retroformat

Thank you both! Excellent information.

Dear Magnus, thanks for your excellent report. I have the exact same telescope as yours, and will soon undertake a disassembly to look for what I hypothesize is an off-center primary mirror assembly (due to bent collimation screws/threads in the rear cell/plate... and all of that due to a side impact on the OTA). But I have a question/concern. Your excellent pictures give a good idea of how everything is held together. For example, it is evident that the entire primary mirror assembly, along with the rear plate, is held onto the OTA with only the collimation screws. And you give warnings about that as well. Your pictures also suggest that the only thing holding the primary mirror/outer baffle onto the rear plate is... the focus threaded rod. This threaded rod moves the primary back and forth upon the inner baffle, the mirror being free to slide upon that central baffle, but held in check only by the focussing rod. Yet in your disassembly instructions, you non-challantly have us remove the "brass focussing assembly (ACW) all the off (perhaps 20+ turns!)" From your pictures, it looks like this would completely free up the primary mirror, so that it would then slide down the inner baffle, and fall onto the corrector plate. I am obviously missing something... what am I missing? Is a step missing prior to step 8.?

This image from your 7" This image from your "new" 7 inch Maksutov looks nicer than the one posted earlier from your C9.25. But to my eye the earlier image looks over-sharpened; either that, or your seeing was terrible. Could you give us comparison images that are not so heavily (or not at all) post-processed or digitally modified? I hope that is not too much of an ask. I notice also no further reports on your Mak, though you've had it now for a couple months. I have an old 10" SCT that I like, but I want something lighter weight and am considering a 7" Mak that has become available near me. Many thanks!