maksutov cassegrain compared to Refractors

[joe aguiar]

Having owned maybe 60 to 70 scopes total since 93 I probably owned least 1 or several of each since then.

I have owned the sw 127 mak and the images were really bad sold it.

U can get a mak that compares to a good refractor but mak norm need to be bit larger and very good quality. I'm not sure the general mass produced ones will beat a apo maybe generally close but not beat or equal.

7 inch mak can compare to 6 inch refractor if it's good quality.

My last good mak that I had from 2009 to 2013 was 178mm f 15 meade lx200 mak ota. Since was the ota version and not sct version it had no extra counter weight near the mirror to counter balance for the fork mounted act.

Anyway it was their last model b4 they stopped making large maks.

It was uhtc coating 

Dual bar that fit Vienna and Los mandy rail. That spanned front to rear not just the middle part of the sct.

Mirror locking for ap or just holding it there once focused.

Powered fan vent and an in take air for cool down and a real 2inch rear for diagonal.

Even with fans etc it took 1 to 2 hrs cooldown for good views but sometimes perfect views was 2 to 3 hrs.

And yes comparing to my 6 inch refractor was pretty much a match. But that's a very good mak that's bit bigger to abit small refractor.

Each has its plus and minus but I probably if I were u I would buy the new sw 150ed evostar refracror or if that's too big long how about meade 6000 130mm triplet apo I have both.

If u look at my bio where's its info about me it says what scopes I have right now,about 11 scopes

Edited October 6, 2019 by joe aguiar

[Louis D]

12 hours ago, PlanetGazer said:

This could be of topic, but I wonder how you clean such a big a mirror?

Periodic cleanings are "snow" cleanings using CO2 "fire extinguisher"-type blasts.  Deep cleanings generally use really pure water, shampoo (no additives, just the foaming agent), and natural sponges if I recall correctly.