Zebra24601
Postmaster
Reged: 10/09/05
Posts: 7432
Loc: San Gabriel Valley, CA 91770
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Quote:
I miss the Yard Cannon!
I saw mention of your yard cannon in another member's .sig, with an addendum that read something like, "Returning home soon." So I take it that means you're working on a reunion?
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Zebra24601
Meade 8" SCT w/UHTC * Celestron 100ED * Celestron C11 * Barska 15x70 binoculars
Meade LXD55 mount * Orion Sirius goto mount * Bushnell Voyager 4.5" Compact Reflector
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Refractor6
Post Laureate
Reged: 10/20/04
Posts: 3144
Loc: Vancouver B.C. , Canada
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Quote:
Quote:
I miss the Yard Cannon!
I saw mention of your yard cannon in another member's .sig, with an addendum that read something like, "Returning home soon." So I take it that means you're working on a reunion?
Saw that and been wondering the same thing. 
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Stan
Takahashi FS-102 NSV
Antares 152 f/8 prototype
Antares 152 f/6.5
Antares 127 f/6.45 prototype
Orion 9x63 mini giants
Pentax 20x60 PCF WP
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Scott Beith
SRF
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 33079
Loc: Gulfport, MS
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Thanks Sir. I will buy it back pretty soon, but for now Steph is taking good care of it. 
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  Scott
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
"The measure of a man’s greatness is not determined by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he accomplishes for others.” -- Some Bald Guy
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~Steph~
Texas Wildflower
Reged: 06/11/05
Posts: 21662
Loc: North Texas
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Sir, doing my best, Sir!!
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Steph
10" RCX400 ~~ 4" TV102 ~~ WO ZS80FD ~~ PST
Serenity Observatory 
HansenAstro | CN Member Websites
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pollux
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 6185
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Scope drama?
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~Steph~
Texas Wildflower
Reged: 06/11/05
Posts: 21662
Loc: North Texas
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Hey, I don't want him to toss me like a caber if he thinks I'm mistreating his baby! 
My momma didn't raise no dummy... 
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Steph
10" RCX400 ~~ 4" TV102 ~~ WO ZS80FD ~~ PST
Serenity Observatory
HansenAstro | CN Member Websites
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Scott Beith
SRF
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 33079
Loc: Gulfport, MS
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--------------------
Scott
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
"The measure of a man’s greatness is not determined by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he accomplishes for others.” -- Some Bald Guy
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Expat Andy
journeyman
Reged: 08/12/05
Posts: 6
Loc: Grenoble, France
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Re: Thinking of Buying a C6-RGT
Yes, I am... either this or a SCT.... mmmmmmm too many choices!
need to bring it back overseas with me, but would buy a hard case. I like not having to fool with collimation. But is is long!
Great writeup. thanks for all the info.
looks like good performance/$ ratio.
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Don25
professor emeritus
Reged: 10/20/03
Posts: 701
Loc: Delaware, U.S.A.
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I have the C6-rgt, and I think it's an excellent scope. If you do more visual than imaging, than I would go with the C6-rgt rather than the SCT. If you're primarily going to image, than I would lean toward the SCT, since there are more accessories for imaging geared at SCT's rather than Achromat refractors.
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JayKSC
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/01/05
Posts: 753
Loc: Florida
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Quote:
Re: Thinking of Buying a C6-RGT
Yes, I am... either this or a SCT.... mmmmmmm too many choices!
need to bring it back overseas with me, but would buy a hard case. I like not having to fool with collimation. But is is long!
Great writeup. thanks for all the info.
looks like good performance/$ ratio.
I might get some tomatoes thrown at me for saying this (at me please, not the 'scopes!!!)  , but the performance of an 8-inch Cassegrain and the C6-RGT will be about the same. The Cassegrain will be more portable, but have a greater liklihood of dewing on you without proactive measures. The C6-RGT, however, may have boosts in terms of image contrast AND is a shorter f-length scope, so it can offer more wide-field views.
Remember, too, that the C6-RGT is a HUGE scope. I was stunned when I first had mine setup. I was actually afraid to use it for the first few weeks as it was so dauntingly big. It is, though, no more work to setup than a cassegrain. If you want a super impressive scope to be proud of, the C6-RGT is one of the best in the affordable range.
Just some opinions.
 Jay
KSC FL
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Refractor manic.
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Expat Andy
journeyman
Reged: 08/12/05
Posts: 6
Loc: Grenoble, France
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No tomatoes...or is it tomAtos?
