Pondering a change....

Hi all,

I'm pondering if moving to a C14 would be a significant upgrade from my Mewlon 250 for planetary imaging, any thoughts?

Paul

C14s can be very impressive scopes -- I've
seen amazing views of planets down in the
Florida keys where day/night temp swing is
very small. Damian Peach uses one with
great results, but again from an island
where day/night temp swing is about 3 deg. F.

At home on the east coast with day/night
swing of 20 or 30 deg. F, its very
difficult to get it cooled down. "Cat Coolers"
etc. help to some extent.

I might wonder if the open tube of the Mewlon
is a real advantage.

The aperture increase from 10" to 14" would
be very noticable, aside from thermal issues.

Paul Maxson said:

I'm pondering if moving to a C14 would be a significant upgrade from my Mewlon 250 for planetary imaging, any thoughts?

Paul

Hi Paul,

While I think a 14" scope would be a great performer from your location, you are not yet approaching the limits of what can be accomplished with the 10" aperture of your Mewlon. I would suggest working to hone your skills and push this limit further before giving up the weight and size advantages of the Mewlon.

This is pragmatic advice only - the joys of shopping are another issue altogether!

best wishes,
Alan

Hello Paul,

I believe that Alan's hint is the most sensible and contains what other have said: mind the seeing conditions at your place. A 10" scope may already be above the limit imposed by the average seeing conditions at your place.

There is also another issue that is a bit more delicate: I don't believe that the mechanical/optical quality of a Celestron scope can measure up to Takahashi's. My first idea would be that, if you want more aperture, go for the Mewlon 300, which is not quite 14" (11.8") but I'm sure it can stand up to any Celestron scope.


Ciao Paul

Luca