Explore Scientific Comet Hunter

[vince 66]

I am thinking maybe I could sell my Megrez 90 and put the funds towards an Explore scientific comet hunter Mak Newt. For some reason this scope is starting to apeal to me for wide field observing. Does anyone on this forum have any experience of these or even own one. They do seem to have quite a high price tag.

[Moonshane]

I don't have one and know nothing about it but is it not just a 6" f5 scope with fancy gadgets? why would this provide better comet tracing than a standard 6" f5 newt? plus, surely in an f5 scope a 30mm eyepiece would produce too large an exit pupil for my tastes (ok I admit it, my age).

[alan potts]

Vince,

I own a SW 190mm Mac Newtonian, which is almost the same thing but bigger. I have to agree with Shane there is nothing that makes this special for comets. Assuming it is of a similar quality to my own then you will find it is a fine scope. I am not sure of the price but why don't you push the envelope a bit and go for the same as mine, it's 40mm larger and I have to say it's almost as sharp as my APM refractor and that is high quality.

If you were only going to use it for visual you mount would do the job, I only use it on a HEQ 5 Pro. But it would not suffice for CCD work or the like.

Alan.

[vince 66]

I already have a Mak Newt and i have taken the above coments on board. I think the name comet hunter is a little far fetched but what apeals to me about this scope is it's a short light wieght 6 inch scope which comes in a case so it can live in the back of my van when I work away. I treasure my intes mn61 far to much to risk letting it live in the back of my van for any length of time. So with the advent of the sky tee II mount my other scopes have become more portable so I tend to take one of the 6 inch scopes out rather than the megrez 90. I suppose what I am realy asking is Explore Scientific equipment good quality or not before I commit to the purchase.

[E621Keith]

The Explore Scientific 6" f5 cost £1224 (Telescope House), the Intes Micro MN66 cost £1399 (Widescreen Centre) and SW MN190 cost £1000 (FLO).

If you want to spend £1.2k on an Chinese scope of unknown quality, you may well spend another £200 and get the MN66 with guaranteed 1/6 wave optics. You have a MN61 already, so you know what to expect from Intes-micro. Alternatively you can get the Orion Optics VX6 with 1/10th wave mirror for less then £500.

[DirkSteele]

I don't have one and know nothing about it but is it not just a 6" f5 scope with fancy gadgets? why would this provide better comet tracing than a standard 6" f5 newt? plus, surely in an f5 scope a 30mm eyepiece would produce too large an exit pupil for my tastes (ok I admit it, my age).

It is just called the comet hunter because it was developed in conjunction with David Levy. Bit of marketing spin I would guess.

There is a farily long first light report on cloudy nights that might be worth a read...

http://www.telescope.../Number/4893326

Clear skies

[coopman827]

Mak-Newts give wonderful rich field refractor-like views with a flat FOV.

[alan potts]

It is just called the comet hunter because it was developed in conjunction with David Levy. Bit of marketing spin I would guess.

There is a farily long first light report on cloudy nights that might be worth a read...

http://www.telescope.../Number/4893326

Clear skies

Dirksteele,

I'm sure it's a marketing spin. If I remember from years back one of the most successful comet hunter that SP Moore always spoke about was I think George Alcock and he hunted with World War 2 binos.

Alan.

[catburglar]

The comet hunter got a very good review in sky and telecope a few months back. It"s got a high quality fit and finish, good accessories, flat field and sharp optics all in a fairly manageable package.

[Whippy]

These have been around for a little while now and they do seem quite expensive considering you can get an Intes Micro for about the same cash. What appeals to me is the slightly larger secondary, if you can get a camera to focus on it, I think it'd make an excellent imaging platform as other MN's do.

Tony..

[vince 66]

The comet hunter got a very good review in sky and telecope a few months back. It"s got a high quality fit and finish, good accessories, flat field and sharp optics all in a fairly manageable package.

Thats what appeals to me it looks like a fairly manageable package and if it replaced my Megrez 90 it would be for low power wide field odserving. I also like the solid case it comes in so would be better protected if I wanted to take it away with me during the winter months.