jgraham
Postmaster
Reged: 12/02/04
Posts: 11575
Loc: Dayton, Ohio
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Of all the telescopes I've used (and built) over 45 years of amateur astronomy by far my favorite general-purpose telescope is my 8" SCT. I waited 44 of those 45 years to finally get one, but it was worth the wait. It has it's own unique characteristics, but then so does every other telescope I've used (and built).
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-John
The best advice on imaging I've ever been given... don't forget to look! 
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dvb
different Syndrome.
Reged: 06/18/05
Posts: 5487
Loc: Vancouver, Canada
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I guess you've persuaded me to give my 8" Celestron another chance.
The past two nights I've had two new (to me) scopes out:
1st night was an Antares 152mm f/6.5 Achromat -- man, was I impressed with the pinpoint stars, and the way the trapezium popped out in M42. It was even pretty good on Mars, with some help from filters, though the seeing wasn't great.
2nd night was the C8 -- left out for 5 hours before using (freezing and below). The collimation looks pretty good, with a decent diffraction ring around Betelgeuse at 200X (although seeing wasn't that good). Nicer nebulosity in M42, but really blobby stars in the trapezium. I tried it both with and without an Antares 6.3 reducer; the same. Didn't get a chance to try it on Mars -- had it in the eyepiece, but seems the Schmidt plate was fogging up (though I had a long dew shield on it)
Both showed nice stars in the M37 open cluster.
All in all, I preferred the wider angle view in the refractor and the tighter stars. I'd planned to sell the C8 and give up on SCTs -- but I guess I'll give it another chance.
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"The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit"
James Joyce (Ulysses)
Home-built Newt:
10" f/4.5 Royce conical primary
Optical Supports Cell
Antares Optics Secondary
1800 Destiny curved spider
MoonLite focuser
Hastings Tube
Parallax and Dauzat rings
Skywatcher NEQ6, Astrotroniks tuned
iEQ45
8" f/4 Skywatcher Quattro CF
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jgraham
Postmaster
Reged: 12/02/04
Posts: 11575
Loc: Dayton, Ohio
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I use my LXD75 SC8 for splitting double stars which is a great way to test the limit of resolving power. I found you have to pay close attention to alignment and once I got the hang of it I found aligning my SCT to be easier than a Newtonian. Once properly aligned my SCT easily reaches it's theoretical limit of 0.6 arc seconds.
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-John
The best advice on imaging I've ever been given... don't forget to look!
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BillP
Postmaster
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 9093
Loc: Vienna, VA
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Quote:
... All in all, I preferred the wider angle view in the refractor and the tighter stars. I'd planned to sell the C8 and give up on SCTs -- but I guess I'll give it another chance.
I just had my C8 out this evening with the Celestron .63x reducer and the Paragon 40mm...got the entire Pleiades Cluster in my fov and very sharp almost to the edge (had to forgo the diagonal though to reach focus). So you can coax some fov out of these. Without the reducer same EP gets me just a tad over 1 deg which framed the Double Cluster very nicely all with fine star points. Of course I also did my final collimation tweek tonight with my new dual speed 2" visual back attached and dialectic diagonal. Was very nice and have ended my mirror shift days
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Bill
The KING: Any Eyepiece in the Focuser
The SUBJECTS: XT10i Dob---Meade 2080 SCT---TSA-102 S APO---Onyx 80EDF APO---SkyLight 60mm F15m---P.S.T.
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. - Carl Sagan
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Rusty
Postmaster
Reged: 08/06/03
Posts: 19246
Loc: Brooker, FL
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Winston Churchill once said, "Democracy is the worst possible form of government - but it's better than all the others." The same concept can be levied on the SCT. For many specific uses, the SCT falls short of other designs, but for the jack-of-all-trades scope, being never the best, but never anywhere near the worst, the SCT holds its own. I own an upscale 6" MCT and a premium 5" refractor, but if the Scope Police insisted I rid myself of all but one, the N11 woould prevail.
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N11GPS Fastar//TOA-130S//MK66 Std//AT6RC//Vintage C5//Megrez II 80mm APO//SolarMax 40
NJP Temma II//Sirius EQ-G
Too Many Astro-Cameras//Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
Two not-spoiled Golden Retrievers - Casey and Nelson
Lot 19 Deerlick Astronomy Village (Canis Major)
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. - Arthur C. Clarke
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loo27
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/30/04
Posts: 536
Loc: GA
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Quote:
some interesting comments through this thread. with regard to damian peach,i understand that he has been able to hand pick the best of several sct's when he purchased.
that is not normally an option that the average buyer can have,i certainly have not been able to do this and i've purchased several 8 inch sct's and one 9.25.
it is the case that some very good examples are near one eighth wave when critically checked,but your chances of falling on that odd great scope are minimal in the normal buying situation.
