getting 6" sct. few questions

Im seriously considering the Celestron C6s sct. of the reviews ive read though, they recommend getting rid of the star diagonal. will this not make viewing a little alkward, or can you get a better diagonal that the supplied one?

for viewing planets, and occasionally deep sky viewing, what eyepieces would you guys recommend? i know its all relative, but id like to know might be a good range or focal lengths, or lens types.

For collomation, shoud i get those screws that make the job a whole lot easier? www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?t=&pid=10252&m=111
i have collomated a reflector but never a SCT.

Thanks for your help guys

I wouldn't have too much to offer you re eyepieces but as regards collimation, save your money.

I have the 8" SCT and whislt a bit fiddly, collimation can be done with the screws as supplied. Also, with the slower focal ratio, collimation is not required very regularly.

Of course, if the collimation knobs are cheap, go for them. They're a nice to have, but not necessary.

Dave

Hi,

Considering your posts before and that portability is a big issue, i'd say the C6R is just about right for you. As Dave said, i'd forget about the extra collimation bits. Generally the scope will arrive well collimated and as long as it isn't bashed around a lot, schmidt cassegrains hold their collimation very well. For example, I've had my 9.25" SCT 1.5 years and it still doesn't need collimation. The lighter C6R should need collimation even less than this and if it ever does then just use the screws on the front.

That scope got really fantastic reviews. I was going to get it before I got the deal on the 2nd hand 8 incher.

Probably the best bang for the buck for a 6" f/10 SCT eyepiece-wise would be the University Optics orthos and Konigs. Anything under 9mm is going to have pretty bad eyerelief, so I'd suggest using a Barlow to get shorter focal lengths.

Another alternative at the shorter end are Burgess/TMB Planetary eyepieces, at around $100 a pop. The have long eyerelief (so you wouldn't need a Barlow), but they're nearly twice the money as the UOs.

A good inexpensive lineup would be a 24mm Konig, 12mm and 9mm Orthos and a 2X barlow. That would give you effective focal lengths of 24 and 12 in a wide-field, and 12, 9, 6 and 4.5 in a narrow-field.

A more premium route would be 18mm and 8.8mm Meade UWAs and 7mm and 5mm Burgess/TMB Planetaries. This will set you back a considerable sum, however.

-- Jeff.

they recommend getting rid of the star diagonal. will this not make viewing a little alkward, or can you get a better diagonal that the supplied one?

I had the 90 degree star diagonal for my 8" SCT, and replaced it with a 45 degree 'right side up' diagonal, it's great to use, although the image quality suffers ever so slightly, worth it though...

Keith..