I will take all opinions. Uber-noob here needs it!
I may go towards imaging in the future, so that advice is esp. relevant.. I was looking at the C9.25 ( or a C11 but have heard not that much gained for weight/cost)
.... CST is almost twice as expensive but it is a SCT so I know where the expense is.
I sure it looks even bigger in person than in the photos-and it looks huge there!
Thanks!
Andy
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Don25
professor emeritus
Reged: 10/20/03
Posts: 701
Loc: Delaware, U.S.A.
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As per my earlier post....
I have the C6-rgt. About a month after I got the scope, a co-worker/friend of mine bought the Celestron C8-SGT (with XLT coatings) He came over my house, and we had a really good night of seeing. We spent quite a bit of time viewing Saturn, which with the very good seeing, was giving us wonderful, high contrast views of the Planet and it's rings. Both scopes were performing excellently, and his scope with it's larger aperature, and the XLT coatings was definately brighter, but I would say that the contrast, and hues of the Planet's banding showed up better on my C6-rgt. It wasn't an overwhelming difference, but it was noticeable. Also, splitting stars was easier with my scope than his.
You really can't go wrong with either choice (8 inch Sct or the C-6), but if you definately know that you are going to image, than I would lean slightly toward the SCT. The SCT isn't going to have the Chromatic Aberration that the C-6 will, and when imaging, you're going to have to deal with the Chromattic Aber. which will smear detail, and give false color. THe minus violet filter's do work, but they also can shift color. Below I have enclosed a photo I took using a cheap security camera of Saturn. I didn't correctly compensate for the color, since at the time I didn't know much about Photoshop; but at least you can see that the detail is pretty decent.
I would summarize by stating that if you strictly do visual viewing, than definately go with the C-6rgt. If you are going to image, than seriously consider the C8, since there are more accessories geared toward SCT's for imaging, and again the Chromattic Aberr. won't be an issue. I highly recommend a Sirius Optics MV-1 or Mv-20 filter if you get the C-6 to combat the Chrom. Aberr.
Don
p.s. I think I took this in January or Feb. of 2004
Edited by Don25 (05/14/06 09:25 AM)
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Don25
professor emeritus
Reged: 10/20/03
Posts: 701
Loc: Delaware, U.S.A.
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Andy,
As an afterthought....
The advantage of the C-6 is that a number of them tend to have rather nice optics, and the collimation Usually won't move....although You will want to make sure it came collimated correctly. The downside, is that the C-6's have a relatively poorly designed focuser that has backlash and slop inherrently in it's design.
A number of people (including myself), have dissasembled the focuser, removed the "glue-like" grease that Synta ships them with, (and replaced it with white Lithium grease), shimmed the focuser with U.H.M.W. tape (Ultra high Molecular weight tape) and fooled with the small screws underneath to get the tension correct. This greatly improved the feel and performance of the focuser, but the proper solution is replacement with a "real" focuser, which is what I have purchased recently.
see below link..
Yes they are expensive..but these are the top of the line focuser's. I am toying with the idea of sometime in the future of getting a Chromacor II. This device will for all practical purposes, make my Achromat a "very near" APO 6 inch scope.
http://www.focuser.com/cgi-bin/dman.cgi?page=category&plugin=dstore.cgi&category=1
Edited by Don25 (05/14/06 09:48 AM)
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mgilmorrison
super member
Reged: 11/26/05
Posts: 164
Loc: Royal Oak, MI.
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Nice photo of Saturn Don.
I thought I would throw my 2 cents in as well. I recently sold my Celestar-8.
I got my price for it with the idea of purchasing a larger SCT. However, even after meeting my price, the buyer asked if I could "take" his 13.1 Coulter Odyessey 1. This allowed me to get a new C6-RGT. The differences in contrast between my C-8 (and the C8 was well collimated) and my C6R were quite noticable. In my case at least (other than a very small amount of CA) the detail in planets and the moon was considerably sharper. Also after reading about so many problems with CA and with the mount I was pleased to suffer none of these problems.
I was able to align the mount on my first try and dampening was very quiick.
I've welded a nice wheely system for rolling the set up in and out of my garage. Thus far the only change maybe a new focuser.
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JayKSC
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/01/05
Posts: 753
Loc: Florida
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Andy,
I think that the C9.25 will outperform the C6-RGT... based on what some claim that Celestron's C9.25s are made with unique designs compared to their other cassegrains. I've seen more than one user/reviewer report that the C9.25 is "THE" cassegrain for refractor-lovers. In fact, I've mused many times of picking up a C9.25.
