Sky-Watcher Maksutov 150 mm ?

[Dazzyt66]

You'll enjoy the ST80! These are fun little achromats. There are those who think a trace of blue is heresy - but it never bothered me. Where else can you get a feeling of the immensity of the cosmos by cruising the dense starfields of Cygnus and Ophiuchus amid the sparkling jewels of the Milky Way - for around £100? I even decked mine out with a 10:1 Crayford focuser/visual-back which cost more than the scope! And the 'bling' factor of a BIG focus-wheel on the 10:1 knob.....

Now I'm checking out a BORG Helical-Focuser for the Mak that's coming in today. Between the JMI MotoFocus and a Helical-Focuser - the Mak will have focus sharper than a scalpel with no mirror-flop. This being the only weak point of these scopes from all my research. As you are thinking of also taking the plunge, I'll be happy to share my findings with you, Dazzy.

Watching the news & weather on TV. A blizzard is heading to the south of me. They don't know if it will take a turn north and come up here. But I know. Oh yes - I know.....

Now where did I put my snow-shoes and ski-poles...

Dave

Orion ST80 with Crayford-Focuser d.JPG

Your ST80 is looking awesome! The CA doesn't bother me either - I took a picture of the 25% moon just after I got it and the 'blue tinge' was clearly visible but editing got rid of it so its all good. I think I may have to wait a while before any further upgrades tho or Mrs T might have a meltdown! Lol

Back to the Mak - the above Mrs T is treating me to this for my birthday in Sept, but I'm getting it early to get used to it ready for our dark sky road trip in Sept to the Orkney's in Scotland and back. I should have it in a few weeks or so - will definitely keep tabs on how you progress with it