What Budget Refractor?

[Whippy]

Phil, I keep all my scopes 'outside' essentially in a shed and I've had no problems. One of mine is a Mak-Newt and it never suffers from moisture. I've also had Mak-Casses out there and never had any problems either. Cooldown isn't an issue too .

To be honest, I've been mulling over if swapping my Mak-Newt for one of those Skymax 180's (unfortunately I can't afford the IM715 which is the 'posh' equivalent!) , everytime I've looked though one I've been impressed. Certainly worth considering.

Tony..

[russ]

Just bear in mind that Skymax 180 will need to be stored outdoors in a cool outbuilding of some sort. It's just not a practical solution to store it indoors. That is the frustration of a closed tube compound scope. The cooldown times from a warm house would be too long and render the scope useless on most nights.

[NickH]

Look...yes they take longer to cool down than other scopes, but you can get a cooling fan insert (1.25") for not much, and run that on it alongside sticking it in the shed/wherever..

I had the MN190 Mak Newt for a review, and did that...it worked brilliantly (imaging Venus within 5 mins of setup at F40 with tack sharp images)

Russ is right...not practical for indoor storage...

[russ]

SM180 Pro will be an awesome scope. Store outside, nab a cooling fan and perhaps setup 30mins or so before you want to observe. The views should be stunning.

Here's a review of the 180 and reviewer gives a good idea of what to expect in terms of cool down.

Astromart Reviews - ORION 180mm MAKSUTOV-CASSEGRAINIAN

It's basically as already said on the thread. In a cool garage where the temp differance is only small, the large Mak is up to speed very quickly, even without a fan. But from a warm house to a cold outside, the cool down time jumps to an eye popping 2hrs 10mins.

Anyway, it's a good review and the reviewer was impressed overall.

Russ