Saganite

My first Orion Optics 12" was f5.3 and though it showed some coma I could manage, but the OO 12" f4 that I now have is awful without the Paracorr 2 . I tried to ignore the coma for about a month but had to give in and buy the CC and it makes a huge difference.

Good to see you in action again Stu..

I have bought all my scopes, across several decades, used, and collected every one of them. It is a personal choice of course but is one I am happy to make. As for selling scopes I adopt the same approach and if it takes longer then so be it, again a personal choice. I am not prepared to risk damage in transit.

it is a Meade LX200 I believe ,16" Schmidt - Cassegrain

26mm Meade Pseudo Masuyama pair 13mm Nagler T6 pair 11mm Nagler T6 pair I have had for some time a 19mm Panoptic pair, but I am parting with them, as they have been getting less and less use. My Denkmeier II with the power x switch produces three different powers for each pair and the 11 and 13 Naglers cover two of the three powers produced by the 19mm Pans. The Svbony 3-8 zooms in a BM II work really well in my Vixen 115. The Meade 26mm smoothside pair I have had for almost a decade I think, and though they are only 52 deg AFOV, they are so sharp with such crystal clarity I could not part with them. The large eye lens of each is like liquid glass.

I have used a pair of the 3-8 zooms in the MBII and they were fine down to 5mm, and ok at 4mm, but the steadiness of the atmosphere was critical I found . At 3mm I couldn't merge the images very well.

That looks better Al...

Congratulations on both counts Nigella...... Steve

A fine report and total respect for observing in those temperatures, not that you have any choice, but faced with that I think I might well choose another hobby......

I have had the Denkmeier II with power switch for 8 years now and would never part with it. The BMII is also very good but the Denk + powerswitch gives 3 mags instantly. Both are shown in my Avatar. I have not tried a Binotron.

Very nice Al. You appear in your reflection to be counting your fingers to see if they are all there.....

Thanks Joe. With me it is lack of attention to detail. The dew controller plugs into an 8 amp hr Lithium battery attached to my pier, which in turn can plug into my mains box box at the foot of the pier. Having mains electricity into my dome is great and I am sure I could make more of it re connections...😅

In the early hours of Thursday morning I noticed the image getting a bit foggy even though I had a heated dewshield on the 6" all evening, and of course upon investigation , I found the lead from the battery to the dew controller had been caught and dislodged. Soon remedied but annoying all the same.....

Superb report Joe, and a fine haul of targets. You have inspired me to get a move on with the Herschel 400...

Welcome to SGL Janet.....