My freaky sharp classic telescopes? The 3.5" Questar, ETX90, RV-6 Dynascope, Clammy (C102), and yes Scruffy the Celestar 8, the sharpest SCT I have ever seen. My Sears 76mm f/16 Astro Optical refractors can also be considered very sharp. My mush dog is an Edmund Astroscan. When I observed Mars with the RV-6 during the 2003 perihelic apparition, I decided that I would keep this telescope for the reminder of my earthly existence with all the other freaky sharpies.

Do you know what a freaky sharp classic or a mush dog is?
#76
Posted 11 March 2025 - 10:22 PM
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#77
Posted 12 March 2025 - 05:47 AM
Never seen a cass yet worth a hoot. My Astroscan was also a sea of coma back in 1980.
#78
Posted 12 March 2025 - 07:08 AM
Never seen a cass yet worth a hoot. My Astroscan was also a sea of coma back in 1980.
What about your freaky sharp 1984 C8? Wasn't that worth a hoot?
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#80
Posted 12 March 2025 - 07:29 AM
My C14 had cardboard like from a cereal box. But the prior owner had taken it apart, so I don’t know if it was original.
Chip W.
I've got sheets of all different gasket materials from paper to cork to rubber to synthetic fibre. Don't know what would work best but I wouldn't trust myself to be able to cut it precisely enough to use under an SCT corrector plate.
Oh, and Freaky Sharp would be my Celestron / Vixen 80mm shorty refractor. Haven't had any total mush dogs, but I'm still trying to get my Meade 310 / Mizar dialled in to my satisfaction.
Edited by Senex Bibax, 12 March 2025 - 07:32 AM.
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#81
Posted 12 March 2025 - 07:34 AM
DPAC sorts them all.
Freaky sharp Unitron 50mm
Mushiest dog Soligor 60mm
Holy heck that is awful!!! Sure would like to see the star test on that thing
-drl
#82
Posted 12 March 2025 - 11:41 AM
DPAC sorts them all.
Freaky sharp Unitron 50mm
Mushiest dog Soligor 60mm
Yikes!!
DPAC doesn't lie. But... some Patterns may be shocking!
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#83
Posted 12 March 2025 - 02:13 PM
DPAC sorts them all.
Freaky sharp Unitron 50mm
Mushiest dog Soligor 60mm
I don't have a DPAC but my Soligor was also beyond Mushy so it probably would have tested the same. It looked like it had zones all over the place. The Kenko 60/710mm TA-710 was the same way. Both telescopes were so bad they were completely unusable so the objectives were replaced with very good ones.
#84
Posted 12 March 2025 - 06:00 PM
What about your freaky sharp 1984 C8? Wasn't that worth a hoot?
Not a Cass. I mean the real Cass.
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#85
Posted 12 March 2025 - 06:16 PM
Not a Cass. I mean the real Cass.
Peter Ceravolo bought and restored a 16" Boller and Chivens Cassegrain and the performance is absolutely spectacular.
You can lean on the mount while using it without disturbing a thing. But the dual-axis motors would be a no-go I imagine.
https://www.cloudyni...-16-cassegrain/
-drl
Edited by deSitter, 12 March 2025 - 06:16 PM.
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#87
Posted 12 March 2025 - 06:34 PM
I have an excellent DK Cass, CHASLX200. It's clean images far exceed any SCT I've ever looked through. They exist. (But I also have a pretty mushy one.)
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#88
Posted 12 March 2025 - 06:35 PM
Peter Ceravolo bought and restored a 16" Boller and Chivens Cassegrain and the performance is absolutely spectacular.
You can lean on the mount while using it without disturbing a thing. But the dual-axis motors would be a no-go I imagine.
https://www.cloudyni...-16-cassegrain/
-drl
Well that is not gonna work at my house nor can i lift the OTA. Just everyone i looked thru at parties were nothing to get all worked up about and same the Newt - verts like the Caves.
#89
Posted 12 March 2025 - 06:40 PM
Not a Cass. I mean the real Cass.
Ah sorry. I thought that included Schmit-Cassegrains. My mistake!
#90
Posted 12 March 2025 - 06:52 PM
Ah sorry. I thought that included Schmit-Cassegrains. My mistake!
Naw just the real deals with no glass in front or Newt verts.
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#91
Posted 12 March 2025 - 08:28 PM
CFF makes some spectacular cassegrains. I had one that was out of this world.
https://cfftelescope...ducts/reflector
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#92
Posted 12 March 2025 - 09:18 PM
No, you wouldn't.
Here's another bad one. 40mm Hino, Just a null test, but quite revealing.
Charlie
Was your camera drunk when it took that pic?
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#93
Posted 12 March 2025 - 09:39 PM
... Grace Slick says, Go Ask Alice...
[TMI: I had a bad pre-teen crush on her. What a voice!]
Edited by Bomber Bob, 12 March 2025 - 09:41 PM.