Tonight, Refractor vs SCT!

In this corner the beloved Celestron C-9.25 mounted on a Meade LXD 750 and in the other corner a standard 8.5" achromat mounted on a Meade DS-16 mount. Who will win

Tonights high res targets: Saturn, the moon and a few choice double stars. Both scopes cooling at present. Results later tonight.

Please excuse the soft photo.

Attached Image:

Bring that refratctor to RTMC, man!!! Doesn't have to be a "shootout" -- both scopes will have their pluses and minuses. Nevertheless, the ATM world waits breathlessly for your reaction to the refractor. Does it have a lot of SA? Is there significant fringe color? Can it leap tall buildings with a single bound? (not sure about the last part).
Regards,
Steve in Bakersfield.

Verdict. Well... You already know the answer but the differences were not as great as one might think. The cassini division in Saturn's ring was easier to see in the refractor. Both scopes revealed 6 moons. The double stars were just a tad tighter in the refractor but lunar detail was just about the same in both scopes. The C-9 held it's own surprisingly well. It was more sensitive to the seeing conditions but that was to be expected. The seeing was about 5/10. Not a great night but I had fun anyway.

Believe it or not, the SCT will get a more use than the refractor. Ease of use is the main reason. Even though the refractor is easy to setup (for an 8 inch refractor) the SCT is easier (no step ladder needed). Plus the fact that if the night turns out to be crap the time spent setting up won't feel as much a waste of time.

The SCT works well enough to keep me happy on the average nights I get here. The "big gun" refractor will come out on those superb (predicted) nights. I have yet to have one of those nights since I have completed the refractor. When it does I know the refractor will blow me away 8O

Knowing me though, I will get probably get another itch and both will be sold for another project.

If anyone is interested in the details on the observing session let me know.

Keith