GSO 10" newt or Skywatcher 10" newt?

[vivid]

http://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/produc ... 1bfcb69fa4

http://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/Telesc ... embly.html

Not sure if i should get the TS 2" corrector as well (they call this a paracorr right?). Actually this is solely for really faint fuzzies use. Funny as it is, i never had a good look at Omega Centauri on my AR152 refractor, just a very faint bob of thousands of faint stars. I am happy if the centre portion is sharp enough for simple ob.
http://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/Optica ... copes.html

Markus said that the GSO needs to add EUR30 for vixen dovetail as it's not included. Skywatcher is the cheaper one with tube rings and dovetail included.

Shipping is only EUR84 via DHL.

These are cheaper options than say an Orion 10" f4.7 newt if i get from USA (dropshipped from China) from shops like HPS, OPT, telescopes.net

It would be mounted on a Twilight II Alt-Az with pier extension. No worries, it is stable enough, I know how to make it work. It's not GEM, which would be a PITA.

PS, you look at the export price. Main price is with VAT.

[cloud_cover]

I'm wondering if you might just want to get a dobsonian mount instead. I don't know what the price is for the Dob vs the newt OTA but practically, the eyepiece height might end up too high near zenith when mounted on your Twilight.
In a Newt the bulk of the weight is closer to the bottom, especially with bigger mirrors. Hence your mounting point will be closer to the lower end. assuming the height of your tripod is 1m minimum with half pier, the eyepiece height on a 10" f/4.5 will be higher than 160cm, easily.
With a s separate Dob mounted scope, you an even deploy both scopes together.

[vivid]

Dobs cannot go through my turnstile. Also the management would not let me use the disabled access gate.

If can I go whack 16" liao.

The AR152 is only 100mm shorter than the 10" newt. From what i see on my setup here with the AR152 pointing straight up it's ok...coz the 10" newt EP is about 100mm from the end of it.
Also it does not seem to be that close to the backside end, just a wee bit. And what i can do to negate this is if i add a flexshield in front, it'd be close to the middle. Also my 2" EPs are quite heavy, 2.2lbs and 1lb 14 oz. The 1" ones are light, but i think really not so often for me to use the 1" for high mag.
The ES100 14mm already gives me 94X mag.




In fact since the mounting is closer to the bottom part, it may even work without the pier. But then issue is that i need to screw in screw out whenever i want to change between this and the refractor. this no good for the "grab n go" usage that we in Singapore need to contend with. (clouds and very fast changing conditions).

Consumer type Dob base = particle board. I know too well with this kind of material from my Hifi hobby. But it ain't bad at all for a new first scope.

I like Vinsnr's porta ball, but too expensive. Even Teeter's scope square base i think got issue going through.

[weixing]

Hi,

Not sure if i should get the TS 2" corrector as well (they call this a paracorr right?). Actually this is solely for really faint fuzzies use. Funny as it is, i never had a good look at Omega Centauri on my AR152 refractor, just a very faint bob of thousands of faint stars. I am happy if the centre portion is sharp enough for simple ob.
http://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/Optica ... copes.html

Hmm... yes, the Omega Centauri is faint in Singapore, but not as bad as you describe and can still be quite impressive (can still see thousands of stars... but a bit faint) if the weather is good and viewing location is reasonable dark. What magnification you use? Try >100x and took a longer view.

Anyway, I never try the TS 2" corrector, but I think it's a MPCC clone, so it's not very good at higher magnification. Also, it require to maintain a 55mm from the eyepiece field stop to the correct thread... that's why all my eyepiece for my Netwonian had similar field stop.

By the way, there is a Sky-Watcher dealer ( http://www.mcgill.com.sg ) in Singapore, you might want to check with their pricing first.

Have a nice day.

[rlow]

For f/5 & f/4.7 newtonians, some people are satisfied without a coma corrector. Try borrow one here to check it yourself before you buy one. The Paracorr is better than MPCC on two counts: (1) MPCC does not fully correct for spherical aberration (SA); this is apparent at high magnification, Paracorr corrects for SA, (2) Paracorr has a tunable top which is convenient, you have to play with spacer rings for MPCC.

As Weixing said, perhaps you should check around with local vendors here, there are several options here. Furthermore, if there is any defect or warranty issue, it is easier and cheaper dealing it here than to ship back overseas.

[Gary]

Hi Vivid. Just curious, other than the rooftop and skybridges, is there a decent location at ground level?

If yes, then you may consider wacking the 16" dob for planets at ground level and don't let the roof top restructions restrict your options? 1st floor compared to 26 or 55 floor should not make a humongous planetary seeing difference?

[vivid]

Thanks for all the brainstorming and ideas guys,!!

Hmm... yes, the Omega Centauri is faint in Singapore, but not as bad as you describe and can still be quite impressive (can still see thousands of stars... but a bit faint) if the weather is good and viewing location is reasonable dark. What magnification you use? Try >100x and took a longer view.
.

Definitely thousands of stars there, just damn faint. Yeah, cannot use filters to help too. I was using 14mm, 71X mag and 2.1mm exit pupil.
I can pump up the mag to get the added advantage but need to maintain a good exit pupil size. Location at that south eastern part is reasonably dark for SG standards, mag 3.0 at that part at 30-40 deg, on a good night (no high clouds and low haze).

Anyway I guess my eyes also could not get very very dark adapted. Anybody knows where to get eyepatch? Going to try this first before trying a scope.

[vivid]

For f/5 & f/4.7 newtonians, some people are satisfied without a coma corrector. Try borrow one here to check it yourself before you buy one. The Paracorr is better than MPCC on two counts: (1) MPCC does not fully correct for spherical aberration (SA); this is apparent at high magnification, Paracorr corrects for SA, (2) Paracorr has a tunable top which is convenient, you have to play with spacer rings for MPCC.

As Weixing said, perhaps you should check around with local vendors here, there are several options here. Furthermore, if there is any defect or warranty issue, it is easier and cheaper dealing it here than to ship back overseas.

Yeah ok thanks.... I think for me i am not that ngeow with the quality I mean this is a cheap option. Seriously for quite a portion of DSOs we are limited first by object intensity followed by resolution (don't know how to describe fully but of course you guys would know...from the myraid of articles out there). For Planets then obviously it's the other way round.


I have a Bushnell 7 x 50, ok lah....it does add to the experience via scanning. I wanted to get a Barksa 20 x 80 Cosmo (the higher end version above X-trail, something like the Garetts and Oberwerks from my reseach on CN).....but it's nearly 400 bucks shipped. So this iis slightly above 900 bucks...so worth a look as well.

[vivid]

Hi Vivid. Just curious, other than the rooftop and skybridges, is there a decent location at ground level?

If yes, then you may consider wacking the 16" dob for planets at ground level and don't let the roof top restructions restrict your options? 1st floor compared to 26 or 55 floor should not make a humongous planetary seeing difference?

Not really into Planets leh. Quite affected by the seeing here....the heat haze. And seriously 2 planets intersting for me only, Jupiter (not yet seen it) and Saturn. Maybe will look through your MCT or something first then maybe change my mind.

Nah...nothing can be done at ground level here.

[Gary]

I bought my eye-patch from Watsons and Unity at Toa Payoh Central at $6.95. Very hard to find and low stocks. Not all pharmacies carry them, even within different Watsons and Unity themselves.