chuckscap
sage
Reged: 07/18/09
Posts: 218
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO USA
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Hi, I'm a recent owner of a used Mewlon 250. Previously owned Cats are: Intes 500 Mak, C9.25 Ultima, C11 (NS11), and C14 (Orange Fork Mount).
So all you Mewlon lovers and haters out there, pros and cons?
Thanks,
Chuck
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Bill Barlow
sage
Reged: 12/03/07
Posts: 336
Loc: Overland Park KS
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Chuck...
What are your initial impressions on the performance of the Mewlon 250 compared to the other Mak's/SCT's you have owned in the past.
Bill
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Meade 10" SCT ACF OTA on a UA UniStar Deluxe Super 8 altaz mount on a UA heavy duty surveyor tripod and a Manny Miles eyepiece tray.
SV 102ED doublet refractor on a UA UniStar Light mount on a UA light surveyor tripod with a Manny Miles eyepiece tray.
Garrett Optical 10x50 and 12x60 binoculars. Also Garrett Optical 30x100 binoculars mounted on a SLIK Pro 700DX AMT tripod.
Several TV Plossls and Naglers, plus a few very good Celestron Ultima wide TFOV eyepieces.
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revans
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/26/05
Posts: 1516
Loc: Fitchburg, MA
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I've had a Mewlon 250 on a Tak EM-200 mount for a few years now. It has become my favorite imaging scope (my other scopes being a Gladius 315 and an Orion Optics OMC300 subaperture mak). I find that its aperture and focal length are just right for lunar/planetary imaging from my particular location in New England, where the seeing is usually the limiting factor on useful focal length.
I wish the scope had a bit more backfocus, but otherwise I'm very happy with it. It has a rugged construction and holds collimation very well. The optics are very good as well. I like the electronic focus and the mount is very good... much liter and easier to use than my Losmandy G11 that I bought for the Gladius and OMC300.
Plus, the scope never collects any dew... the mirror protector pops off for fast scope cooldown... and the sliding weight allows fast and easy tube balancing on the mount. I only do lunar/planetary with it... I have a field corrector/focal reducer but haven't used it in all this time. I'm not sure if this would be a great scope for deep sky... but for lunar/planetary it is very good.
Rick
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Rick Evans
http://www.freewebs.com/revans_01420/
"The universe is there for us to see, but it cannot be understood without learning its language -- mathematics." Galileo Galilei
Edited by revans (10/04/09 02:47 PM)
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isramirez
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/04/05
Posts: 1391
Loc: Mexico City
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Quote:
So all you Mewlon lovers and haters out there, pros and cons?...
Hate them for free 
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roadi
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/18/07
Posts: 531
Loc: Denmark
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Quote:
Quote:
So all you Mewlon lovers and haters out there, pros and cons?...
Hate them for free
And why?? 
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Regards Rodi
60mm Polarex, Sky90, µ210, SKW150 Binoscope
Vixen GpDx, Astro5, LX200
Modified Baader/Celestron Binoviewer.
Panoptics, Tak LE's, Baader Ortho's, Antares Erfle's
Couple of diagonals..
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chuckscap
sage
Reged: 07/18/09
Posts: 218
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO USA
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Too early to tell for me. My most used scope was my NexStar 11 (which had very good optics)
Which I sold to buy a spectacular Orange C14 ...
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=309529
Orange C14 on my deck in Colorado Springs ...
[image]Image removed per TOS guidelines. [/image]
Unfortunately some financial issues occurred while I was over in the Mid East (as a non profit contractor getting a $3.50 a day bonus lol) and I had to sell it because I couldn't afford the mount it deserved.
In the two nights I've had my Mewlon 250 out, it was significantly better than both my C11 and my C14 on Jupiter and the Moon. I attribute this primarily to the fact that you can take the back off of the Mewlon and when doing that the mirror is at ambient and more importantly there are no tube currents! For double stars, I still haven't gotten quite used to the spider diffraction spikes. My Vixen SXW really isn't up to the job of handling the Mewlon. I sent it in for maintenance and tuning to Vixen America and am going to sell it. So my first impressions are just that first impressions...
