2 replies to this topic

[AlienRatDog]

I finally received my Z81 last week AND had some clear (and cold) skies last night. I mounted it on my DSV-M Altaz mount. The cool down was quick, like 10 minutes. The optics are superb. Even looking at Sirius at 155x (the max I will go with this scope), I do not notice any false color (in focus). My daughter and I checked out the Pleiades (using an ES 24mm 68deg eyepiece), Owl cluster, Orion Nebula, Double cluster. When looking at the Trapezium, I was able to see the E and F stars at 155x. My daughter enjoyed staring at Castor (double star). All the stars had pretty diffraction patterns that looked textbook. I would say the optics are better than my previous Lunt 80mm ED scope (much love for this scope since I got me into using a small refractor, which I use 90% of the time now in the winter). With the Lunt, I did notice some false color on bright stars and the moon (it was slight, but I was able to see it), which is absent with the Z81. I will post pics later on. I do plan on doing AP with it once I can get a hold of one of those CEM26 mounts (the Zenithstar was the most I can afford at this time, the GT81 was tempting but out of my price range). So far I’m pretty stoked, I can use this scope for visual and AP. It is good for grab and go (I can pick up the scope on the DSV-M mount with one arm and walk outside).

I do have a question, I also have the camera rotator which I haven’t installed yet, does anyone just install it and attach the visual back to it to rotate the diagonal for visual use (also so not to attach it each time for imaging)?

[coopman]

Thanks for the first light report.  Sounds like it's a keeper!

[sportsmed]

Congrats on the new scope! I plan on buying a WO scope when I'm ready to dive into AP. They seem like great scopes and look really nice, enjoy!