I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

Discuss your refractor type scopes here.
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Refractordude
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I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

#1

Post by Refractordude »


It is a Celestron 6" f8 known as the yard canon. I was actually surprised that it is not that big nor heavy. I have it mounted on a Orion Skyview Pro eq mount. The Skyview handles it very well, with vibration at 4 seconds. I can cut vibration time in half by gently touching the bottom of the diagonal. I can not use the RACI with the red dot finder without adding another 5lb weight. The red dot finder alone is cool with me. It is a long scope comfortably aimed between 10:00 and 11:00 o'clock using my adjustable drum seat. The 2" focuser is very smooth with a very good diagonal adjuster. Thus no need to upgrade the diagonal.

The star test was perfect or close to perfect. I cold get super sharp 200 magnification on the moon. 300 magnification on the moon is a little soft. This evening I would say 280 magnification would be very sharp. I was able to achieve these high magnifications using the 4" aperture mask the scope came with. Without the mask there is yellow and violet color, but it is not that bad. I still prefer the aperture mask. Noticed that Jupiter and Saturn was up, but very low. Tried both planets without the aperture mask. At 120 magnification there was no violet color. Magnification at 200 and 300 showed violet color.. The aperture mask totally eliminated false color. With better sky condition and the planets higher in the sky, I know 300 magnification is very doable on the planets. It might be best to settle for 120 magnification without the mask for more resolution. Loved Alberio at 200 magnification, but with the mask. :smile:

Was planning own buying this scope new, but noticed the resell value is very low. Thus I bought used for just $250. :smile: A Mr. Ralph better explains why I decided on this scope. What is really cool is that I could sell it for what I paid for it. I may get an extension tube. There is a little debris between the lenses. How do I remove the debris, without creating a collimation problem? There is not that much debris, in fact at high mag it is not noticeable. What would be a good az mount for this scope? I am thinking about the Sky-Tee II. Right click the images.
Attachments
image 3.PNG
image 4.PNG
image 2 cn ad refractor.PNG
image 1 cn ad refractor.PNG
Last edited by Refractordude on Tue Jun 30, 2020 4:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: I now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

#2

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Enjoy the big telescope :)
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
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John Baars Netherlands
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

#3

Post by John Baars »


Congrats on your 6 inch refractor!
Many happy hours with it!


The debris between the lenses is not the cause of seeing irregularities at high magnifications.
You will see floaters ( mouches volantes) and other somewhat darker irregularities at high magnification on bright objects like the Moon and Jupiter. The first ones originate from your own eye. The last ones always come from your eyepiece. (fieldlens or eyelens), just give them a good clean and you will see.

Debris between the lenses is too far away from focus to be seen. You'd better stay away from it. In many cases cleaning means more dust specks added than removed. :D


Just compare it to a large piece of obstruction in a Newton: the secondary. Not noticeable in the image at high magnification. And for that matter, not noticeable at low magnifications either. ( only during the day at lowest magnifications, when the obstruction in the exitpupil is as big as the entrance pupil of the eye). I remember having a Newton with more than 10% surface obstruction, due to secondary and a big shard. Nothing to be seen in focus!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by Lady Fraktor »


Two suggestions I would make are to make a dewshield for it out of some lightweight material.
The factory supplied on weights almost 1kg. Losing it will let you push the tube further up the rings.
The other would be to get either a 1 or 2kg ankle weight and wrap it around the tube at the focuser adapter to get the tube pushed up a couple more inches.
This will place the focuser in a much better position for viewing.
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C6R-ASGT Frankenkanon.jpg
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by notFritzArgelander »


Yeah, I’m a big fan of ankle weights for tube balance.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by helicon »


Congrats on the scope and welcome to the 6" refractor club. Hope you enjoy the views. I have not done any stepping down of the aperture yet with my achro but it sounds like it well help with false color on the limb of the planets.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by Unitron48 »


Congrats on the upgrade in aperture! Will certainly add to your viewing pleasure!!

Dave
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by Makuser »


Hello Refractordude. Congratulations on the new (to you) Celestron C6R refractor telescope. The longer focal length should be more tolerable to many eyepieces than the shorter focal length versions. Thanks for your new telescope purchase report Refractordude, and welcome to the 6" refractor telescope owners group on here.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by KingNothing13 »


Cool - congrats on the new scope! Looks pretty cool.
-- Brett

Scope: Apertura AD10 with Nexus II with 8192/716000 Step Encoders
EPs: ES 82* 18mm, 11mm, 6.7mm; GSO 30mm
Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars
List Counts: Messier: 75; Herschel 400: 30; Caldwell: 12; AL Carbon Star List: 16
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by Juno16 »


Nice big scope! May you have many hours of fun. Even if you never used it, sure looks cool!

Great price too. Enjoy!
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by Bigzmey »


Congrats on the 6" RD! You are in the cool kids club now. :D Good price to. You gonna love it. I was considering it at one point but went with it's shorter brother instead. R&P focuser is not too bad, once lubricated and adjusted it works fine.

For the manual AltAz mount I would recommend SW Skytee 2 over ES T2. Skytee 2 has slow motion controls, comes with CW and can be configured to one, two or three scopes mode. More importantly all 3 scopes can be aligned. You can't align scopes on T2.

The only catch is that Skytees are not sold in US any more, you need to by one from Europe (as I did) or look for a used.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by Ylem »


That's a big boy!
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


Member; ASTRA-NJ



Orion 80ED
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Refractordude
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Re: I Now Own A 6" Aperture Refractor

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Post by Refractordude »


Ylem wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:27 amThat's a big boy!
The reputation of this scope as a yard canon is bigger. If a person can put a large suitcase in a trunk of a car, they could handle this scope. I keep my eq mount already set up with the weights on. It is close to grab and go, but it needs 30 minutes to cool down.
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