Reg Pratt:
10" ONTC here. I went with the 2" Feather Touch focuser paired with a Sesto Senso 2 motor. To date I have not had to use any backlash compensation for autofocus. Also am not experiencing any tilt or flexure issues with the compression ring and TSGPU coma corrector. Coming from Moonlite focusers I was concerned about not being threaded to the drawtube but it hasn't been an issue at all. The primary mirror clips were a bit loose but took very little effort to tighten. Its been a workhorse for the 4 months I've had it. Holds collimation no problem when I leave it mounted.
I previously had 2 steel tube GSO F4 Newts and while they worked for the most part there was a lot of mechanical issues ( to be expected form cheap scopes). There's none of that nonsense going on with the ONTC. Thing is built like a tank and even at 10" its very light. I'm of the opinion that the carbon tune does make a difference. Not only does it make the scope a good deal lighter but it also cools very fast. I usually have my scope uncovered within an hour or 2 of night and there are many nights where autofocus may only run once or twice. I've had nights where it didn't run again after the initial run (NINA triggers AF after a 10% HFD increase).
When I was looking to get into newts I didn't feel there was a whole lot to choose from for a higher quality scope. I considered OOUK but read some less inspiring things about them. In this price range I don't think you will find a better scope than the ONTC. The last handful of images on my profile were made with it if you're interested.
Side note: Mine has GSO mirrors as is the default for UNC and ONTC scopes. TS does sometimes take OOUK parts and put them into their own carbon tube though. I know someone who had a 12" with OOUK optics and as far as the mirrors themselves were concerned the quality was good. In either event I agree that the you're not going to gain much from the optics over your SW. What you will gain is vastly superior components and having dealt with cheaper newts I can tell you that it makes a very big difference. I don't have to fiddle with things. I don't have to trouble shoot. I unpacked the scope, put it together, collimated, and use it. That's it.
Thank you, sounds like you are happy with the tube! This is exactly why I am upgrading. I want something that won't fight me at every turn and that I can just set up and leave be. Again I am unsure what focuser I should choose, not completely clear how compatible the one they recommended me are with the ZWO EAF I already have. Will have to look into this more.
I personally would go Moonlite or Feather touch. I've had 4 Moonlite over the years and they're excellent focusers but I find the FT to be higher quality. At the end of the day you can't go wrong with either. I've also heard good thing about the Steel track but since that isn't one of the options you'd have to find one yourself (I've not seen the newt version in stock anywhere for over a year). If you did go that thought I'm sore you could give TS the base hole dimensions though for them to drill. If I had to do it all over again I'd still choose the Feather Touch. I just wish my Falcon rotations were compatible. But since you already have a ZWO the Moonlite is the way to go as it for sure is compatible with your motor.
|
You cannot like this item. Reason: "ANONYMOUS".
You cannot remove your like from this item.
Editing a post is only allowed within 24 hours after creating it.
You cannot Like this post because the topic is closed.
Alan Brunelle:
*Please see my post below on the Steeltrack on my UNC 12
Thank you very much for this information!
|
You cannot like this item. Reason: "ANONYMOUS".
You cannot remove your like from this item.
Editing a post is only allowed within 24 hours after creating it.
You cannot Like this post because the topic is closed.
Reg Pratt:
I personally would go Moonlite or Feather touch. I've had 4 Moonlite over the years and they're excellent focusers but I find the FT to be higher quality. At the end of the day you can't go wrong with either. I've also heard good thing about the Steel track but since that isn't one of the options you'd have to find one yourself (I've not seen the newt version in stock anywhere for over a year). If you did go that thought I'm sore you could give TS the base hole dimensions though for them to drill. If I had to do it all over again I'd still choose the Feather Touch. I just wish my Falcon rotations were compatible. But since you already have a ZWO the Moonlite is the way to go as it for sure is compatible with your motor.
TS has the new Steeltrack for Newtonians in stock. These have threading as opposed to the old Steeltrack.
With regards to the Moonlites, the CRL 2.5 is likely a better choice than the CR2. It has a M68x1 threaded tube and supports many different adapters included screw-threaded ones for GPUs and Paracorr. TS still have a few in stock, but judging from their online store, they seem to be out of flanges for 8" tubes. Flanges can however be ordered directly from Moonlite (focuser.com).
|
You cannot like this item. Reason: "ANONYMOUS".
You cannot remove your like from this item.
Editing a post is only allowed within 24 hours after creating it.
You cannot Like this post because the topic is closed.
Reg Pratt:
I personally would go Moonlite or Feather touch. I've had 4 Moonlite over the years and they're excellent focusers but I find the FT to be higher quality. At the end of the day you can't go wrong with either. I've also heard good thing about the Steel track but since that isn't one of the options you'd have to find one yourself (I've not seen the newt version in stock anywhere for over a year). If you did go that thought I'm sore you could give TS the base hole dimensions though for them to drill. If I had to do it all over again I'd still choose the Feather Touch. I just wish my Falcon rotations were compatible. But since you already have a ZWO the Moonlite is the way to go as it for sure is compatible with your motor.
TS has the new Steeltrack for Newtonians in stock. These have threading as opposed to the old Steeltrack.
With regards to the Moonlites, the CRL 2.5 is likely a better choice than the CR2. It has a M68x1 threaded tube and supports many different adapters included screw-threaded ones for GPUs and Paracorr. TS still have a few in stock, but judging from their online store, they seem to be out of flanges for 8" tubes. Flanges can however be ordered directly from Moonlite (focuser.com).
Of course its in stock now that I'm not looking for one lol. One thing that should be noted about the CRL/CSL and the TSGPU is that the treaded adapter only works for the old version GPU. Unless they've finally made a new adapter the compression ring would need to be used with any long tube CC but honestly I've got a pretty heavy image train and the compression ring has never been an issue.
|
You cannot like this item. Reason: "ANONYMOUS".
You cannot remove your like from this item.
Editing a post is only allowed within 24 hours after creating it.
You cannot Like this post because the topic is closed.
First light with the Steeltrack on my 8" f/4.5 ONTC. 10x1 min subs, ASI294MM Pro, unguided, so there may be some slight tracking errors. Seeing was bad due to jet stream.
The Steeltrack seems to be more precise than the Moonlite CR2. It runs smoother and has less slop around the Paracorr 2. In the data below, only the clamping mechanism was used, though I intend to employ a screw thread adapter.
The only thing I didn't like was the "VersaBase" of the Steeltrack. It has to be sealed for light leaks and it also has some very sharp grub screws that will scratch the focuser. But I guess one can change those.
NB: I have had serious annoyances with the OOUK primary mirror cell on my setup (flop, pinching) and there are some modest issues with my OOUK mirror having a slightly irregular edge. It seems like I have managed to mount the mirror correctly now but make sure you don't get faulty components if you buy this telescope. I would go for the TS ONTC mirror cell rather than the OOUK cell as it seems to be easier to use correctly.
 |
You cannot like this item. Reason: "ANONYMOUS".
You cannot remove your like from this item.
Editing a post is only allowed within 24 hours after creating it.
You cannot Like this post because the topic is closed.
8.52
0.00
