stuy

Yes I’m internet to see how the big 9” lzos will do being a air spaced triplet on temperature issues 🤔 they do take longer than oil spaced to reach thermal equilibrium , I will also test it on Mars and Jupiter come late summer against the 10” maknewt, will be interesting to see stu

Insulation on a scope slows the temperature drop mate massively makes a high difference on maksutov design I had my doubts like every one else BUT it’s a revelation!!! Wish I knew this years ago to be fair

Insulate the observatory is the way to go on this Neil , there’s never more than a couple of degrees difference between inside and out , I’ve also got the roof vented on the sides , will be interesting to see how the big 9” apo does when it arrives in a couple of weeks 🤔stu

Nice scope !! But cooling issues are easily solved with maksutov scopes of 12” and under with the correct insulation 👍my 12” maksutov Is good to go straight away , don’t know about a 20” tho but I’m sure there are ways 😉

Been following this thread incredible craftsmanship 👏👏👏😉

The jet stream will play havoc sadly I think but if it’s clear here il be out 🤞

Good seeing tonight lovely oval BA , lots of structure in the EZ, also the SEB starting to look a lot stronger transparency good ,seeing 6/7 out 10 sometimes 8 the view in the binoviewer at 320x stunning the big maknewt is rocking tonight

Seeing here in South Wales was very poor jet stream doing its worst I’m afraid but on the plus side looks very favourable for tonight! I can’t moan I’ve had some of the best seeing in years here lately, thank god I built the observatory a godsend the thought of lugging up 35 kg scopes every time is a killer !!!

Some lovely images Neil 😳! I’ve been lucky I’ve had outstanding seeing here in wales last couple of clear nights best thing I’ve done was to build another observatory 😉

I’m trying the apo route had sooo many maks of various configurations over many years but this came up and always wanted a really big apo so I’ve taken the plunge John , it will be permanently mounted in observatory due to it being heavy and 2.4m long !!!

I’ve had quite a few intes , intes micro scopes over the years!! 703, mn86, mak cass 10” f15 , and a. 10” mak newt !! Incredible quality optics yet to see a bad one or even mediocre!! Build is a bit agricultural but hey those optics are special ive only the 10” mak newt fully refurbished to new like condition with added starlight focuser also spring loaded secoundry 😉( paul-c) superb craftsmanship. and a 12” zen maksutov f9 , my observatory is finished had the zen on for a while but now the 10” mak newt is riding. High very high !! As I’ve set up the AP1200 for a large apo As I’ve a 9” lzos apo coming end of the year , just need a couple of clear nights please 🙏

I have been having some good seeing of late here in wales here is a brief description seeing 8/10 transparency 7/10 12” zen maksutov + zeiss binoviewer + baader zoom eyepieces ( 8-24mm) 369x the NEB was very active with a single small barge present and plenty of structures visible, the colour of the equatorial zone was quite orangish . The south temperate zone was the highlight for me ,showing oval BA and 3 smaller ovals in this difficult area to observe there was a mottled effect on both north and south polar zones . im sure if I had a planetary cam it would of been a special image , but these days I’m just visual leaning towards possibly sketching. thanks Stuart

Great seeing here in wales and now I’ve the observatory up and running a great bonus! 3 dark barges in the NEB a big up revival in the equatorial belt too very orangish , and had glimpses of an oval in STB ( zen 12” maksutov + baader mark v and takahashi 18 mm ortho ) 248x good of gone a lot higher in mag but at this magnification it was photographic 😳quality

Lovely images 👍also has some very good seeing here in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Yes it is it’s not mine it’s paul Cruikshank mount we just put it on to store until my observatory is finished! It will be on a Gemini 41 mount alongside a Very large apo!!

Just seen the work that master craftsman paul Cruishank has Carried out on my 10” mak newt telescope absolutely first-class work he’s turned this telescope around completely !!it looks brand-new new starlight focuser re sprayed, fill all the bumps etc top job , now to finish the observatory and get it up and going 😀

Hi yes it’s a lovely job my mate nick put together silky smooth 👍great for the 33kg mak newt 😱

Same as my mate nick John only 18 miles away terrible he said !!! Sometimes it’s the other way round down to local topography 🤔

last night saw the shootout I’ve been waiting for the 12”zen mak cass v10” mak newt intes micro ! Both scopes were set up early to cool down ( the mak cass has a insulation ) collimation was spot on on both scopes. Targets were Jupiter and Saturn at 240x to 360x , the air was still and early signs of good seeing were in the cards , and for ounce the predicted arc second seeing came ( better actually) first Jupiter showing a wealth of detail in the newt , tack sharp at 240x lovely split in SEB and detail in festoons visible a good start . then the Zen at the same 240x very similar image couldn’t decide a winner just a bit brighter obviously the extra few inches, the intes has a CO 21% while the Zen has 31% these I thought would play a massive significance in the contrast but I was wrong , the contrast in both scopes at this 240x were the same I also thought the sky was darker in the zen! Strange as the intes has superb baffling 🤔. so upping the magnification to 360x the Zen started to pull away not losing any fine detail on the polar region ( a difficult part on Jupiter ) but the intes just couldn’t match it ,so the winner here was the zen Saturn again was a similar result but the newt DID get to 360x on this , but the zen gave a bit more 420x so final thoughts are both scopes are superb performers , their superb optics really do come into their own on nights like last night , both are very heavy !! And expensive 🙄 I try sometime to justify what I spend on scopes and it’s like nights ,like last night I can justify it , I can still see Jupiter now even when I close my eyes

I find the ADC a massive plus on visual observations of the planets I’ve tried various methods of setting it ! But now just move sliders around to see the effect on the planet

Let’s all just hope for some good seeing 🙏🙏🙏🤞

Yes the maksutov is a thing of beauty 12” f9 so it’s an all rounder CO 31%

Romano Zen makes a high end optical telescopes in Italy he used to make complete tube assembly, but now just makes optics , his optics Have been tested by Wolfgang rohr in Germany at high strehl values 99. Etc .. they don’t come up often

Yes it’s the best thing I’ve ever done ! having used large maks for many years I had my doubts , BUT what a difference I can start viewing almost straight away simple idea but gives massive rewards stu

Finally got the AP 1200 up and running thought I’d need a few counter weights but the weights that came with mount will suffice ! A few quid saved there 😳 impressed with quality of the AP Mount its carrying the 12” zen maksutov with ease regards all stu