Altair Astro RC6

[Thalestris24]

Anybody know whether AA have ceased producing this scope or is it just in short supply? I was toying with the idea of getting one (not for the first time!) but when I looked yesterday, they seem to have disappeared!

Louise

[PeterCPC]

Ian King have them http://www.iankingimaging.com/show_product.php?id=1384

Peter

[Skipper Billy]

I don't know whether its been discontinued or in short supply but this is very similar spec and price?

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p2445_TS-6-inch-f-9-Ritchey-Chretien-Astrograph---metal-tube.html

Are you a big fan of collimation ?

[Thalestris24]

10 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

I don't know whether its been discontinued or in short supply but this is very similar spec and price?

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p2445_TS-6-inch-f-9-Ritchey-Chretien-Astrograph---metal-tube.html

Are you a big fan of collimation ?

I've seen the ts rather 'cheap' looking version... No, I hate collimation which is why I moved to fracs ha ha!

Louise

[Thalestris24]

13 minutes ago, PeterCPC said:

Ian King have them http://www.iankingimaging.com/show_product.php?id=1384

Peter

RVO have them on their web site but they're actually out of stock and they don't appear on AA's page at all anymore. I'd thought of getting one a long time ago but never did. As David mentions above - collimation aggro put me off! However, I'd like something with a longer focal length and that's affordable (for me). I have an oag in a box gathering dust and waiting for something to do. Not to mention a belt-modded heq5 that hasn't really been used in ages  

Louise

[PeterCPC]

2 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

RVO have them on their web site but they're actually out of stock and they don't appear on AA's page at all anymore. I'd thought of getting one a long time ago but never did. As David mentions above - collimation aggro put me off! However, I'd like something with a longer focal length and that's affordable (for me). I have an oag in a box gathering dust and waiting for something to do. Not to mention a belt-modded heq5 that hasn't really been used in ages  

Louise

But Ian king still seem to stock them - unless I am missing something.

Peter

[Thalestris24]

10 minutes ago, PeterCPC said:

But Ian king still seem to stock them - unless I am missing something.

Peter

Maybe, but if AA has stopped producing/branding them then there has to be a reason for that. Perhaps there is just a shortage for some reason - that's why I was asking if anyone happened to know. If they've stopped being made then I don't think I'd get one even if someone happened to have some old stock.

Louise

[fwm891]

AA probably concentrating more on the larger RC's and higher spec refractors...

[Thalestris24]

2 minutes ago, fwm891 said:

AA probably concentrating more on the larger RC's and higher spec refractors...

Yeah, could be...

[steppenwolf]

I rather thought that AA had stopped selling the lower cost solid tube type' R/Cs altogether? Altair normally continue to list items that are simply out of stock.

R/Cs of any brand are not easy to collimate and there is an awful lot that can go wrong:-

incorrect primary to secondary spacing, slightly off-axis primary baffle tubes, focuser droop v primary tilt........ I'd really love one but having spent hours trying to help a friend collimate his - AND we had all the recommended test gear - I think I'll stick with my refractors! ?

[Thalestris24]

2 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

I rather thought that AA had stopped selling the lower cost solid tube type' R/Cs altogether? Altair normally continue to list items that are simply out of stock.

R/Cs of any brand are not easy to collimate and there is an awful lot that can go wrong:-

incorrect primary to secondary spacing, slightly off-axis primary baffle tubes, focuser droop v primary tilt........ I'd really love one but having spent hours trying to help a friend collimate his - AND we had all the recommended test gear - I think I'll stick with my refractors! ?

Yeah, probably end of an era for them. I have toyed with the idea of imaging with a Barlow but suspect it would introduce distortions? It doesn't look like there's an affordable way in to a longer focal length for me  Oh well, I have too many bits and pieces already...

Thanks

Louise

[steppenwolf]

2 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

It doesn't look like there's an affordable way in to a longer focal length for me  Oh well, I have too many bits and pieces already...

How long do you want to go? How about a Sky-Watcher 127 Maksutov - bombproof but perhaps the focal length is just too long?

[Anne S]

Ioptron list some RCs on their website, maybe that's why AA stopped making them. They are the main importer for IOptron. I was lucky enough to pick up a 2nd hand one from the shop a couple of years ago. 

[Davey-T]

I recall David (Skipper Billy) tearing his hair out trying to make one work so maybe AA have got the message and done away with them.

A few suppliers seem to list AA stuff for sale but actually assume that AA have it and can supply it direct.

