Hi from Dave

[davegibbons]

Hi Guys, Dave from the U.K. joining the tribe. I am currently in the process of putting together my 5" f8 scope built with an Istar 127mm f8 achromat objective. I have utilised a modified Meade AR5 tube which has been machined down for the shorter focal length of 1000mm. I will
be fitting a dual speed moonlite crayford focusser and have designed the scope to allow for binoviewing without the barlow nosepiece for maximum FOV. Currently in the process of having the countercell machined from solid 7" aluminium round billet and hope to have it all together in a couple of weeks.
I decided on F8 as a compromise to allow for nice widefield views of open clusters and still have decent lunar and planatery views in a relatively compact package. I realise at f8 false colour will be evident on brighter targets , but this is something that has never bothered me in the past although I realise some people just hate it.
I am really interested in seeing how the objective appears in star testing for any abberations and how it compares with my excellent Russsian tal 100mm refractor in that respect.
I will post some pics once all put together!

cheers

Dave

[mikey cee]

Welcome aboard Dave. I can relate to your wild anticipation when I built my 8" Brandt 30 years ago. It really does stay with you that long. Hah! Mike

[borispider]

Hi and welcome Dave. That's about the size scope I would like.
Can't wait for pics and report on the bino-views.

[Watcher3]

Glad you could join us Dave. I've been curious about that lens. The first scope I bought when I came back into the hobby was a 120mm Celestron F/8.3. I also don't mind CA at all, but it's really pretty minimal in these scopes anyway. If I didn't already have the Omni, I would probably be getting the 5" F/8 too. As it stands, I'll keep the Omni until ISTAR makes a 5" F/8 R50 lens. Good luck, and have fun with your build and scope.

Joe