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asaint
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/25/03
Posts: 1949
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Omni XLT 150
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Starman1
Postmaster
Reged: 06/24/03
Posts: 10686
Loc: Los Angeles
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Good comments from an experienced observer.
A couple comments:
--anti-vibration pads can tame the wiggles on this scope. Also, if used sitting, the tripod is used nearly all the way down, where it is substantially more rigid.
--I agree about the focuser. Good news: there are some truly excellent 1-1/4" focusers out there to upgrade this component; like the JMI reverse Crayford (available as a kit for <$100).
--6" is about the largest (I've owned 2 different 6" f/5s) scope I'd use at this ratio without a coma corrector. And I doubt any user would upgrade to a 2" focuser on this scope.
--It's $399. New. My mid-'80s Celestron 6" f/5 was almost twice that. And this scope has usable setting circles. If this scope doesn't get scarfed up in large numbers, then it's over for non-computerized scopes. I've noticed it's getting harder and harder to sell a non-computerized scope at any price. Imagine this: a good 90mm f/11 refractor with a decent 30mm finder scope on a decent EQ mount, with motor drive, is harder to sell than a computerized 80mm f/4 refractor, no finder, on a plastic mount with a 10+ second shimmy time and more violet fringe than an image of Jimi Hendrix through an LSD haze (for you young'uns, that's an arcane reference to a particular song of Jimi's).
Nice review--I learned the XLT tripod is adaptable to other EQ heads.
This goes on my list of "good buys".
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Don Pensack
12.5" Truss Dob, 5" Maksutov
Sustaining Lifetime IDA member, TeleVue junkie
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CollinofAlabama
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/24/03
Posts: 892
Loc: Lubbock, Texas, USA
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Joe,
Great job! I really enjoyed this read. I was out last Sunday night doing some outreach at a Girl Scout Camp about 50 miles east of town -- SPECTACULAR dark sky site, Milky Way clearly visible with various dark cloud patches from Sagittarius to Cassiopeia. I had my 6" F/6 custom built dob and my 80mm AstroTech refractor. I really like my AT80ED, but I can't deny that something like this scope is appealing.
I wonder how the vignetting issue the author experienced with the 6" Synta works out for the 130ST? I have been considering that scope, since I think it would ride the CG-4, aka EQ-3 or AstroView, mount better than the 6" tube. Any advice, anyone?
Thanks,
CDS
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Coelum Serendum
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doug76
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/05/07
Posts: 1639
Loc: 30.8N 90.0W
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Joe, hope your monitoring this still.
I am awaiting the arrival of this very OTA you reviewed, and wouldn't mind upgrading the focuser. Since I prefer Crayford focusers, I only have a couple of options in the 1.25" size, JMI's NGF and RCF Minis, and a helical design by KineOptics, the HC-1. Do you believe I could do a workable drop-in replacement with either of these, without altering the tube?
Doug
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Truckstop Astronomer
Meade 12" Lightbridge with Dob Driver II
Celestron C6S OTA
Celestron C6R OTA
Celestron Omni XLT150 OTA
Celestron Omni XLT127 OTA
Celestron CG5-ASGT mount
Celestron Omni CG-4 mount
Celestron (large) Nexstar SE2 mount
Celestron (small) Nexstar SE1 mount
Meade SWA 34mm
Televue Panoptic 24mm
Pentax XW 10mm, 7mm
Televue Plossl 32mm
BO/TMB Planetary 9mm, 5mm, 4mm, 3.2mm, 2.5mm
Astro-Tech diagonals
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Joe Bergeron
Vendor - Space Art
Reged: 11/10/03
Posts: 812
Loc: Upstate NY
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I don't know. It seems to me that you'd be lucky if the hole pattern on any new focuser happened to match the original one. Also, remember, the original focuser is tall. If your replacement is substantially shorter you're going to find the focal plane hovering a few inches above the drawtube. Of course, an extension tube could deal with that issue.
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Seven telescopes of a diverse nature.
Multiple chums glittering in the sky. New friends await.
My Web Site
English Lessons for Amateur Astronomers
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