to the fact that most of the best planetary pics out there are taken with those "subpar" SCTs with their "huge" central obstructions.

Let them do the talking Florent. Great pic. It's my desktop wallpaper now :waytogo:

#5 Blair

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Posted 20 July 2005 - 10:49 AM

Great picture.

Makes an excellent background for my computer's desktop. :grin:

Blair.

#6 Olivier Biot

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Posted 20 July 2005 - 12:59 PM

Florent,

Toutes mes félicitations! Congratulations!

The image is indeed very nice! And no glimpse of skyglow, even when you live not too far from Paris, "La Cité Lumière" :)

Cheers!

Olivier

#7 Bob Pasken

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Posted 20 July 2005 - 01:12 PM

Having owned Meade and Celestron SCT's I can speak from experience about the quality of of both. I took my Meade LX-6 10" to a junkyard and fed it into a shredder because I was so frustrated with the really bad optics and even worse mechanicals. I couldn't keep it around since it was a daily reminder that it was a VERY expensive paperweight and I didn't want to foist it off on someone else. A matching Meade at work is mothballed becauase it had IDENTICAl problems and it was to frustrating to use.
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