I've not been here for ages due to not getting much time to look skyward...
Anyhoo...
I've bought a new toy to complimet my SW 200 HEQ5 Newt.
I've just bought the SW Skymax 127 Mak and the new SupaTrak mount.
I was a bit wary of the new mount. I'm not a big fan of arm mounts, they look a bit "Toy like" on a cheaper 'scope.
Basically, I wanted something to live mainly in the motorhome. Something light and easy to set up.
This is exactly what the Sm127 is.
The tripod could be a bit sturdier, but then I'm used to an HEQ5 which is about as sturdy as you can get
The whole thing is small and compact and very easy to use, once you'e read the manual and not jumped to conclusions
I'm very impresses with the scope.
First light was the Moon. Very bright, but superb detail. The craters around the edges were very nicely shown with loads of detail and the shadows were great... I *MUST* buy some filters!!!!!!
I then moved onto Saturn, which is not too far above the moon at the mo.
Even though the moon was very bright, Saturn and it's rings were very well defined, and the detail was wonderful, even at very high magnification (300X). I was very impressed that this very small 'scope was giving me images that were as good as, if not better than my large 8" newt.
Next stop was M42. Very nice indeed, though the lack of aperture was now beginning to show. What it lacks in light gathering, it more than makes up for with sharpness and detail.
I then moved onto Mars, which is now quite high in the sky above Orion.
Sadly viewing in this area of the sky was quite poor due to hazy cloud, but Mars was pretty decent through the haze, but no features could be seen.
This was my first look through a mak. I've used Maks (or Cats as we call then in photography) as lenses, but never as a scope.
I was very impressed by the detail and contrast given buy such a short tube. I'm used to an 8" F4 newt which is great at catching light, but does lack a bit in the detail side of things.
The view through the Mak was puchy. Colours seemed better. I'm slightly colour blind and at low lightl evels most stars planets etc look the same colour to me. Through the mak, no such problems. For the first time ever, Mars looked red to me
I was deciding on which scope to buy for the motorhome. I was tempted by the SW 150PM Newt, but that is basically just a smaller version of what I already have. I chose the SM127 as it complimets what I have. it does things that the 8" newt doesn't do very well. It's also small and light which is the main reason why I was buying a second 'scope.
The great thing now is that I can always use the mak on my HEQ5. I might even be able to piggy back the mak on top of the 8", but that might stress the HEQ5 a little too much.
I'm looking forward to taking a few pictures through the mak. It should give me better images of saturn, but I'm not sure if the SupaTrak mount will take the weight of the 127 and a Nikon D-80
I might be Ok with a small compact in video mode... We'll have to wait and see.The new 'scope is coming on holiday for the next week. if I find clear, dark skies I'll put it through it's paces and hopefully get a few photos along the way.
if I do I'll post them if I think they're worth it.
This new 'scope is perfect for the motorhome, and a great 'scope for the garden too
My new toy came from Steve at First Light Optics.
Ordered Tuesday, arrived Wednesday. Great service and great prices.
He's also happy (or at least he seemed to be) to lsiten to somone umming and ahhing trying to decide what to buy. He gives great advice, and is open and honest.
Thanks Steve, FLO made my first steps into serious astronomy very easy and relatively painless. Both my scopes were from FLO and I'm very happy with them indeed.
Darren