SW Mak 150 / 180 PRO

[Sirius Starwatcher]

Hello members, Is there a member in the vicinity of North Wales, Cheshire, Merseyside, Shropshire way with a SW Mak 150 or 180 PRO. That Would be willing to allow me to have a look through. I am in the market for one or the other and as I am nowhere near an Astronomy Shop I can't try before I buy.

(Note FLO when are you going to open a northern branch to kick of this northern powerhouse ?)

[nightfisher]

I am near halifax west yorks, a bit far i guess, but you would be welcome if we ever get any clear skies  (when i win the lotto i will buy into FLO and open First light northern with Steves permission of course)

[Macavity]

Can't help you directly. But, as a personal view - As a current owner of a MAK150
(and previously of a MAK127) the "150" shares many of the characteristics of the
the POPULAR "127". The "150" is a "Big 127" with slightly increased "challenges".
The reduced field & increased cooling times are evident, but not SO different?

At f/15 f=2700mm (rather than the f/12 of both the 127/150) the MAK180 is
a "slightly different beast"? I like MAKs, I never like the phrase "planetary only"
scope (It's about the focal length), but the MAK180 does tend towards that... 

I guess what I am saying is that the MAK150 is still a fairly "general purpose"
scope. The MAK180 - I have never owned one (lol) is a more specialist thing? 
But maybe you knew all this stuff anyway!

P.S. Always worth checking the WEIGHT of scopes. What mount do you have?
My MAK150 sits happily on an HEQ5... But is [IMO] quite close to "the limit"... 

[Sirius Starwatcher]

2 hours ago, Macavity said:

Can't help you directly. But, as a personal view - As a current owner of a MAK150
(and previously of a MAK127) the "150" shares many of the characteristics of the
the POPULAR "127". The "150" is a "Big 127" with slightly increased "challenges".
The reduced field & increased cooling times are evident, but not SO different?

At f/15 f=2700mm (rather than the f/12 of both the 127/150) the MAK180 is
a "slightly different beast"? I like MAKs, I never like the phrase "planetary only"
scope (It's about the focal length), but the MAK180 does tend towards that... 

I guess what I am saying is that the MAK150 is still a fairly "general purpose"
scope. The MAK180 - I have never owned one (lol) is a more specialist thing? 
But maybe you knew all this stuff anyway!

P.S. Always worth checking the WEIGHT of scopes. What mount do you have?
My MAK150 sits happily on an HEQ5... But is [IMO] quite close to "the limit"... 

Thanks for the info Chris really helpful If I went with the 150 was going to push my luck and try it on my AZ4 with steel legs. The 150 would need a bigger mount.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

2 hours ago, nightfisher said:

I am near halifax west yorks, a bit far i guess, but you would be welcome if we ever get any clear skies  (when i win the lotto i will buy into FLO and open First light northern with Steves permission of course)

Jules, thank you for the offer. I have no problem coming over to you. Might even tie it in with a trip to Todmorden if the weather is kind. Will be in touch Many thanks.

regards Garry

[nightfisher]

I actually put my 150 up for sale the other week but withdrew it after one day as its a great scope, just a shame the weather stops me from using it

[GazK]

On 22/04/2016 at 19:55, Sirius Starwatcher said:

Thanks for the info Chris really helpful If I went with the 150 was going to push my luck and try it on my AZ4 with steel legs. The 150 would need a bigger mount.

I don't think you would have a problem with the 150 on the steel az4. I have a 127 on the alli az4 and it works just fine. 

[Sirius Starwatcher]

Continuing to research this next purchase of either the Mak 150 versus the Mak 180. Anyone advise me of a suitable mount for the 180. I do not want go to / electrics etc as I like star hopping and am happy to hunt manually. I am observing only and main targets will be solar system. Thanks for any advice

[Cornelius Varley]

12 minutes ago, Sirius Starwatcher said:

Continuing to research this next purchase of either the Mak 150 versus the Mak 180. Anyone advise me of a suitable mount for the 180. I do not want go to / electrics etc as I like star hopping and am happy to hunt manually. I am observing only and main targets will be solar system. Thanks for any advice

the Skymax 180 weighs just under 8kg so will need at least the HEQ5 mount.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

7 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

the Skymax 180 weighs just under 8kg so will need at least the HEQ5 mount.

Thank you for the reply Peter

[chiltonstar]

One option (if you want "manual") for the 180 is the SkyTee 2 mount, which is certainly man enough for the task. It's the route I'm considering at the moment for my 180 which can sit on my existing Vixen mount, and is certainly ok for webcam planetary imaging, but feels very near the limit wrt load.

Chris

[Sirius Starwatcher]

3 hours ago, chiltonstar said:

One option (if you want "manual") for the 180 is the SkyTee 2 mount, which is certainly man enough for the task. It's the route I'm considering at the moment for my 180 which can sit on my existing Vixen mount, and is certainly ok for webcam planetary imaging, but feels very near the limit wrt load.

Chris

Thanks for that Chris most helpful. Can I ask how you find the 180 with the planets?. Please feel free to PM me rather than clog up the forum topic. 

[Peter Drew]

Garry.  We have 4", 5" and 7" Maks here and a selection of suitable mounts, if you can get over some time you will be welcome to try them. 

[Sirius Starwatcher]

On my way Peter.I will leave you and your team to arrange clear skies !!!

[John]

The Skytee II would hold the 180 mak well enough. Whether tracking manually with a 2.7 metre focal length scope is going to be a lot of fun I'm not quite so sure

Here is a review of the scope by an SGL member which might be of interest:

http://www.spacegazer.com/index.asp?pageid=264839

[chiltonstar]

I would say on Jupiter the increase in detail between the 180 Mak and 127 Mak is impressive - far more than I would have expected for a 1.4 fold increase in aperture. Other planets? Too early for me to say, the views so far of Mars and Saturn have been at a very low level and through a rose bush (ie not optimum), but I have just made out a polar cap and Syrtis on Mars.

Re John's point, no I wouldn't like to try and track manually with a SkyTee 2 with the scope either, but I'm not sure the OP wanted to?

[nightfisher]

Okay i have been down this road in just about all directions, first if the 150 pro Will work on the AZ4 BUT, your fider scope will sit at the 8 oclock position, this can be fixed by moving the finder shoe to a better position, i was using mine on the AZ4 last night with a heavy Revelation crayford that adds nearly a kilo to the outfit.

I used to own the 180 pro and started out with it on an EQ5 but it was pushing it a bit, so i went to a HEQ5 and this was better, after selling the 180 i ended up with a skytee 2 and this would have been a nice outfit for visual. There may be a 180 listed in the sale adds soon as a member on here is plannning on selling one (used to be mine)

[Sirius Starwatcher]

I hadnt considered the tracking aspect of manually observing the planets. Thanks for the heads up. So the research continues. Anyone care to advise me of the mount and tracking motors needed for a 180 and 150 to comfortable observe the planets.

Thanks everyone for the continued help and advice.

[billyharris72]

To be honest, I think an HEQ5 should be plenty for either scope. I use an EQ5 with the 150 and it's completely adequate for visual use. It occasionally wobbles, but not often and when it does it settles very quickly. Not felt the need even once to upgrade on account of the Mak. I've had an 8", f6 Newt on that mount (about 10kg) and it really does struggle with that; it's not unusable, but I wouldn't recommend. I suspect the 180 Mak would be similar (less bulky and less of a "sail", but much greater FL).

Not used the HEQ5, but from comparisons with the eq5 I've heard on here I think you'd be absolutely fine.

Billy.