Altair Astro GSO Ritchey Chretien Astrograph

[Baz6170]

Anyone have any opinions of Ritchey Chretien scopes? I've recently been offered an Altair Astro GSO 6" f9 RC Astrograph, but my initial research seems to say this type of scope is designed for AP rather than straight observing. Would it be worth considering for observation only?

[emadmoussa]

[Stargazer_00]

My understanding of RCTs are they are fantastic, hard to collimate and offer a good bridge between fast newts and slow SCTs. They are typically in the F7-F9 area whereas SCT are 10+ and newts F6 and under.

I would love to own a huge RCT more than any other type of scope RCT used to be only possible in research grade observatories and only in the last few years has the design be economical to manaufacturer for the amatuer astronomer.

By way of example, i just lifted this link from another post:

http://www.opticalguidancesystems.com/pre-owned.php

This is an RCT

[r3i]

My understanding of RCTs are they are fantastic, hard to collimate and offer a good bridge between fast newts and slow SCTs. They are typically in the F7-F9 area whereas SCT are 10+ and newts F6 and under.

Just about sums it up nicely I think.

They are designed for AP and generally not recommended if all you want is a visual scope due to the large central obstruction which reduces contrast. You can stick an eyepiece in them and use them for visual work and on occasions I've done this and got a decent enough view for my needs.

But if all you want is a scope for visual work then perhaps your money would be better spent elsewhere.

[Baz6170]

Thanks for your replies everyone, I think I'll stay focused on my quest to pick up a second hand CPC800 : )