It's shorter and thicker...

[The Warthog]

I got my C6-N in at the bus station last night, from a gentleman in Alberta. I got it home and started unpacking it before I even ate or went to the bathroom. The little Skywatcher wedge that I have wouldn't fit the rings, so I used the homemade wedge that came with the Tasco. I'll have to make one, I guess. Are Celestron wedges particularly expensive?

The scope appeared in good condition, with no scratches or obvious defects. It isn't centre-marked, so I have to get out the drift punch and 28-oz hammer tonight. I didn't have time to check the collimation before dark, but a quick star test showed a nice round ring, and the stars appeared nice and tight, with some little diffraction spikes caused by the four-vane spider.

With a 32mm ep in, there was a dark spot in the centre of the FOV, which worried me at first, but once it got completely dark it was less of an issue. It didn't appear when I was looking at the moon through the aperture mask, so it is caused by the huge secondary mirror. The previous owner confirmed this when I asked about it.

The Moon was nice and crisp at all magnifications. I put it on Saturn, next. The view of Saturn at 94x was not significantly better than with my Tasco, which I thought was interesting. I still cannot see the Cassini division. I don't believe it exists any more, and all you guys who are talking about it are just yanking my chain. So put the Sharpie away, and stop drawing it in on your pictures, OK? I'm wise to you! Cassini Division! Hmmph! Sounds like a unit in the Italian army. "What did you do in the war, Grandad?" "Well, kid, I was a liaison officer to a British Thermal Unit. We fought the Cassini Division all the way up from Eritrea, through Ethiopia, Ecuador, and all the way up into Estonia. Man, those crazy Italians, not only could they fight, they used to make the best pasta!"

Jupiter wasn't very good, either. I am putting this down, for now, to the thick atmosphere and the fact I was viewing it close to rooftops.

I went looking for the comet, and was, again, unable to come up with it. This may be a transparency issue, too, as I cannot see any of Hercules visually. I was able to get a nice view of M13, using the setting circles to bop over to it from alpha Corona Borealis (the only star in C-B that I can see.) Tried to get to the comet the same way, but with no luck.

All in all, I am satisfied, but not overwhelmed by this scope. Am I disappointed? No, but I feel I should have waited longer and got an 8 or 10" scope. Live and learn, eh? It is a first-class, A1 starter scope, though. A test in darker skies will tell the complete tale.

[FLO]

Congrats WH – how about posting a pic

The dark spot is indeed the shadow of the secondary, which shows up more at low magnification. It did not bother you at night because your eye-pupil was wider so the shadow covered less of it (percentage wise). It does indicate that you would not benefit from a 40mm.

I'll post more when back at home...

[GazOC]

Congrats in the new scopes WH and clears skies on this first night?????? :shock: :shock: :shock:

As Steve said, don't worry about the dark spot. The reason you can't see it when it's dark is that its not there. Try setting up, using the 32mm as you first eyepiece and watch the spot disappear as your eyes get dark adapted.

[The Warthog]

I did find that the dark spot wasn't really an issue after it got properly dark. I did have bad transparency for most of the night, though, does that count as curse? One odd thing that happened was that for about a half hour, the sky suddenly got darker and it was more possible to see things. Then it fuzzed up again. Seeing is still pretty good, though.

I had thought about getting a 40 as a search ep, but maybe I'll just stick with the 32, and get a 20 to fill in the gap between the 32 and the 12.5. Maybe not. I'm buying a 12.5 and a 5mm X-Cel, and selling off some of my Plossls, planning to cut myself down to 5 good eps and a good Barlow. I should post them in the members for sale area, eh?

[radioactive]

Don,t know how you do it WH new kit but still have fairly clear skies. re the dark spot through the ep I get one using a 6mm Carl ziuess type so I thought been told since its prob a Tal anyway its the ep at fault it came off ebay USA for just a few bucks so I aint bothered about it

anyway hope your happy all in all with new gear

[orion f6.3]

Give you self time, you will see the Cassini Division. I can see it in my 80mm and I only live under 4 mag skies! (medway towns). give your eyes time they will respond Orion f6.3

[Naz]

Congrats WH on the new scope and clear skies, must be a first.

I had noticed a shadow on my 114m newt with a wide angle lens I borrowed, but was not to noticable in the dark.

Look forward to your reports and review.

naz

[FLO]

The center darkening is common on short tube/fast reflectors though, as already discussed, normally only noticeable with low magnification and in daylight.

[The Warthog]

When I first turned the scope on the Moon, the Sun had set, but the sky was still blue. I could see the dark spot as I brought my eye up to the scope, and thought that it must be 'way out of focus, but of course it wasn't. It wasn't much of an issue once the sky got dark, though.