Testing the C80ED

Oh boy, what a Telescope. I got this on offer from FLO and it arrived yesterday. Today was my first opportunity to setup and test. First impressions, this is a well built solid instrument. The tube, focuser, focus knobs, adapters and even the dew shield are all metal. This puts the weight up, but it's only 1/2 Kg heavier than the Konus for all that. The focus knobs are about twice the diameter of the Konus, so whilst this has a single speed rack and pinion focuser, the action is very smooth, with far more fine ability and appears to have no slack at all. The 6x30 finder is clear, operates in a normal upright mode (this caused me real problems with the original Konus finder) is clear and bright, and has a well made metal mount with spring loaded alignment. The scope sits snugly in the tuberings on my existing NexStar SLT mount, and the colours match perfectly, down the writing around the dew shield matching the stripe on the mount.



I used the fence some way away as a test for my daylight setup. Shot using the 450d at prime focus.



And a second one using my 2x TC


Visually, the same view was crisp and precise using both the 6.5mm Ortho and the 5mm Hyperion. I had some CA creep in when using the TAL x2 barlow, but using the Hyperion tuning rings instead sorted that out. (I think I need a Celestron Ultima barlow now).

I had to go out, early evening, but had a few minutes for a couple of quick tests on the moon. I used the provided clamshell tube mount to fit the 80 to a camera tripod, and here was the only problem with the scope. The clamshell doesn't lock properly, it uses a pair of clips to lock in place, one locks and the other doesn't. I was ok using this with the moon low down for a test, but I wouldn't want to trust the clamshell if I was pointing the scope higher up towards the zenith. I'll get onto FLO about that.

Anyway, I took 2 shots, one with the 55-250 and one with the 450d at prime, I had a little problem getting focus with the T Adapter fitted directly to the T thread on the scope body, but using the 1.25" nosepiece sorted that.

The Uncropped 55-250 shot


The Cropped version


Using the C80ED
Uncropped


Cropped


I can't see any evidence of CA in these images. One thing they do show, is just what a good combination the 450d with the 55-250 really is.

After my outing, I was able to get the scope out for an hour. I carried out my normal NexStar level and align, only using a Solar System align on the Moon. I really need to work out what the centre of the moon is for alignment, as the view always drifts about when I do this.

Anyway, the view through the Ortho was quite amazing, and I was able to focus with just the mirror diagonal, no extension tubes needed. I then swapped to the 5mm Hyperion, and the view took my breath away. Amazing amounts of detail showing through, that with the Konus I've never seen before. I then decided to push it to see how far I could go. I put both tuning rings in the Hyperion, making it a 2.5mm ep, and giving 240x magnification. Now by all logic, this should be seriously overpowering the scope and on that basis the view should have deteriorated. I have to say, that I could see no difference in the view, apart from getting that much more closely in. The craters all looked really refined. Aristarchus and the nearby Schroeter valley looked amazing and clear, with well defined edges. Seeing was somewhat wobbly, but didn't interfere too badly. I just went for a little tour around the terminator, and was surprised to see some of the surface features away from the terminator, that in the Konus showed no real definition, appears quite clear in the C80ED.

I then changed to try some webcam imaging. And shot a series of different avi's at various focal lengths, using just the webcam, the x2 barlow and the x5 barlow. I was able to achieve focus without using any extensions at all the focal lengths. I have yet to process them, and I'm not 100% I got the settings right, and the drift may have a negative effect on the resulting image once processed, but it's all good experience, and clearly shows to me how much easier this scope is to use.

Then I had to pack up, as my powertank was flagging and the clouds moved in.

I have to say, I'm really impressed with this scope, and I'm really glad I grabbed it before stock ran out, as the prices was excellent. I'll post the webcam images once processed.