Monday, June 25, 2012

MK-67 morphs to C9.25

One of the local club members put his C9.25 up for sale a while ago. I've always wanted a C9.25 because of its reputation and how it fit my "long-term imaging plan." It's got a nice aperture and versatility, being either a nice long f/10 or a reasonably fast f/6.3. I would just have bought it but for the fact that it would make my MK-67 redundant.

The solution was to sell the MK-67 and use the funds to help buy the C9.25. Two nights ago I did the former, and last night the latter. Tonight I've got it out on my CGEM to see If I can do an imaging dry run at f/10. The target will be good old M 27 in H alpha.

I wonder how often sales act like dominos. The selling of my MK67 triggers the C9.25 sale, which has its seller looking to buy a used Fastar system for his C11. It's too far downstream to ever know if the Fastar seller will turn around and buy something else, but I wouldn't be surprised if  that happened.

First visual check: Alignment looks perfect. Views are beautiful! Saturn sharp and contrasty (if that's a word); moons like pinpoints. Spica dazzles with no false color. Next up, getting the CCD started up as soon as it's dark.