Your decision again ought focus on needs. I'd say that the cassegrain will be easier to adapt to photography/CCD imaging. The cassegrain is also more portable. The cassegrain might, however, need a little additional gear to get setup well (ahem, dew shield and/or dew prevention heating devices).
For refractor-lovers everywhere, again please keep the tomatoes AND tomAtos away from the gear. If anyone has some good peaches or apricots, please throw them my way - it's hot here today!
Jay
KSC FL
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Refractor manic.
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mgilmorrison
super member
Reged: 11/26/05
Posts: 164
Loc: Royal Oak, MI.
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Excellent post Harley.
Right after I ordered my C6-RGT I started to feel I made a great mistake.
It was after I ordered it that I discovered Cloudy Nights Forum. Then after reading lots of pretty bad threads about the system started reading a few positive reviews. My entire experience pretty much mirrors Harley's including the holes in the outer shipping boxes. Even after mine arrived (around last Christmas) I continued to only use my big reflector until warmer weather arrived. During that time I contined to read about the C6-RGT and still worried as to whether I made the right choice. Finally in better weather I set it up. Exactly as Harley did. I could not be more happy with this set-up. As I will not be doing any photography I have it set up so it balances quite nicely. I have also just completed building and welding together a great wheely system that has added another 4 inches to the height so viewing near Zenith is not that miserable. It also has levelers on it to keep it stable as well as making it level. I could not find a proper wheel system that would allow for the nearly 51" span between legs. If anyone is interested in seeing it I can send a photo. And Scott, thank you for your encouragement. It is easy to be influenced by those who seem to find only negative things to say about the C6.
Thanks again to Cloudy Nights and to a supportive group of moderators.
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celestial_search
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/18/04
Posts: 2285
Loc: Iowa, USA
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What happened to Harley by the way? He has not posted since the first week of November.
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Frank
C-11 XLT
8" f/6 Newt on GEM
Tak FS-102II
SV 80L Triplet APO
Orion Mak 127mm
EQ-6 Mount on pier in backyard observatory
CG-5 AS (GOTO)
Surveyor's tripod/Hercules single-arm alt-az mount
SBIG ST-5C CCD and Canon Digital Rebel XT
Oberwerk 15X70s and Pentax 10X21s
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Bill Cowles
professor emeritus
Reged: 04/16/06
Posts: 646
Loc: Utah
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Andy;
How do you like your new focuser. I have a CR6 and after reading all the great info on this Forum, I think I might upgrade with the Moonlite. Do you have any images of your new setup.
Bill Cowles
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Lunt LS60TS50DS/B1200/FT (on order)
TV Gensis/Solarmax 60 filter
PST DS/Herschel Wedge/C4-R
C6-R /Atlas Goto/Moonlite CF2
12" LightBridge/Round Table
MCHP/8" Orion OTA
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Don25
professor emeritus
Reged: 10/20/03
Posts: 701
Loc: Delaware, U.S.A.
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Bill, I would assume that you meant me when you addressed your post to Andy, since I'm the one who just got the Moonlite.
If that's correct, than.....
I haven't yet mounted my new focuser (it's been lousy weather, and I've been playing with my new William Optics ZS80-FD 80mm refractor)
The focuser is basically "top-of-the-line", with beautiful machining and absoulutely no imperfections that I can find. I was going to go with the single-speed model, but after talking with the Rep. at the N.E.A.F. show, I upgraded to the Dual-speed model, since it is rated to hold up to 10 pounds of (Binoviewers, camera's, etc) rather than the 5 pound limit of the single-speed. The rep knocked $20 off the dual speed, gave me a "three speed option" for free, knocked another $ 20 off the Compession ring upgrade, gave me my choice of color for free, and gave me free shipping, since he didn't have what I needed at the show. The show was Sunday, and Tuesday when I got home from work, it was there waiting for me! I will definately upload some photos when I get my camera back.
Don
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Expat Andy
journeyman
Reged: 08/12/05
Posts: 6
Loc: Grenoble, France
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Wow.. thanks for all the great advice... at least there are some ways to work around the scopes 'issues'
every time I decide which way to go, I turn around.. ! I think either way I go will be OK. I can always get the other scope later..haha.
I will be back in the states end of June so will need to decide by then.
My cousin has a Meade polaris model 114 eq that he wants to sell, but I would like to bring only 1 back with me, but we shall see.
Thanks again.
A
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