TheSkySearchers

Comparison of 6"ers Edmund f8 40 yrs. old vs. GSO f6 just built.
The Edmund is nearly the best 6" ever looked thru, and the GSO uses a claimed 1/10th wave mirror from Agena Astro thru their certified program, paid $15 more for their testing.

Side by side comparison on Jupiter and Saturn tonite showed they are nearly the same at 6mm in the Edmund for 200x and a 4mm in the GSO for 225x. The Edmund had a slight edge for total sharpness of banding, but just slightly.

Over on Saturn they looked equal, not a whole lot to see differences, but the Edmund could see 2 dim moons and the GSO only 1.
Does not look like there is any need to wait years looking for an oldie mirror, the GSO's perform just fine.

Nothing like a 6" f8!!!!!!
I once had a Meade "research grade" what ever that means.
Sorry I sold it.

A well built longer focal length newtonian can make a fine telescope for planetary.

Hi Jones. That's a nice pair of Newtonian reflector telescopes that you have there. I started with a 3" Tasco, and a few years later moved up to a 10" f/5 Cave Astrola Newtonian with drives. Currently, I have a 12" f/4.9 push-to Dobsonian mounted Newtonian reflector. Although with the short focal length it is best for DSO viewing, the 12" can also provide some great lunar/planetary observations. Thanks for your nice post and photograph Jones, and keep looking up.

I had the old red tube Edmund Super Space Conqueror - a 4 1/4" reflector. At f/10 it provided good views of the planets with its spherical mirror. Definitely a throwback...

Here's a review by Ed Ting - a trip down memory lane...

https://www.scopereviews.com/page1x.html