[image]Image removed per TOS guidelines[/image]
Regards,
Chuck
Edited by LLEEGE (10/06/09 03:34 PM)
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revans
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/26/05
Posts: 1516
Loc: Fitchburg, MA
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It took me about a year to get used to the Mewlon 250 and at first I wasn't overly impressed with it. But gradually it has won me over. I think that this is because it is very dew resistant, has a really rapid cooldown time for a 10 inch scope, holds collimation very well, there is no image shift or flop, and it has very good optics. The EM-200 mount is very impressive as well and is probably the easiest mount to setup and use for imaging than any I've used over the years.
The seeing at my location is usually best suited to an 8 inch or 10 inch scope and although I have a couple of 12 inch scopes they seldom give a better image than the Mewlon.
But everything has trade-offs... the Mewlon isn't a fast scope and can never be faster than F9 with a focal reducer. The secondary moves for focusing and although this means no mirror shift it also means limited available backfocus. So, the scope is not easily used with certain accessories like spectroscopes and certain other specialized instruments.
But it certainly is a great imaging scope for the moon and planets... probably as good as anything in the same aperture class that is available. But I wouldn't give it top marks for a deep sky imaging scope unless you are at a very dark site and can take very long exposures.
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Rick Evans
http://www.freewebs.com/revans_01420/
"The universe is there for us to see, but it cannot be understood without learning its language -- mathematics." Galileo Galilei
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4115
Loc: Ireland
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Love it. I use it mostly for deep sky. Much smoother figure and slightly better control of SA than the C9.25 it replaced. Plus, as others have stated, I don't have to carry dew control equipment around.
It also cools down quite well. I have no garage or outside-temp storage at the location I keep it at, and the temp difference can easily be 40°F. I set up at dusk as soon as I can see Polaris, and then read in the car for an hour to 90 min until it's good and dark -- which has always been plenty of time for the thermals to go away.
Yeah, the back focus was kind of a pain (especially as I'm not a fan of electric focusers and have the "cassegrain" focuser on the back), but once I got all the bits worked out that ceased to be an issue.
I've become pretty much of a fixed-mirror kind of guy. I like my collimation to be bang-on, and stay bang-on. So I'm not sure I'd like the 180 or 210 as well as the 250 and 300 -- although I only have personal experience with the 250.
Cheers,
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-100 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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chuckscap
sage
Reged: 07/18/09
Posts: 218
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO USA
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I agree Jeff, even on my C11 and C14 I never moved the primary's onceI bought a Feathertouch Crayford. I'd collimate using the crayford focuser to defocus. I haven't collimated my Mewlon 250 yet, it seemed real close, I've only had it out twice with my travel schedule and the rain. I know the difference between being "close" and dead on though so that's on my short list.
Regards,
Chuck
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isramirez
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/04/05
Posts: 1391
Loc: Mexico City
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
So all you Mewlon lovers and haters out there, pros and cons?...
Hate them for free
And why??
Really? well i suspect the legendary Takahashi SCT 225 was discontinued by the factory
because the mewlons were considered a better business
It seems someone posted a picture with more than 800x600 size 
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Santel MK9 & MK6
IntesMicro 715
Celestron SCT6 & ONIX80 EDF
Meade SN6 & AR6
HiOptic 6in MakCass.Gregory
DBK + DMK + NexImage + LPI
CG-5 & LXD75 Mounts
many EP's, Barlows and Binoviewers
Great astronomic passion 
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Catapoman
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 06/06/03
Posts: 776
Loc: VA
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Love 'em for free.
Pros
1. No dew
2. Quick cooldown
3. Excellent at lunar, planetary and splitting doubles
4. No dew
Cons
1. Spikes are sometimes bothersome
2. Seeing conditions limited (oops, that all scopes)
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Pernel
Nexstar 11 GPS
Takahashi TSA-102
Mewlon 210
GM-8
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chuckscap
sage
Reged: 07/18/09
Posts: 218
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO USA
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Hi Jeff, I'm planning on putting on a Feathertouch Crayford focuser, but my electric focuser works fine for the time being. The spikes are kind of beautiful in my 35mm Pan but a little troublesome on bright doubles like Albireo. I think it's a real keeper for me, time will tell.
Chuck
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roadi
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/18/07
Posts: 531
Loc: Denmark
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Quote:
Hate them for free
And why??
Really? well i suspect the legendary Takahashi SCT 225 was discontinued by the factory
because the mewlons were considered a better business
It seems someone posted a picture with more than 800x600 size
Good points about buisness considerations!!
I don't love the mewlon either nor do I hate it!
Mewlon 210:
Pros:
good and well performing optic
Well build with few seriously exceptions..
