AT 66 f/6 refractor

Started by mirfak, 05/08/2006 03:00AM
Posted 05/08/2006 03:00AM Opening Post
I recieved mine Thursday and was able to use for public viewing on Astronomy day. Its a very nice optical tube with alum case, fine focus, rotating focuser, and sct-style removable back. Its made in Taiwan and appears to be a clone of William Optics scopes.

Why did I get it? It was shiny! I saw that chrome finish and thought "Thats Me!" The price was right too.

Performance: much better than I expected. Views are crisp and sharp day or night. I used 40mm Kellner, 26mm Plossl, 12 and 7mm Nagler. All reached focus easily.

Targets were Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter. No false color seen on the lunar limb. Much better than my 80mm "semi-apo", which is a very nice scope. Planets seen sharply defined with detail, but very small in size. My max magnification used was only 56x.

The supplied case is attractive and sturdy. There are cut outs for a 1.25" ep, 2" ep, and diagonal.

The only downsides are small aperture and fingerprints easily seen on the chrome finish. I dont consider this a primary planetary or deep sky scope, but an excellent backup for grab and go observing.

5 years ago I would have scoffed at a scope this size, but I know better now. The level of quality is way to high for the price, or is this an indication of things to come ?

Regards
JOhn R



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