Advice needed: 'New' Newtonian....

peterako wrote: Taming a fast scope sounds like a nice challenge!

It so thoroughly is. It can be frustrating and a lot of work but when you nail it the views are amazing.

Hi Guys,

A quick update.

I went for the 8" Orion Optics Europa F4 in the end. (From Astrobuyandsell.com)

Advice from you, price and the excellent support from the seller were deciders in the end.

It arrived on Monday and I was pleasantly surprised by the lightness compared to my G8N. Not much more than 1/2 the weight!

It was badly out of collimation but I managed to get it back to roughly right with my not-much-used laser in about 10 minutes.

Spotted a break in the clouds last night at about 10 and rushed out to set the scope up.

Got 10 minutes 'viewing' in 50mph winds with a warm scope and am very impressed by the optics on this beast!

I'm looking forward to a clear and nice night (in this lifetime?) to have a good look around and tidy up the collimation.

FoV and light gathering are amazing!

Thank you again for all your help!

Peter

Peter,

Congrats on the new scope.

May it bring you many nights of clear skies.

Michael.

As is customary....it has brought many weeks of cloud.....