Excellent dew control
Cons:
Mirror tilt (pointing the scope in other directions)
Mirror flop (focusing)
Price
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Regards Rodi
60mm Polarex, Sky90, µ210, SKW150 Binoscope
Vixen GpDx, Astro5, LX200
Modified Baader/Celestron Binoviewer.
Panoptics, Tak LE's, Baader Ortho's, Antares Erfle's
Couple of diagonals..
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4115
Loc: Ireland
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Quote:
I agree Jeff, even on my C11 and C14 I never moved the primary's onceI bought a Feathertouch Crayford. I'd collimate using the crayford focuser to defocus. I haven't collimated my Mewlon 250 yet, it seemed real close, I've only had it out twice with my travel schedule and the rain. I know the difference between being "close" and dead on though so that's on my short list.
Regards,
Chuck
Chuck --
For what it's worth, my observing spot for the Mewlon is about 1/4 mile up a dirt road from the highway. It's also been to a spot about 15 miles up a seriously wash-boarded gravel road. Through all this, I haven't had to touch the collimation in over 3 years -- so once you get it dialed in it should stay there.
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-100 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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revans
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/26/05
Posts: 1516
Loc: Fitchburg, MA
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Well... but maybe it wasn't the Mewlon series that caused the discontinuation of their 225 mm SCT... it could equally well have been the CN-212. I suspect that with the CN-212, and the Mewlon 210 and 250 all being high quality... there probably wasn't enough demand for a 225 mm scope which I suspect would not give very different views.
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Rick Evans
http://www.freewebs.com/revans_01420/
"The universe is there for us to see, but it cannot be understood without learning its language -- mathematics." Galileo Galilei
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chuckscap
sage
Reged: 07/18/09
Posts: 218
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO USA
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Thanks Jeff that's great to hear. I know the Mewlon's secondary collimation (I don't plan to have to touch the primary) is a push pull arrangement in 3 sets of pairs, so while a little slower than my Celestron's it should be easire and hold better.
Thanks again, Jeff.
Chuck
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Takman
super member
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 199
Loc: Maple, ON - Canada
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I don't have a Mewlon but an associate of mine has a Mewlon 180. I was impressed by the views and if I didn't already own a Takahashi refractor, I would have purchased a Mewlon.
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Takahashi TOA-130F
Celestron C-11/C-8 with FASTAR
William Optics Zenithstar 66 SD/ED Petzval
Astro-Physics Mach1 GTO/Celestron AS-GT
TeleVue Naglers 26mm, 13mm, 7mm and 3.5mm
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maknewtnut
Vendor (Teton Telescope)
Reged: 10/08/06
Posts: 859
Loc: SE Idaho
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Inherent differences in diffraction limited field size between a Dall-Kirkham and popular catadioptric designs of comparable focal ratio is the biggest difference.
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Mark
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Chaz
super member
Reged: 09/24/05
Posts: 146
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I recently acquired a 210 Mewlon and have been quite impressed overall. Images seem to have an almost 3D quality to them and the background sky is with a doubt, the darkest I have ever seen. The field of view is limited, of course, I have to use a 31mm Nagler to get a 1 degree field and this puts alot of weight on the back end of the scope causing focus to sometimes slip. Also, without using an aftermarket focuser there is mirror shift which I'm not too wild about. The Mewlon is much better than any SCT I've ever looked through though star images are not as sharp off axis as my MakNewt. Overall a very interesting and exotic scope that gets alot of attention at a star party.
Chaz
Takahashi 210 Mewlon
Intes Micro MN66
Discovery 8" f/8 Newtonian
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Fomalhaut
sage
Reged: 08/16/08
Posts: 242
Loc: Switzerland
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The Mewlons are more suitable to bad weather conditions (rapid cool down, hefty dewing) than typical cats (SCTs or MCTs).
This fact together with their reliably good optics makes the Mewlons neither telescopes to love nor ones to hate (what a strange way of thinking in black and white patterns  ), but very RESPECTABLE telescopes!
Chris
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Currently:
Tak FS-60c (guidescope for:)
Tak FCT-100/640 on Tak EM-10
Tak Mewlon-180 on same
IntesMicro-M500
Zeiss 7X42-T*P-Dialyt + Nikon 18x70 Binoculars
Coronado Maxscope 40
Edited by Fomalhaut (10/05/09 04:46 PM)
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