Dave

[Thalestris24]

7 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

How long do you want to go? How about a Sky-Watcher 127 Maksutov - bombproof but perhaps the focal length is just too long?

A 127 or even 150 might be a possible, though, on paper, seem a bit too slow for imaging? I'm thinking of smaller globs and clusters and maybe even some pn's or galaxies... Doing some observing instead might be good but I like having something to show for my time and effort (even if my images aren't very good and nobody else ever sees most of them!)

Louise

[Thalestris24]

9 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

I recall David (Skipper Billy) tearing his hair out trying to make one work so maybe AA have got the message and done away with them.

A few suppliers seem to list AA stuff for sale but actually assume that AA have it and can supply it direct.

Dave

Yeah....

[Thalestris24]

12 minutes ago, Anne S said:

Ioptron list some RCs on their website, maybe that's why AA stopped making them. They are the main importer for IOptron. I was lucky enough to pick up a 2nd hand one from the shop a couple of years ago. 

Maybe best to avoid them....

[Skipper Billy]

58 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

I recall David (Skipper Billy) tearing his hair out trying to make one work so maybe AA have got the message and done away with them.

I gave it away in the end - spent lots of money on adjustable camera mounts - artificial stars - Howie Glatter laser - plus more hours than I care to admit and still it wasnt right.  ?

Also - on the 6" the secondary mirror takes up a large percentage of the tube area whereas in the larger ones it is a smaller percentage.

[JamesF]

1 hour ago, Thalestris24 said:

A 127 or even 150 might be a possible, though, on paper, seem a bit too slow for imaging? I'm thinking of smaller globs and clusters and maybe even some pn's or galaxies... Doing some observing instead might be good but I like having something to show for my time and effort (even if my images aren't very good and nobody else ever sees most of them!)

Louise

These are all from a few years back when I was mucking about with the 127 Mak and HEQ5.   They could be much better I'm sure, as the focusing and guiding wasn't brilliant.

James

[Jkulin]

Hi Louise,

Right I'll put my hands up, I bought an AA 8" RC and it truly was superb, all but a slight amount of tilt in the corner, my mate Peter Shah said, don't mess with it John as you'll only regret it, did I listen...did I heck.

When I bought the original second-hand it came with a Crayford Feathertouch and a tilt plate, it was never perfect when autofocusing (Maintaining perfect focus position) and even more of a problem adjusting the grub screws when you wanted to rotate, I had a virtually brand new Moonlite that although still a Crayford was far better built than the Feathertouch, if the Feathertouch had been R&P then I wouldn't have swapped over. Quick call to Ian at AA and he sent me a new Tilt Plate, (BTW I always have superb service from Ian).

So all setup on a clearish night and I noticed my stars were a little out, I wanted to adjust the centre obstruction of the collimation projection and stupidly messed it all up, totally, so quit that a night, called Peter the next night and he asked had I adjusted the centre screw for the distance between the primary and secondary, nope not touched that, so we were good on that, patiently I've got it near enough but not quite, rather than make myself even more of a fool, Peter said he was in the area and could collect and take it back to his place to put it on his optical bench and just tweak it then on the next clear night, sadly we haven't had one since.

Now I was told by a top imager (Peter) not to mess, but to me that is part of learning, I'm fairly certain that with a lot of patience that I don't usually have that I would have sorted it, but it was too easy to let Peter have a bash and besides when I collect it we get to grab a beer and a laugh, so that's my social fix ?

As far as AA stocking them now, I don't believe he does, but am prepared to be corrected, all of Ian's were GSO with a blue transfer on, and I think Teleskop and iOptron and a whole host of other retailers are all the same made by GSO, I keep hearing links to Synta but can't vouch for that though.

Quality wise the mirrors are excellent, certainly better than I or Peter could imagine, the original focuser could be improved upon as claimed by a few people, you have to be careful about the primary dew strip as there isn't much space between the outside and the mirror and if you heat it up on full whack the mirror distorts things, so I just gently keep the mirror about 2 degrees above the dew point and don't have a problem, I bought some cheap LCD temp probes and leave them permanently attached to keep an eye visually and via my Pegasus UPB.

I have seen some excellent results with the 6" and for the price they really were remarkable, make sure if you buy a second-hand one that you get an image of the collimation.

Would I buy another? For the price the results can be amazing and with a focal length of 1370mm for under £400 new what is there to not like? A bit of patience and you really can't go wrong. There was lad from India on here that was producing some very nice results with his 6", can't remember his name for now.

