Is a 6" Mak a good general purpose scope? Are they corrected for coma etc..? Do they have any inherent problems? Thanks for any advice 
Mak Questions
Started by cor meum, 11/22/2005 04:37PM
Posted 11/22/2005 04:37PM
Opening Post
Posted 11/22/2005 05:24PM
#1
A 6" Maksutov has many fine qualities. It is compact, the Intes Micro and the Tecs are of very high opitical quality. The corrector plate does correct for coma. They don't require huge mounts, a 6" will go an a Great Polaris for visual use.
Nothing is perfect, of course. The Maks tend to have less throughput for their size than a standard Newtonian or APO refractor. They seem to take a long time to aclimate to temperature change. That has been the biggest frustration that I have heard. They also have long focal ratios, f 10 to f15. That means that it is harder to get a broad true field of view. That can make it hard to find objects for a beginner.
There are also Mak Newts which run around f5 to f6, have the same corrected coma, small secondaries, and seem to cool down a good deal faster. They are also bigger, I run my MN 56 on the GP, the MN 66 would be pushing it.
Nothing is perfect, of course. The Maks tend to have less throughput for their size than a standard Newtonian or APO refractor. They seem to take a long time to aclimate to temperature change. That has been the biggest frustration that I have heard. They also have long focal ratios, f 10 to f15. That means that it is harder to get a broad true field of view. That can make it hard to find objects for a beginner.
There are also Mak Newts which run around f5 to f6, have the same corrected coma, small secondaries, and seem to cool down a good deal faster. They are also bigger, I run my MN 56 on the GP, the MN 66 would be pushing it.
Funding Member
