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Skywatcher 190mm Maksutov-Newtonian Astrograph


FLO

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Well after the wife saw some of TJ's pics, the OTA on FLO, and with the promise of back rubs on demand, and taking the boy to school when she's tired. I have one ordered with a 314L+ and a set of Baader NB filters/wheel.

One way to guarantee cloud over N. Essex for the next month I'm sure :)

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A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of using my dream astrograph, the Takahashi Epsilon-180ED, on an EM-400 mount, and it exceeded my high expectations. It's a top of the line instrument and you pay top of the line money for it.

Outside the dome that night was a club member with an MN190 on an EQ6 (non Pro version), and he was imaging most of the same objects as myself.

His results floored me. Granted, he is a highly skilled astrophotographer, far better than me, but even so I was amazed that his results weren't far short of those I was getting with the f/2.8 Tak! I even preferred some of his images to mine. (No diffraction spikes, and did I mention that he's a much better astrophotographer than me? :) )

The MN190 is simply awesome value. One of the best deals going right now, IMHO.

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.... I was amazed that his results weren't far short of those I was getting with the f/2.8 Tak! I even preferred some of his images to mine....

The MN190 is simply awesome value. One of the best deals going right now, IMHO.

It is rare to hear from someone who can spend that much on a telescope and remain objective :)

For those who have just joined this thread and are wondering what is so special about the Skywatcher 190MN. A Mak-Newt is made entirely from spherical surfaces. Spherical surfaces are perfect for mass production, they can easily and affordably be ground and polished to a very high surface accuracy. By comparison, a fast Newtonian's mirror must have steep parabolic curves that are considerably more difficult to manufacture so, unless you spend significantly more, you cannot expect anything like the same surface-finish accuracy.

The Mak-Newt's sealed tube is also less prone to air currents and the mirror is protected from the elements. The only downside is that its front corrector lens attracts dew (you'll need a dew-heater-tape) and the scope takes longer to cool, otherwise the design and performance is superior in every way to a regular Newtonian.

To illustrate this check-out TJ's 190MN album HERE and these two from SteveL's collection ;)

m42_20081206_800.jpg

(Click on the image for the larger version).

20090401_leo_trio_wip1_800.jpg

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One of the best scopes I have had the ability to review for AN... make no mistake, that for under £1000, this is some instrument for DSO work, and thanks to the rather good optics is no slouch when you ramp up the magnification on lunar and planetary either. Dew shield is essential, and the new focuser makes it for me a total no brainer..

Just my 2cents

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It is rare to hear from someone who can spend that much on a telescope and remain objective :)

Alas, the Tak was not mine. I have too many kids and mortgages to ever own an Epsilon-180ED on an EM-400. :D;)

But I do stand by what I said: The E-180ED will outperform the MN190 (and so it damn well should!), but I'd take the Sky-Watcher too in a flash, given half a chance. It's no Takahashi, but it's still a truly excellent astrograph and fantastic bargain.

However I would bung on a Moonlite or FT focuser. :D

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Me too. Whilst the supplied focuser is perfectly adequate (SteveL and TJ's images are made using the existing focuser) it does deserve something 'posh' :)

Yep. The one I saw was an earlier model, with the single speed focuser. The guy using it didn't seem to find it inadequate, but I have to say that when I saw the results he was getting, I thought to myself "Optics like that and no Moonlite focuser?" ;)

Here's something a little amusing: the Epsilon I was using has an earlier generation focuser and it needs some careful handling when loaded up with a heavy CCD imager such as an STL-11000 or similar! Maybe that needs a Moonlite focuser upgrade too? :D

And have you seen this?

http://www.takahashijapan.com/news.html

(Click on the upper of the two links on that page.)

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Hmmm, must learn Japanese one of these days :)

If anybody wants to see what the MN190 can do with a DSLR attached, just let me know, preferably via PM. I have a modified 350D and a 400D that I can use. Pick a target too if you like.

Cheers

Tim

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I have updated my album of MN190 images with a few more shots, and have another few to follow shortly.

You can view the pictures here.

As for visual, when I tried it on M42 The views were simply astounding. Sharp contrasty edges of the nebula were visible, all the main features could be picked out. Even my mrs was very impressed, no mean feat :headbang:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Richie. The MN190 continues to surprise me. With the summer targets moving round I am hoping to do a bit more OSC work with it. I had a brief spell with it last spring and the results were very encouraging. Have to say though, that with the longer FL than the 8" newts on the market, the MN190 gives a really nice FOV with a camera like the SXV H9, Atik 314L etc, great for getting in close and getting the detail on galaxies and planetarys. I have a few hours on M101 and M51 that I'll add to the album once I get time to process them.

Cheers

Tim

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  • 4 weeks later...

Another image from SteveL using the Skywatcher 190MN Maksutov-Newtonian:

Original post HERE

I`m very happy with the performance of the 190MN under abnormal conditions, I am sure that the OAG had a large part in getting such fantastic subs. You would have thought that such a long tube OTA would have really moved around, and adding the powermate would have just made things worse, but I have included an image of the 2x drizzle cropped center of M13 to show just how round most of the stars are.

Mount: EQ6 via EQMOD

OTA: Skywatcher 190 MakNewt @ f/10.6 (Televue 2" 2x PowerMate)

Guiding: TS OAG + Starlight Xpress Lodestar

Imaging: Starlight Xpress M25C + MaximDL, 12x300s, Hutech IDAS LPR (101 bias, 101 flats)

Orchestrated: CDD Commander

Stacked: DeepSkyStacker

(Click on image for larger version)

20100417_m13_800.jpg

and here is the 2xdrizzle cropped centre...

20100417_m13_central_crop.jpg

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