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C5 vs Pentax PF-80 EDa


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This may not be the best pace to post this information but I thought it is interesting. I have a Pentax PF-80EDa with their wonderful 20-60 variable eyepiece. It's a beautifully scope for terrestrial viewing. I paid over $1000 a few years ago for it. I recently bought a used C5 at a second hand store in excellent condition. It came with a equatorial mount, motor drive, prism diagonal and 26mm plossl. I paid $179 for it. I bought a set of Bob's knobs for it so collimation is a snap. I've bought a few more eye pieces since.

I recently set them both up in the morning to see how they compare as spotting scopes. I focused in on a microwave tower 3 to 4 miles away. Set them bot up to 50x power. I thought the Pentax would blow away the C5. There was absolutely no difference in the view. Both showed identical detail (resolution) in the tower, the antennas and cross bracing. Contrast and brightness was identical. From what i have read, a obstructed scope like the C5 should not perform as well.

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Thanks starbo189, have spent the last week using my fathers spotting scope and have caught the bug, watching red kites as if frozen in the air and then diving for food on top of the local mountain, which I am able to see from my garden. Really happy you posted this as have been looking at getting one myself, the pentax 80ed or the nikon field scope and have also been looking at the much cheaper option of a celestron c90. Was leaning towards the pentax as it allows direct conection to a 500d.(£300 adapter :)). But now more looking me thinks.

Have you connected a DSLR to either one.

Thanks

David

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I've recently acquired a C5 as well - it's a mid-1990's USA made one and the optics have really surprised me with their quality. Having got the collimation spot on I'm getting refractor-like images of Saturn and binary stars - the latter was something that I had not previously thought of as being the forte of an SCT. I had a clear split of Porrima and resolved the Cassini Division at 250x couple of nights ago - not bad for such a compact and lightweight scope :)

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Hi John could you tell me how portable the C5 is please, would a photo tripod be able to manage it or is it more suited to a vixen mini porta mount. Must say a grab and go that can be used day and night sounds very good.

Thanks

David

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This is my C5 rig David - the total weight is around 6kg so very portable. The mount is an AZ-3 which is very stable with this short tube on it, even at 250x:

post-12764-133877613855_thumb.jpg

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