Scope for school club with a budget of S$2500

[VinSnr]

Ahh..so Jiahao is from NTU club? That's my club!!!

That C6 has one of the best optics around! And that C8 has been used so often by me last time. And you mean for 11 years, you guys didn't have any new scope? You said you brought the C8 to Astro scientific. How come they didn't get it repaired?

If you are from NTU, get a portable setup. From the club room to the top of the Nanyang House is quite a distance with a narrow corridor and some flights of stairs. I still remember it's so much hassle last time just to bring the C8 and the C6 up.

Can I take a look at both C6 and the C8 to see exactly what's wrong with them?

[zong]

Haha Vin, I think you probably don't need to see the thing already. From the "accounts" of a few last year club members, I think it's beyond repair.. They literally took apart the whole C8, mirror lens and all! And if i remember correctly, the C6 is the one that got too fungus infected that all the mirror silver was eaten up. Something like that. Their descriptions sounded very scary..

[acc]

They literally took apart the whole C8, mirror lens and all!

Wah, muz be undergrads from engineering faculty but really, in the rough and tumble conditions of a school club, and our humid weather, the lightbridge will be a more lasting alternative...

[jiahao1986]

Ahh..so Jiahao is from NTU club? That's my club!!!

That C6 has one of the best optics around! And that C8 has been used so often by me last time. And you mean for 11 years, you guys didn't have any new scope? You said you brought the C8 to Astro scientific. How come they didn't get it repaired?

If you are from NTU, get a portable setup. From the club room to the top of the Nanyang House is quite a distance with a narrow corridor and some flights of stairs. I still remember it's so much hassle last time just to bring the C8 and the C6 up.

Can I take a look at both C6 and the C8 to see exactly what's wrong with them?

Hi VinSnr,

It's nice to see former committee member here, which year's committee were you from?

For the C8, I heard that someone from other astro club accidentially dropped it and since then the secondary can move on the corrector plate. After we sent it to Science Center for repair, they glue the secondary back, but it actually turned out worse, the scope is still off collimation, and the field became spindle-like shaped instead of round...

For the C6, as zong mentioned above, the primary got fungus infected, but the coating is not too seriously eaten up. Then the logistic from last committee cleaned the mirror and it turned out OK, but the center spot on the primary used for collimation is washed out... Besides, the focuser is also in bad condition and I find it difficult to focus the scope.

Now the Nanyang House is under renovation. After that, we are no longer allocated a room to store our stuff, instead, we only get a locker... So, we can only store the scopes in one or more committee members' rooms. Because of that, we plan not to hold many activities at rooftop of Nanyang House, instead, we choose the rooftop of a new building (School of Arts, Design and Media).

Jia Hao

[VinSnr]

Hi VinSnr,

It's nice to see former committee member here, which year's committee were you from?

piang...jia lat...I am your 4th president la... :|

For the C8, I heard that someone from other astro club accidentially dropped it and since then the secondary can move on the corrector plate. After we sent it to Science Center for repair, they glue the secondary back, but it actually turned out worse, the scope is still off collimation, and the field became spindle-like shaped instead of round...

For the C6, as zong mentioned above, the primary got fungus infected, but the coating is not too seriously eaten up. Then the logistic from last committee cleaned the mirror and it turned out OK, but the center spot on the primary used for collimation is washed out... Besides, the focuser is also in bad condition and I find it difficult to focus the scope.

Now the Nanyang House is under renovation. After that, we are no longer allocated a room to store our stuff, instead, we only get a locker... So, we can only store the scopes in one or more committee members' rooms. Because of that, we plan not to hold many activities at rooftop of Nanyang House, instead, we choose the rooftop of a new building (School of Arts, Design and Media).

Jia Hao

No more room??????? Can you ask Mrs Seah (is she still there?) how to put telescope into a locker? Sad man..that room was my study room last time

Put in a committee's member room sure finish one. You all should really ask for a place.

I think the C8 need to be collimated and the collimation must have went way way out. This sometimes happen when one install bob knobs...it can go way out. There is a trick to get back it to somewhere correct. Get a bright table light and put opposite the scope. Let the corrector face the light about 1-2 feet away. Now peep into the rear hole. Can you see your eye clearly on the secondary? If you cannot..then adjust the collimation screws until you can see your eye nicely framed there. Once that is done, you just need further fine collimation using a bright star.

