Greetings from PA

[stevethestater]

I recently bought a new 6" R35 F/8 scope from iStar.   I'm a longtime scope user (geeez, has it been 50 years already?) and I've always loved refractors.   I've already got an excellent Meade 5" F/9.3 achromatic scope but I wanted something with more umph to it and I didn't want to put up with lousy color correction.   The R35 fits the bill.

   A couple nights ago I was testing out the optics and I took a look at Pi Aquila.  I backed off the power to see how low I could go and still split this 1.4" pair.    Using a 13mm TeleVue Plossl (94x) I could still see both stars with a tiny split between them.   Not too bad.
I next took a look at the planet Uranus.  Using the Meade, I would get a little blue ball that wasn't "engaging."   I got the same view with the R35 at medium powers but when I cranked it up with a 3.2mm TMB eyepiece, I was "engaged."   So, what's "engaged"?   It's looking at something like you're looking through the porthole of a spaceship and you're part of the action.   Instead of a small fuzzy blue ball I was looking at a sharp larger disk with some depth to it.  It was easily the best view of this planet I've ever had and the darn thing was about 40 degrees above the horizon.   I can't wait for it to get into Gemini....

[Mike]

Great to hear Steve. Thanks for the report. I'm also interested in the two outer planets. It's something different. I'll never forget the pictures of Uranus from Voyager 2 on the cover of Sky and Tel in the mid eighties.

[rgm]

Steve, I have been looking at Uranus through my 127f12R30 also. I have not been able to crank up the power yet due to only average seeing conditions. But, what I have seen so far has been better than my C8. I would love to hear your comparison of the views comparing 5" and 6". Someday I will likely want a larger Istar, not sure if it would be the 6" or 8". Your particular scope would be one I would have a serious look at.

Bob

[stevethestater]

Hi Bob,
   The next good night that I get, and it may be tonight, I'm going to set up my Meade 5" and the 6" R35.   I think I'll make a mask so the R35 is operating at 5" and F/9.6.   I'm very curious to see how the scopes compare in color correction and resolving power.  We'll see.
    The one thing that surprised me about the R35 is the weight.   This scope is built like a T34 tank.  I haven't weighed it yet but it has to be at least 30 lbs.   It weighs more than my '59 Cave 8" reflector.   Knowing this, I'd be very interested in a 6" or 8" iStar rail scope.   I'm using an iOptron ieq45 mount for the R35 and it does the job... but not by a wide margin.   I suspect that I'd need something beefier for an 8".   For a refractor larger than 6" and F/8, I'm thinking a bigger mount will be needed unless an iStar rail scope can come in at under 35lbs.

[bn1777]

Hi Steve and welcome to the club mate .
I was looking at Uranus on Saturday night with my Istar 127mm f8 doublet and I found the best views were 200x using my 5mm TV Radian , nice blue disc .
I to use the IEQ45 and find it a perfect mount for the 127mm f8 , but it is most used under my Tak M210 , I use the SW HEQ5 non goto most of the time for my Istar , these 2 work well together . Out and observing in 10 miniutes or less .
Look forward to the report on the stopped down R35 and 5 inch Meade , will be interesting .
Brian.