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Popp Maksutov

Started by idoos, 08/23/2006 02:52PM
Posted 08/23/2006 02:52PM Opening Post
Hi All,

Recently I buyed a set of 8" Maksutov optics (the main mirror and the meniscus with spot as secondary + the mirror cell and holder for the meniscus.I also have the tube so I can make a hopefully well performing 8" Maksutov.

Is there someone who has more information from the legendary Swiss optics designer E. Popp. or from his Maksutovs he build (from 6" models to 12")??.

Thanks,

Ido Oosterveld
Netherlands.



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idoos's attachment for post 33096
Posted 09/09/2006 04:19AM | Edited 09/09/2006 04:20AM #1
A 12" Mak? Whoa!!! E. Popp must be some kind of Mak guru alright. That must be some kind of scope. LOMO was going to build a 8" or 10" Mak in the Astele Mak-Cass series, but LOMO shut down plans to produce it after making a few pre-production samples. It's still shown on the LOMO website. I guess they are still looking for solid interest, but are tentatively out of the amateur astro scope business. I own the 6" version, which was the largest one ever widely produced. It simply kills. No other words for it. It continues to amaze me for its modest aperture. I know of the 10" Russian TAL Cassegrain scopes with the Klevtsov corrector, and the 9" Intes Mak-Cass, but a 12" Mak would be awesome, and still portable.

An 8" Mak like you bought would be about the best size for lunar and planetary work on a night of good seeing around here. The seeing conditions around here often knock my 6" Mak in the head. I also own a LOMO 102mm Mak-Newt for lunar observing on nights of really bad seeing. Perfect star tests and perfectly collimated from the factory. It picks up Polaris's tiny companion with no problem whatsoever, and split the Double-Double in the Lyra at 62X. However, I wish I had at least 8" of aperture for deep sky observing, although the LOMO 150 Mak does extremely well for a 6" scope.

Good luck with that Mak. It should really be a killer when you get it up and running. Try the Telescope optics book by Rutten and Van Venrooji for ideas, then do some experimenting as others have suggested. You might want to try a fiber tube instead of metal, such as graphite. That should cut down on internal thermal tube currents, the bane of long focus Cassegrains. Properly cooling that 8" Mak will be your biggest obstacle. My 6" Mak cools down surprisingly fast, almost as fast as a refractor, a fact noted by other LOMO 150 Mak owners.