For the C6, that mirror was wonderful optics, one of the sharpest I have seen. Get it recoated. It will give you wonderful views.

That two scopes were obtained when the club was first formed in 1991 or 92. They have really good optics.....

[jiahao1986]

Hi VinSnr,

Then it's great to see former president here la~~~

Regarding the room, we once try asking for another store room near SRC, but no spare rooms to give us.

About the two scopes, thanks so much for the advice! We will try collimate the two scopes. The C6 does have good optics, cos I didn't notice much abberations using a Plossl eyepiece regardless the the scope is off-collimation. About recoating the C6 mirror, where can we do that? Science Center?

So, IF, we can fix both scopes, what do you guys suggest to purchase using the S$2500 budget?

Jia Hao

[stormchaser]

Hi all,

wow I haven't come into this website for some time cos of sch.. and now I know the history of our scopes ... wow more 1992-2007 is *gasp* 15 yrs! As jiahao said, great to see the former president here! Must come visit us! Anyway VinSnr, if you want to come see the scopes, they are in my room. I'm also from NTU astro main comm. just contact me thru my email mriya7@gmail.com.

About the scope conditions, both have gone thru lots of abuse, like what jh said.

And yes, what do you guys suggest using SGD 2500?

[HoO_Germany]

Hi folks,

Our school astro club has finally got a grant for a new scope, but only S$2500. Now it's time to decide what scope to buy with this grant.

As S$2500 is a real tight budget, it's kind of hard to make the decision. Our club currently have a 14-year-old *dead* Celestron C8 SCT, a 12-year-old out-of-collimation Celestron C6 Newtonian (even the center spot on the primary mirror is gone...).

1).Taking the two scopes above into account, I think we should get a scope bigger than 6" or equal. At this aperture, it can only be Newtonians or SCTs as far as I can think of. SCTs are more portable than Newtonians but may produce less quality image than Newtonians, however, I'm not sure whether a cheap fast Newtonian would produce satisfactory images. Besides, both designs need constant collimation, especially SCTs can only be collimated by star-testing.(?)

2).Besides, portability is also an important aspect to consider for future astro-trips.

3).Another thing is tracking and GOTO, these are also very useful for club activities. An equitorial GOTO mounts might be hard to use in Singapore and may not be very portable, but can have advantages for astrophotography in the future. Those integrated Alt/Az GOTO mounts with short tube SCTs are more portable, and easier to use, but may not be suitable for future astrophotographic use... However, a Dob might also acceptable considering the aperture...

Considering these (or more) aspects, now as far as I know, the following scopes are within our consideration:

Celestron C8 f/5 Newtonian with CG5 GOTO Mount: US$1019
Celestron Nexstar SE6 SCT: US$999
Celestron C6 SCT with CG5 GOTO Mount: US$999

MEADE SN-8 - 8" f/4 Schmidt-Newtonian with LXD75 GOTO Mount: US$1199

MEADE 12" f/5 Lightbridge Dob (or smaller aperture): <US$999
Orion SkyQuest XT12 IntelliScope (or smaller aperture): <US$979 (must not be portable...)
Celestron 12" f/5 StarHopper Dob (or smaller aperture): <US$849

These are all that I can think of, so could you folks please give some suggestions and give your own reconmmendations? Thanks a million!!!

Clear skies,
Jia Hao

Hi Jia Hao

I would recomend to choose the 8" SC on the LXD75 GOTO mount.
Why this recommendation?
I have also a school group for astronomy and I know for shure, that "only" by watching the objects, in time, the passion will go. Many of my school-childrens would be gone, if the astronomy stuff would be done not very interesting. So with the option to find (by GOTO) the objects and see them, and if necessary also to photograph them, there is more fun and interests coming from the school group.
I know, with a 12" or bigger aperture, you can see more by direct watching, but a good collimated 8" scope is not allways worster as thought. The GOTO option can help you th find and observe the objects.
You have already two instruments which maybe they can be repaired, so the groups could be smaller to work with a instrument.

Hope I could help a bit.

CS