Hope that helps?

[Thalestris24]

1 hour ago, JamesF said:

These are all from a few years back when I was mucking about with the 127 Mak and HEQ5.   They could be much better I'm sure, as the focusing and guiding wasn't brilliant.

James

Shame the focus appears so soft? Was it difficult to focus/keep focussed? Do you have a note of the exposure times and which camera?

Thanks for the examples

Louise

[Thalestris24]

38 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

Hi Louise,

Right I'll put my hands up, I bought an AA 8" RC and it truly was superb, all but a slight amount of tilt in the corner, my mate Peter Shah said, don't mess with it John as you'll only regret it, did I listen...did I heck.

When I bought the original second-hand it came with a Crayford Feathertouch and a tilt plate, it was never perfect when autofocusing (Maintaining perfect focus position) and even more of a problem adjusting the grub screws when you wanted to rotate, I had a virtually brand new Moonlite that although still a Crayford was far better built than the Feathertouch, if the Feathertouch had been R&P then I wouldn't have swapped over. Quick call to Ian at AA and he sent me a new Tilt Plate, (BTW I always have superb service from Ian).

So all setup on a clearish night and I noticed my stars were a little out, I wanted to adjust the centre obstruction of the collimation projection and stupidly messed it all up, totally, so quit that a night, called Peter the next night and he asked had I adjusted the centre screw for the distance between the primary and secondary, nope not touched that, so we were good on that, patiently I've got it near enough but not quite, rather than make myself even more of a fool, Peter said he was in the area and could collect and take it back to his place to put it on his optical bench and just tweak it then on the next clear night, sadly we haven't had one since.

Now I was told by a top imager (Peter) not to mess, but to me that is part of learning, I'm fairly certain that with a lot of patience that I don't usually have that I would have sorted it, but it was too easy to let Peter have a bash and besides when I collect it we get to grab a beer and a laugh, so that's my social fix ?

As far as AA stocking them now, I don't believe he does, but am prepared to be corrected, all of Ian's were GSO with a blue transfer on, and I think Teleskop and iOptron and a whole host of other retailers are all the same made by GSO, I keep hearing links to Synta but can't vouch for that though.

Quality wise the mirrors are excellent, certainly better than I or Peter could imagine, the original focuser could be improved upon as claimed by a few people, you have to be careful about the primary dew strip as there isn't much space between the outside and the mirror and if you heat it up on full whack the mirror distorts things, so I just gently keep the mirror about 2 degrees above the dew point and don't have a problem, I bought some cheap LCD temp probes and leave them permanently attached to keep an eye visually and via my Pegasus UPB.

I have seen some excellent results with the 6" and for the price they really were remarkable, make sure if you buy a second-hand one that you get an image of the collimation.

Would I buy another? For the price the results can be amazing and with a focal length of 1370mm for under £400 new what is there to not like? A bit of patience and you really can't go wrong. There was lad from India on here that was producing some very nice results with his 6", can't remember his name for now.

Hope that helps?

Yeah, wouldn't go for an 8" or second hand. Looking at the Maks now... No rush  

Thanks for the story and info  

Louise

[JamesF]

3 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Shame the focus appears so soft? Was it difficult to focus/keep focussed? Do you have a note of the exposure times and which camera?

Thanks for the examples

Louise

Yes, the focus is sadly a little soft.  Blame lack of experience I think.  The camera was an Atik 314L+ mono and they're all around two hours total exposure time using just R, G and B subs of 90 seconds to two minutes.

It could be done much better with the same kit I reckon, and I shall have another go once I get the observatory up and running.

James

[Thalestris24]

12 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Yes, the focus is sadly a little soft.  Blame lack of experience I think.  The camera was an Atik 314L+ mono and they're all around two hours total exposure time using just R, G and B subs of 90 seconds to two minutes.

It could be done much better with the same kit I reckon, and I shall have another go once I get the observatory up and running.

James

Might have been the pixel scale - sub 1"/pixel ? A different camera might have been better? I don't get the imaging time/opportunities to do lrgb so I'd probably use an osc - maybe my qhy8l.

Louise

[JamesF]

3 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Might have been the pixel scale - sub 1"/pixel ? A different camera might have been better? I don't get the imaging time/opportunities to do lrgb so I'd probably use an osc - maybe my qhy8l.

Louise

A different camera might have helped, but this is how we learn   At the time I didn't have much choice really.  It was that or the DSLR, which definitely didn't work as well.

James