TheSkySearchers

SO after my last discussion about this I decided that this was going to be the X-mas tree topper for my LX-70 mount. This is a very solid feeling OTA, I wonder almost if they couldn't have even made it lighter. The club is having two dark site treks later this month, so I'm hoping to give this a good workout in the near future. I only have one complaint right now, and that's they didn't include any instructions. Not a huge deal, I should have a clue by now, but a new user may wish to know which screws are the collimating and which are the locking ones.

Cool looking little newt. Cant really tell what size it is. Looks smaller than a 6" ?

Looking forward to reading your first light report from your dark site.
Nice looking scope.

UlteriorModem wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 4:19 pm Cool looking little newt. Cant really tell what size it is. Looks smaller than a 6" ?

It is a 6" F5. I debated getting the 6" F4 for AP, but Highpoint assures me I can reach prime focus with a DSLR with the F5 provided I use a coma corrector, which I would need with the F4 anyway, and this is $100 cheaper.

Speaking of that, I see the rings are tapped on top I assume for piggybacking gear. I'm having trouble finding an adapter that might let me piggyback a DSLR any suggestions in that area?

Nice new scope. I hope you enjoy using it and please do post a first-light report when you have a chance to try it out.

Very nice...
if it's a 1/4 20 threaded hole, any short length of 1/4 20 threaded rod with some jamb nuts on it will thread into the bottom of your DSLR.
Good Luck!

Typically another dovetail bar is run between the rings. Get your wallet out

Very nice Don.
I have this same Newt in the Bresser livery.
These are nice, light little instruments.
Congratulations !

I also had a Bresser version of this telescope, enjoy the views

Don Alvarez wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 5:25 pm Speaking of that, I see the rings are tapped on top I assume for piggybacking gear. I'm having trouble finding an adapter that might let me piggyback a DSLR any suggestions in that area?

I have tried all sorts of weird piggyback solutions on top of my rings. The best I have found is a dovetail matching the length of the one on the bottom, onto which you can attach all sorts of devices. The nice thing about a dovetail rail is that you can move the devices to help balance the rig. ADM has the adapters.

Check out the thread sizes of the tapped holes. My rings came with a 1/4x20 hole on one side and an M6 hole on the other. Both thread sizes will fit through the predrilled holes in ADM dovetails.

Congrats on the new glass, Don! Let us know how it performs.

Nice piece of equipment; good for you! I'd love a 6" at f/5. For me it would be a nice "all around" scope

Enjoy the views!

Last Friday's trek was a bust. I even took off work so I could get out there before dark and get set up, but a broad covering of clouds set right over the site late afternoon and just sat there unmoving. Hopefully this Friday goes a little better.

Unfortunate but hopefully better luck for the next outing.

Well it wasn't a perfect night but I made it out. A Crescent moon spoiled the dark skies a bit and it seemed to hang around much longer that it should have. There were some high cirrus clouds and to top things off they were burning off scrub (or something) close by in the glades and it was send up smoke to the west. Still but I had the 150 mounted on the LX70 and ready to go. Using the Meade 5k's lunar image was very sharp, I was happy with this. Wide field gazing though, the verdict is still out. I don't know if it was the seeing conditions but something was just not right. Hard to describe, except as maybe a "soda pop" effect, the background was not quite black, even when looking away from the moon. I did get the camera working on the i80 with focal reducer, but those images were less than their usual quality so for now I'm going to attribute these things to less than ideal viewing conditions and we'll have a go again next time the new moon comes around. Still I'm calling it a successful test, the 150 performed as expected and displays the usual quality you expect with GSO instruments. It is very stout. The tube seems over thick and with some imagination I daresay they could have shaved a pound off the total weight, but the solid feel is comforting. The mirror was center marked and with a spot check with a laser collimator it came fairly well collimated as advertised. The straight through finder I did not use and probably never will, as usual the RACI is my finder of choice. I need to find one in white now so it matches everything else.

One thing I did notice with the 150 OTA I was not crazy about, and that is even though the mirror seemed to be situated at the bottom of the tube - that is, as far from the secondary as possible - I still needed to use an extension tube to get focus with the 5k's. I don't have to do this with ANY of my other telescopes. The good news there is that I guess I have a little more in-focus if I wanted to try a camera, but I hate using extension tubes.

Thanks for sharing the report.

Congrats on the first light Don! Scopes designed for AP require extension tubes to achieve focus with EPs. So, it is a good thing.