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A Quick Review of the 28” Reginato Super Maser


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A Quick Review of the 28” Reginato Super Maser

by Piero Emanuele Mazza (CN member il_galassiere)

 

 

It was since year 2020, by then in my sixties, that I conceived the idea to buy a very serious and powerful instrument for my long-standing visual observations.  The choice fell on a Reginato Super Maser 28-inch Newtonian telescope with standard alt-azimuthal fork mount.

 

Hereafter are the seven more significant values of my choice:

 

1) the Super Maser is easily transportable in my combi ID Buzz car (to put the lower 220-pound wheeled part in the trunk I use a couple of extendable aluminum ramps);

2) the eight-bar truss linking the upper ring sport innovative quick-coupling joints;

3) the whole telescope is vibration-free even in case of moderate wind, not unusual during most of the observing nights; the movement is very smooth on both the axes due to well-designed bearings;

4) the instrument is equipped with both a laser, for quick pointing, and a generous 16x80 finder-scope for easily catching all the faintest stars plotted in Uranometria charts;

5) in spite of the awful state of the last 8-9 km road to reach the 4800-ft site for my observations, the telescope's optics remains perfectly aligned (no joking!). So far no fine tuning of the mirrors through a laser collimator was needed;

6) even on irregular ground the telescope remains stable (no unwanted rotation, nor backlash)

7) the 3.3 fast-ratio focal of primary mirror avoids the need to mount the last step of my foldable ladder, so preventing a possible accidental, dangerous fall on the pebbly ground.

 

Thank you, Silvano, for your wondrous artwork!

 

Some pictures for the reader's pleasure:

1)      a generous 28-inch F/3.3 primary mirror;

 

2)      large 16x80 finder with illuminated reticle;

 

3)      a laser pointer temporarily wrapped in a resistor (dew heater) during very cold nights;

 

4)      rack-and-pinion focuser;’

 

5)      a handle for easily moving the scope both in azimuth and height;

 

6)      lock (in red) of the azimuth movement (during transport) and a little fly-wheel for major friction;

 

7)      three heavy counterweights on the scope's breech for perfect balance;

 

8) a set of eight little struts for wrapping the dewcap.

 


  • scottinash, Alterf, miketz and 23 others like this


19 Comments

Looks fantastic! No encoders? Where do you observe in Italy? LP map shows that the whole of the north is fairly light-polluted.

    • luca V likes this
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happylimpet
May 01 2024 07:21 AM

What a  wonderful thing! Thanks for sharing.

Wow, this looks like a joy to use for many happy years!

Any kind of imaging done through this? if so, any images to share?

    • Mouser3264 and Scott123 like this
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Sebastian_Sajaroff
May 02 2024 01:29 PM

That's a wonderful instrument !

I don't know what I'm more jealous of : the telescope or those wonderful mountain blue skies !

Congratulations !

    • happylimpet and Mouser3264 like this
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Old Speckled Hen
May 02 2024 02:52 PM

Corker of a telescope

! WoW !

I think Reginato's scopes are the bees knees. How high is the eyepiece approximately? I'm 1m90 and suspect I cannot view through the 24" or the 28" SuperMaser without a step, so that would lead me to the 20". Not bad, but still, bigger is better.

    • TeemuAstro likes this

Oh WOW! That is a stunner of a scope! Really love the detail and very thorough engineering ideas. Thank you for sharing.

    • TeemuAstro likes this

Man, that is sooooooo cool!!

    • TeemuAstro likes this
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SimRacingGarage
May 06 2024 07:11 AM

Outstanding craftsmanship! You are a very lucky to have it!

    • TeemuAstro likes this

I'm more impressed by the car!  VW is bringing the electric van here for the 2025 model year, but only the larger, longer version - this looks like the smaller one I think?  

 

I can fit my big scope in my current car but not much else.

What kind of cloth do you use on it. I use a two sided lint free cotton cloth, with one side softer than the other but they need washing often.

Anna@Boha

Looks fantastic! No encoders? Where do you observe in Italy? LP map shows that the whole of the north is fairly light-polluted.

Yes, where do you observe in Italy?
 

 

 

Sick stuff... and an enviable observing site...

    • spins120 likes this

Thanks for sharing!

What catches my eye is the van!

    • PaulBee likes this
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WIstargazer
Aug 18 2024 11:00 AM

What is the body of the scope made of? Awesome telescope!!

    • spins120 likes this

If that was mine I think I would spend more time looking at the scope than I would looking through the scope

    • spins120 likes this


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