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My Newt
May 6, 2014 19:12:05 GMT -5
Post by boomboom on May 6, 2014 19:12:05 GMT -5
My other scope is a 10" Orion Optics UK 10" f4.8 Newt. This is my second Newt, the other being a Skywatcher 8" f5 sold a while back. The 10" rides on a NEQ6. Now a Newt on a GEM isn't the easiest thing to view with at times…slowly working out a rotating ring system with a lazy susan bearing connected to flat bar aluminium that is bolted to the tube rings…another ATM project!
The scope itself is fantastic…really it is! With a Feather Touch focuser and an ES Coma Corrector always in the focuser the views are pretty darn close to a refractor. The secondary is the OO thing which I prefer for the lack of diffraction spikes. It does however mush up planetary views somewhat, better than diffraction spikes though.
The other plus which I didn't really think about when I bought it is at f4.8 it is an imaging scope that has huge amounts of back focus. For binoviewing…never an issue with reaching focus, unlike so many Newt owners have found. My scope came with two secondary mirrors. The other one is the standard 4 vane but slightly bigger by 3% according to the Newt for Web program, which makes it 25% obstruction. With some good bino's like Baader MkV or Binotrons this bigger secondary gives that extra bit, of whatever it gives, to reach focus with no OCS. It does this with my WO bino's too, shame they only have 20mm CA.
I'll post a photo with my now clean camera lens when I next have it out.
Matt
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My Newt
May 6, 2014 22:32:21 GMT -5
Post by bn1777 on May 6, 2014 22:32:21 GMT -5
These Orion Optics UK newts get very good reviews every where , look forward to the photo's Matt .
Brian.
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My Newt
May 6, 2014 22:49:24 GMT -5
Post by bn1777 on May 6, 2014 22:49:24 GMT -5
Seeing as the Ice has broken here , I suppose I should post a photo of the Newtonion's I have built over the years , back when I was a poor boilermaker in NZ . I ground the mirrors on all these and the secondary mirrors and focuser on the 10 inch were the only things bought , the rest was made by me . Working on the ANZAC frigate project helped no end , a great scrap bin (s) , 12 Frigates over 14 years a job to be proud of .
The Green one on tripod is a 5 inch f4 , the gold one is a 5 inch f13.5 , the purple 6 inch f8 is my x's ( the reason I was poor ! ) , the silver 8 inch f6 was a house warming present for my sister and the 10 inch f10 is mine .
If you look in the background just behind the scopes you will see the steps I built to reach the eyepiece 2600mm above the ground safely , these works well being on 2 wheels they were easy to move around , not that that was to much a problem being able to rotate the OTA to a comfortable position .
I still have the 2 five inches , friends in NZ are using them and my 10 inch f10 is in storage . The 10 inch has a tube on 2 sections 300mm in diameter , both together is 2400mm long , has a fully rotating OTA ( as do both 5 inchers ) and with only a 3/4 inch secondary and curved spider it is a planet killer , easily besting our clubs C14 on Jupiter , Mars and Saturn , its a beast .
Hope you all enjoy looking as much as I enjoyed building them , don't discount the long fl Newt's if you are on a tight budget , they perform very well .
Brian.
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My Newt
May 7, 2014 14:39:50 GMT -5
Post by Mike on May 7, 2014 14:39:50 GMT -5
Cool group of scopes Brian. Do you still own all these? The long focal length reflectors are interesting. I do have one question: did you say you were a boilermaker or you used to drink boilermakers?
Mike
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My Newt
May 7, 2014 22:55:10 GMT -5
Post by bn1777 on May 7, 2014 22:55:10 GMT -5
Haa ha Mike , that's both old mate , I like the boilermakers . My sister still has and uses the 8 inch f6. My x still has the purple 6 inch f8 ( I think ? ). The golden 5 inch f13.5 is being used and loved by a good friend in NZ , he does a lot of outreach with this scope . Here are a few more photos of it that he sent me a few weeks ago on an out reach night before the people arrived . He calls the scope 'The mighty Nordstrom' also note the OTA rotation set up , that works so well all Teflon on formica , internal mechanism . I am 6 feet tall and when this scope is pointing at the zenith the eyepiece is at my eye hight , perfect This scope has provided me with some of the best lunar views I have ever seen , with its f13.5 mirror and 19mm diagonal its very good and the pipe EQ mount is a joy even at 300x , so easy to use . The green 5 inch f4 , is also being used in NZ and she just thinks this scope is so cool ,its on an EQ wedge , fork mounted and completely made by me , the whole lot from the ground up , its a great little rich field scope , it took me forever to parabolize that mirror , many , many attempts but I got the bugger in the end ! . And as I said my 10 inch f10 is in storage in NZ , see the slots taken out of the 300mm dia. tubes on this scope ? , I cut them out by hand with a 4inch grinder and many cutting discs on the back lawn seen here on a Saturday morning , took hours and the neighbours were impressed ,, LOL but it makes the top 1/2 of the scope surprisingly light and very strong . All these scopes bar the 10 inch have 1 1/4 inch helical focusers made out of plumbing PVC fittings , these work very well for $20 . Brian.
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My Newt
May 7, 2014 23:05:51 GMT -5
Post by bn1777 on May 7, 2014 23:05:51 GMT -5
If interested here are a few more taken when I was still in NZ of some of the mechanics , all made by me . Photo #1shows the PVC plumbing fitting focuser , it has a rough focus draw tube and fine focus is by turning the main threaded grip piece , works surprisingly well , even after many years you can also see the curved spider and 19mm secondary. If you look at the 2nd photo you will see 2 black knob's , they are Teflon tipped and by tightening them onto the lapped threads you can get just the perfect amount of feel? to allow perfectly smooth and weighty movement , very nice to use telescope/ Brian.
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Post by boomboom on May 8, 2014 0:23:25 GMT -5
Wow Brian. I only have one lonely little photo of my Newt so here goes. It is a great performer and the scope I take out to a dark site depending on where I'm going or a 4" ED f9 refractor on an EQ3. I would never use a sub f5 Newt without coma corrector ever and this one has the ES coma corrector in the focuser. Matt
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Post by boomboom on May 8, 2014 0:36:31 GMT -5
Now I have cleaned the camera lens no halo's!!!!!! Now I'll be able to take some more pics of my refractor, the Newt is a pretty dull subject
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My Newt
May 8, 2014 11:23:14 GMT -5
Post by borispider on May 8, 2014 11:23:14 GMT -5
I was just going to ask if that was you, boomboom, who had the white scope pic problem. Nice mount bn1777. You got a tut. for that mount? So anyone here got an off-axis newt? I would assume with long FL it would even be awesome-er
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My Newt
May 8, 2014 19:52:51 GMT -5
Post by bn1777 on May 8, 2014 19:52:51 GMT -5
Boris , 'You got a tut. for that mount' , whats a ' tut ' ? my friend ? I am lost on this one . Thanks mate . Brian.
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rgm
Full Member
Posts: 65
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Post by rgm on May 9, 2014 5:47:47 GMT -5
I have a 10" Lightbridge Dob. I have not used it in a couple of years. I live under some under the Jet Stream and I am not happy with the performance. I also do not like the Dob mount. I prefer EQ mounts and DSCs. As a future project, I will make it into a solid tube and put it on my G11 mount. I also leave the Paracorr in the focuser all the time.
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Post by borispider on May 9, 2014 9:10:43 GMT -5
tut. is short for tutorial.
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