Does anyone know if the Nighthawk can be mounted directly to my Nexstar 80GT mount without any modification to the mount or do I need that baader bracket adapter from alpine astro?
My nexstar 80gt is the ultimate grab and go scope for my needs but I would like to be able to use a LITTLE more power on the planets, hence my interest in the Nighthawk. I realigned the mirror in my diagonal in the nexstar a couple of nights ago so that everything is lined up in the cheshire as close as possible but I still can't push my nexstar 80 over 100x. I am using a 7.5mm Orion Highlight plossl with an Ultima 2x barlow for 106x and although I can actually get the image in focus now, it is still quite soft, very low contrast and it also looks like there is a big fingerprint superimposed on whatever I am trying to look at (any ideas what might be causing the distortion, it's only visible at 106x or higher?).
I have read mixed reports about the Nighthawk and medium high powers. I am obviously NOT expecting to be able to use 200x or anything crazy like that, but it would be nice to be able to view the planets at 120x to 150x, with a sharp image and maybe get to see the cassini division on Saturn or a shadow transit on Jupiter. Are my expectations too high for the Nighthawk or does this sound reasonable?
Any comments regarding the 80gt mount, the fingerprint like distortion in my current scope, or medium high power planetary viewing in the Nighthawk would be greatly appreciated.
My nexstar 80gt is the ultimate grab and go scope for my needs but I would like to be able to use a LITTLE more power on the planets, hence my interest in the Nighthawk. I realigned the mirror in my diagonal in the nexstar a couple of nights ago so that everything is lined up in the cheshire as close as possible but I still can't push my nexstar 80 over 100x. I am using a 7.5mm Orion Highlight plossl with an Ultima 2x barlow for 106x and although I can actually get the image in focus now, it is still quite soft, very low contrast and it also looks like there is a big fingerprint superimposed on whatever I am trying to look at (any ideas what might be causing the distortion, it's only visible at 106x or higher?).
I have read mixed reports about the Nighthawk and medium high powers. I am obviously NOT expecting to be able to use 200x or anything crazy like that, but it would be nice to be able to view the planets at 120x to 150x, with a sharp image and maybe get to see the cassini division on Saturn or a shadow transit on Jupiter. Are my expectations too high for the Nighthawk or does this sound reasonable?
Any comments regarding the 80gt mount, the fingerprint like distortion in my current scope, or medium high power planetary viewing in the Nighthawk would be greatly appreciated.
