LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian UHTC OTA??

I'm wondering how the views of DSO's through the LXD75 SN compare to a 10" Dob. How about planetary performance?

The fast, f/4 optics sound great but I'm curious how the views are.

Any concerns about eyepieces like people have with fast dobs or does the corrector/ mirror combination alleviate the need for a Paracorr? Also, is it impossible to cool one of those down?

[COLOR="Purple"]Hi David!
I have one of the 8" SN OTAs and it is a very nice performer for wide field viewing. I also have a wondeful 10" f/6 dob. The 10" gives better views but has a smaller field of view. I've never been much of a planetary observer so maybe someone else will answer about planetary use of the SN.

I use a Paracorr with the SN and stars are good almost to the very edge of the field of view. Without the PC, edge stars are still not great, even though the SN with the corrector is definitely better than a plain newt at f/4. Better eyepieces, like Naglers, are probably a good thing too with the fast light cone of the f/4 (f/4.6 with PC) optics.

For cool down, I do two things. First, I removed the Kydex in the mirror cell so I can blow a fan directly on the back of the mirror while I set up. Second, I usually use only low power with the scope so tube currents aren't very noticable.

My only issue with the 8" SN is that the secondary mirror is VERY oversized to allow for film astrophotography. I'm strictly a visual observer so the big secondary is a bit of overkill and adds a lot of obstruction. I just got a 6" SN OTA with a smaller secondary and I'm going to try to swap the smaller secondary over to the 8" OTA to improve contrast and light through put.

Like any scope, the SNs are trade offs depending on the type of viewing you do. I love DSOs and wide field sweeping of the MW so I like the SNs. For the DSOs, I have a bigger scopes. Soooo....when I get out to really dark skies, I take two scopes most of the time.

Sorry to ramble! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Bill[/COLOR]