Dude_with_the_tube

clouds all over the place but there is a possibility to star test it.Scope is out and i am going out in 30mins.Fingers crossed now.its either yehaa or oh well...

Thats the whole idea why this instrument is in my house now.I personally think that meade 178 is very under-rated telescope and i tend to prove it.Well i hope i will ... I will only open a few cards on this one yet.Lens was reworked by Es Reid and despite lens is the second run and collimatable with push-pull and sideral,Es installed additional 3 collimation screws to hold negative element more firm in cell and centered to positive element. Additional tape was added to both glass elements to press against cell walls and 2 days tests by Es confirmed that he cant dis-collimate lens by tapping on cell or by any other means.Wavefront of both elements is smooth with no astigmatism and color correction is good. What is great.I have spend 2 days on insides of OTA by adjusting and replacing baffles.Original focuser is a piece of junk and has a slop and moves around ,so there is work involved to get this one up to expectations.Still have to do star test too but weather isnt cooperating. there we are.

for visual Az mount is hard to beat,specially on those long fracs.I think Stu followed my advise for his Vixen Atlux (befre he sold it sadly) and got Skywatcher Az-EQ6GT and was happy with it.I have been using mine now for 2 years and have no complains(bought it second hand).Az-EQ6gt mount actually holds meade 178 with a laugh in Az mode.Had meade on my mount whole day today as i was adjusting baffles and few other things before i can star test that beast. I assume you still havent made up your mind on how to mount your TMB?

Nope John,its not Tom`s one. Not sure who got his one.All i can say that Tom`s one had second run lens+cell (colimatable with push pull and sideral) same as my specimen and his one was in pristine condition inside out with perfect star test.(spoke to Tom a few days ago after he tested it )

i do recognise this scope.Is that not yours John? I do like anything above F10 he he.You have to agree that a simple acrho in F12 or F15 or bless the mount in F18 just looks MAJESTIC!

i guess i have to be more precise.Lens on Meade is 7" where OTA itself is 8" or 200mm in diameter.

how big is a big refractor? Just for a laugher really here are my 6" F9 Vixen Atlux ED together with 7" Meade F9 ED. Only 1" aperture increase ,but look at the share size increase. Vixen from ground up is 1mtr 40cm where Meade is 1mtr 80cm. Also a lot more tube to handle and slightly more weight.Still Skywatcher Az-EQ 6GT handles Meade perfectly fine in Az mode. Meade has been kindly provided for testing purpose (so far) and comparison to Vixen.More info to come later.

i guess i will have to do an updated pic of my case over the weekend... havent had a time recently to do anything.

no binoviewing Dave? or i am missing something?

i have used a couple of times without the side counterbalance in AZ mode and it is perfectly fine Valid points Stu about eye difference,but i dont think it will be critical in binoviewing as it does take a bit of time to get used to them and once mastered you learn how to relax when observing and then it sort of "pops". Changing eye pieces frequently is not an issue in binoviewers as i do the same.It is very easy to do in Denks and Baader mark V,specially in baaders as they have click locks.I had click locks installed on my Zeiss too and its a doodle to swap out.However,i am now swapping out far less as i have powermates to use and now i dont go lower then 16mm pairs of orthos and when i need more power,i just put either x4 or x2 powermate in.Saves the hassle of swapping eye pieces.Denk 2 come with powerswitch and it does work really well giving you 3 different magnifications.But as it has been mentioned before,some people just like mono viewing.

told you from the beginning Stu to get the AZ-EQ mount didnt i? Easy to use,has a go-to and tracking and in Az mode can handle up to 25kgs.perfect combo. A bit puzzled why you cant get on with binoviewers.What pairs you had and what was the issue? What in particular you didnt like?

here are couple of pics of my Vixen Atlux 150. original 4" focuser unit has been removed and replaced with 2.5" Moonlite.I binoview and everything is done so that i reach focus in "Native" mode without the aid of OCS or Barlows. Binoviewer is a custom made Zeiss with 30mm prisms and 30mm openings on both sides (telescope and eye piece),prisms are off very high accuracy and Zeiss T* coated for extra light transmission.Pairs in picture are Baader Eudiascopic 35mm with 29mm field stop.No vignetting or any other artifacts,just clear image and perfection.There is currently a plan to completely overhaul the Vixen but it is currently on stop for some time until other things get sorted.

Baaders eudiascopics are the same 5 element masuyama design as Ultimas,Ultrascopic,parks gold series with a lot of eye relief and will require a bit of inwards focus.I am aware of the focusing issue,but I shouldnt have issue with that as i use binos in native focus and still have loads of inwards and outward focus available.