Damien has my old C14, and I can guarantee you it's not hand picked. In fact, I think my current C14 is better.
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Cliff
50mm Binoculars
102mm NexStar GT Refractor
Tomlin Industries 6" f/6 Newtonian
C9.25 XLT + CG-5GT
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George Methvin
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 1083
Loc: Central Texas
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I have a C-8 sct OTA that I got second hand for $300.00 dollars and I have to say the views through it are outstanding. I switch it out with my Meade AR-5 Refactor on the LXD75 mount. The views through both scope are really good I think the C-8 views are a little better then the AR5 on deep sky objects but on the planets its had to tell. The C-8 ota is much lighter and easyer to carry then the AR5 refactor but the AR5 is all ways ready to go hardly any cool down time. Star are all ways pin points of light in the refactor. I really like my C-8 sct though and will have it for a long time, its shows me just about all I need and then some.
Edited by George Methvin (12/10/07 04:37 PM)
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jonnyastro
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/14/06
Posts: 3449
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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There was a post a while back about the best scope you have ever owned optically. I had to admit it was my old C8. I had it next toa 5 inch APO at a star party, and the owner of the refractor was really suprised that the SCT kept up so well. I will always be a refractor guy, but some day i would really like to own a really large SCT.
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RogeZ
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/21/04
Posts: 575
Loc: Miami, Florida
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I have loved the two SCT that I have had, but both of them had soft optics, the Celestron 8" was better, definetely better than the Meade 8" that came later, but not as sharp as other scopes I have had, including my best to date, the Hardin 10" that I sold couple of years ago, the optics in that Dob were outstanding. I didnt hesitate one moment to order a 12" DSO now that I got back in the game.
I believe the SCT to be a great design thought, I cant say too many times how good is a plain old 8" SCT for astrophotography. People tend to suggest small apos for beginners but I have always like the F3.3 reduced 8" SCT, its great to have 8" aperture and 660mm of focal lenght!!!
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RogeZ 
6" C6-RGT "Yard Cannon"
12" Deep Space Observer
Working on a BS Mechanical Engineering
www.rogeastronomy.com
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George Methvin
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 1083
Loc: Central Texas
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I have owned several scopes in my life and have look throught many types. Now to my humble eyes I have never seen a big differct in views its like splitting hairs. You can buy a 8inch SCT with goto for less then some 4 inch apo ota refactor no mount nothing and the 8 inch sct will show you more. There is in my thought no better bargain then the SCT telescope. To this day the finest view of Jupturn I have seen was through a old 1973 Celestron 8 inch SCT. All scope are great but for your bang for you buck you can't go wrong with a SCT.
Edited by George Methvin (12/11/07 09:54 AM)
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jonnyastro
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/14/06
Posts: 3449
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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Quote:
I have owned several scopes in my life and have look throught many types. Now to my humble eyes I have never seen a big differct in views its like splitting hairs. You can buy a 8inch SCT with goto for less then some 4 inch apo ota refactor no mount nothing and the 8 inch sct will show you more. There is in my thought no better bargain then the SCT telescope. To this day the finest view of Jupturn I have seen was through a old 1973 Celestron 8 inch SCT. All scope are great but for your bang for you buck you can't go wrong with a SCT.
You can buy a goto 8 inch SCT for less than MOST 4 inch APO OTAs.
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George Methvin
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 1083
Loc: Central Texas
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Yea you are so right. I am not running down any scopes they are all good if made well. I would love to own a 5 or 6 inch apo but I just can't justifie the high cost of the apo refactor. Yes I supose the view through a 5 or 6 inch apo are really sharp but not to me $6000.00 dollars sharper. The SCT are just a really all around great telescope, thats way they are the number one selling scope. They do so many things well. Look good to. LOL
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w orchid
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/23/07
Posts: 1137
Loc: Tampa, Fl
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The beauty of the SCT is its versatility. It's not the best for DSO, planetary or wide field views. It simply does everything well.
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Celestron C8 orange tube circa 1979
Stellarvue SV102ED
SBIG ST8300C
http://www.astrophotogallery.org/u378-man-of-constant-sorrow.html
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