A couple of months ago I posted a report on a 14" T-scope I received from Ed Taychert in New York. At that time I talked mostly about the build quality and the lightweight (62 lbs., total) of the scope, which make it truly enjoyable to use. After having used the 14" for a couple of months now, I wanted to follow up with a report on it's optical performance.
Probably the most amazing thing about receiving this scope is that the skies were clear the night it arrived. THE SKIES WERE CLEAR THE NIGHT IT ARRIVED!!! I've had a fifty dollar eyepiece purchase bring on a deluge of biblical proportions, so the fact that the SKIES WERE CLEAR left me stunned and grateful!
I'm not an expert (or even particularly good) at the star test, but I'm familiar with the basic problems it can reveal. Out of the box, collimated and cooled down, the mirror threw up a very pleasing star test. None of the obvious problems: turned edge, rough surface, pinched optics, or astigmatism. I had been concerned that a mirror that size resting on one edge against two plastic sleeved supports might show moderate "pinching" from it's own weight, but not to worry, nothing there.
Again, I'm no expert, but the star test looked really good. A hint of undercorrection, perhaps? But I've heard many times that until a mirror is FULLY cooled down, it can appear that way. Of course, the real story is seen at the eyepiece.
This was the standard mirror that comes with this package-promised to be 1/10th wavefront. With a 35 Panoptic in place for an exit pupil of 7.45, and a 1.4* field at 48X, I scanned a few star clusters. M35 looked really pretty, fine pinpoints of light scattered across the field...that lovely chain of stars arcing throught the center with a red point of light at the end of the arc. NGC2135 appeared a fine patch of foggy light off one end of the cluster. With a 17 Nagler in place I could tease about a dozen or so stars out of the fog. The Double Cluster was a pretty sight, with both components visible in the field, and again all the stars fine little points. I am surprised at how well an f/4.7 scope performs without a Parracor or similar device. Perhaps the last 7% or so of the field begins to show a little curving of the stellar image, but certainly acceptable for my eyes.
The Orion Nebula-of course!-was beautiful. Contast through both the Panoptic and Nagler was gorgeous, with tendrils and filaments shooting all through the field, It seemed to me that I was seeing appreciably more than I did with my old 12.5"...wishful thinking, maybe? But the area behind the nebula was filled with streamers arcing away from the main body of the nebula. The Trapezium at low power was a tight, well-defined knot of four, with hints of the fifth and sixth components...getting a little low toward the horizon that night.
On the planets I'm using BV's exclusively now. A pair of 19 Pans, with the BV riding on a 2X Ultima barlow gives me about 320X on Saturn. Magnificent! The equatorial band shows fine structure and detail (New Mexico can be blessed with extremely stable skies at times), banding is apparent in the polar region, Cassini is evident and razor-sharp, the A and B rings show subtle brightness variations, with multiple moons in attendance-sorry, no count for you, Floyd!
All in all, I'm more than pleased with the performance of this mirror. Coupled as it is with a well-built, light-weight structure, I've got a scope that I'll be using for many years to come, and gladly!
The one fly in the ointment is that it takes forever to get one of these into your hands. Originally I was promised this scope in six months from time of order. It took TWENTY months to finally arrive. I know a custom Dob takes time, but promised delivery is very unrealisitic in this case, and add in SIX promises of delivery before it finally did make it to me, and you have a pretty disappointing experience.
When the scope did arrive, it came without the light shroud, the finder, and the fan...try using a 14" truss-tube dob THAT way! Can it really take almost two years for a manufacturer to ship three accessories? After contacting Ed, I was promised everything in one week, with the shroud taking an additional week. Bottom line? Two months later, I'm still waiting, and no shroud, no finder, and no fan. Needless to say, what should have been a very pleasant experience has turned into a very frustrating one. I'm going to try one last time to resolve these issues with Ed, I'll post a final report to let you know how it went. As a last note, I would add this: if you want a really fine product and are willing to wait a long time, this is the scope for you. If you're in a hurry, you might want to keep on looking.
Larry Seguin
Taos, New Mexico
