The Venerable C6R

[mistervista]

I thought I should take the opportunity to introduce myself and invite any forum member to make a comment.

I currently own a Carton 100mm F13 achro for planets and a Celestron C6R for deep sky objects. I live on the Upper Mississippi and have a small observatory at Lock and Dam #24 near the Bortle 'Blue County Line'.

While I have a Baader Fringe Killer permanently mounted on the C6R 2" diagonal I'm always looking at improving my set-up which brought me here. In order of price/performance for a 6" achro I have arrived at the 3 options.

1. Upgrade the C6R with an Istar F8 achromat lens.

2. Upgrade the optics with an 150mm F8 R35 lens.

3. Purchase a new 150mm F10 or F12 istar telescope with either lens.

I am quite pleased with the C6R and Baader Fringe Killer and would require at least a 'moderate' optical improvement to consider purchasing an upgrade.

Oh BTW, I am a strong proponent of purchasing from made in the USA innovative companies and was  part of that innovative process when working in Silicon Valley in the 80's.

Never stop, never quit and continue to push forward 'onward into the fog'.

Douglas
aka MisterVista

[borispider]

Hi vista and welcome to the Istar club.

[mikey cee]

Unless you sell the entire ota the no. 2 is the best choice. You may or may not see a lot difference between the two basic achromats. You should however see a smaller spot size and less CA with the R35. Again if the ota is "old hat" get the no. 3.....but don't just change out achromats. It's just not worth the hassle. Mike

[mistervista]

Thanks Mike, As DSOs don't emit significant chromatic aberration then brighter sharp objects is what I'd be excited about.
It's odd, some people are planetary detail oriented but I'm not one of them.

A large well framed aesthetic field of view is always very pleasing to me.

Doug

[boomboom]

Hi Doug

I recently traded up to an Istar 150 f12 from a 6-CR. Well worth it. Better in every respect. The limit I suppose is what you mount it on. Mine is on an NEQ6 and its just ok. No idea if I'm wearing out the mount early but it works. An EQ8 class of mount is in the future for this scope. Sounds like you have the ideal location too.
Cheers
Matt

[mistervista]

I've gone manual with a 35lb capacity Unistar mount which can be balanced nicely.
I think I would be best-off with option #3 - a 150mm with an R35 lens when money allows.

So would it become an Istar , Youstar, Westar  Observatory Outreach program...lol

I want one when my next ship comes in, the last one was a dingy.

Thanks guys, I hope to join the family of elite Istar owners one of these days.

DG

[Mike]

Douglas, we have an overstock of 150-8 and 150-10 OTAs. We will offer them at near or below our production cost. I have 4 or 5 of each. Anyone interested let me know. 150-10 is a popular size so Ales built several of them in anticipation of sales. 150-8 is a very competitive size as the Celestron VX 6" refractor and mount sell for about $1300. Yes, the mount is just a glorified CG-5 and not enough for the 6". No the Celestron 6" is not even close to the build quality and performance of an Istar 150-8. But, if you already had a mount the special price now available on the Istar 150-8 would be a sweet deal and big upgrade from the CR6. You would be getting our 50mm F8 designed lens, Moonlite focuser and completely CNC machined, hand assembled OTA and tube rings.

[mistervista]

Thanks Mike...the 150 F10 is #1 at the top of my list right now. First I'd have to list my C6R for sale but I'd still be a few hundred short of a full payment in January with the balance due in February. Can Istar accept a 50% deposit then hold it for 30 days? 

James Ling, Mike Cee and Joseph D. have done an outstanding job of maintaining the Istar reputation for high quality optics and customer service in my research I would like to acknowledge their contribution to people like me even being here in the first place.

DG

[Mike]

No problem Douglas. We'll hold it with a 50% deposit. If we need to discuss anything in detail don't hesitate to email be directly at [e-mail]

[mistervista]

All Right! I got the Asteria 150 F8 R35 so this thread is FINI.