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[katodog]

I apologize for the impending cloudy weather, but I couldn't resist.

I just bought a new scope last night, and it should be here next week. A William optics Megrez 110mmED. I was waiting for the Astro Tech 102Ed to be back in stock at Astronomics, but it was taken longer than my patience could stand. The thing about the AT is that Astronomics sent out for new focusers, FeatherTouch focusers. So that made waiting bearable, knowing that I'd be getting one with the new FT focuser instead of the stock focuser. But, while waiting, I naturally had to spend my time looking at other scopes. Silly me. I was looking at the different 102ED scopes, Stellarvue, Orion, etc., and still couldn’t justify buying one of those, since I’d have to buy the case separate, and AT included the case. It was pretty much a no-brainer when I figured in not only the cost of a case, but the addition of the FT focuser. But, as patience is not one of my stronger points, I kept looking at other options. For some reason, I started looking at other ED scopes, and APO scopes as well. I soon figured out that for the price range I set for myself, a decent sized APO was not going to happen. So, I looked at what ED scopes were out, and what size aperture I could get for my self-assigned budget.

Funny thing, I actually stuck to my budget. Now that’s really out of character for me. Especially considering that when I bought the LX200R, I set a budget of only $3000. I went a tiny bit higher than that budget would allow, and even more so when I bought the accessories for it. I think after I was done with that scope, I had about $9000 into it. A tiny bit more than the original $3000 I set for myself. But hey, you only live once, right?

But, anyway. I set a budget on this purchase, and stuck to it this time. For some reason, I kept looking at the scopes in the 110mm range. I didn’t particularly set out to get a 110mm scope, but they kept attracting me, since some of them were in my budget range, and a bigger aperture is always better. So, I bounced back and forth between whether or not I wanted to wait for the AT102ED, or if I wanted instant gratification. Gee, guess what I decided.

So, now I patiently wait, hopefully only until sometime next week. I will soon be the proud father of the WO Megrez 110ED. I have read a few threads about it on Cloudy Nights, and everyone who owns one seems to be very happy with them, and give pretty good reviews. The pictures I’ve seen taken with the scope look pretty impressive, too, so I’m really eager to get some shots through it. But, of course I’ll have to wait for clear skies.


I will post the obligatory photos, and hopefully I won’t have to wait too long for a “First Light” report.

[katodog]

The new scope has arrived. William Optics Megrez 110ED.

An absolute excellent piece of equipment. Without a doubt the best refractor I've ever owned. An absolute beauty, and the objective doesn't have a single spec of dust or anything anywhere on it.















Now, if Joe would see fit to clear things up outside, and make it a little warmer, I could take this baby for a spin.

[katodog]

Well, first light lasted about ten minutes. Joe was gracious enough to clear up the skies, but he forgot about warming up the temperatures. I kinda knew I wouldn't be out too long, so I just put the scope on the CG5 clone and took it outside to look at the Moon. Of course, the aluminum tripod gave everything the hippie-hippie shakes. I may find a Meade field tripod to put the CG5 clone on for better stability. For the very short time I was out, I could see I was going to love the scope. Nice and sharp like a refractor should be. I also got my ADM Mini Dovetail System yesterday, and installed it on the LX200R. A very nice setup in the ADM, anodized, and very well machined. I maganed a few shots of the Moon through a 40mm plossl and the Owl 20mm, but it was so cold I didn't have time to mess with camera settings or get good focus.

But, here's what I'm using as the first official, unofficial "First Light" picture. This was with the 20mm Owl and Fuji S6000fd DSLR in the Megrez. Nothing spectacular, so it's not being ranked in the actual "Official" category. It'll go into the "Nice, but could have been better" folder.







And the Megrez in some of its designated positions; On top of the LX200R and on the LXD75. Funny, the 110ED is a lot longer when it's on top of the LX. I still have to tinker with the right position to be able to get my bulbous head at the eyepiece of the LX when the 110ED is on top. I also have to rebuild my counterweight system. I need one more 3D weight hanging down. The Megrez and the ADM MDS added a bit more weight than I thought it would. No biggie though.








Okay, now how about some warmer weather? I'm not asking for miracles, but 30° or a bit higher would be nice.

[katodog]

Wow, that spam crap sure makes a crap-house out of the boards. It's enough to make your eyes cross.

First off, Bryant, regardless of the Moon, those are nice shots.


Second, I got my second "First Light" with the Megrez last night for about an hour. Since I didn't plan on doing anything serious, I didn't bother to level or align or anything. Just pushed the scopes out the garage door and turned on the LX200R for tracking. Which didn't really make a difference since I wasn't level, and the scope was far enough off that I had to keep tracking manually. No biggie, though. That hour proved to be productive enough to tell me that I'm going to love this scope. Very, very crisp, sharp, clean views of the Moon and M42, with about 6 different eyepieces. I had the binoviewer in with a 2x Barlow cell threaded to the nose, and the stock 20mm eyepieces that came with it; Stunning. The Moon with two eyes is beautiful, and in the Megrez, it's even more beautiful.

I started off while it was still daylight, so I was having a little trouble getting sharp focus on the Moon. But, it was sharp enough. There was also a little bit of those hazy, thin white clouds flowing by. But, as the time went by, and it got darker out, the views sharpened up a lot more. The 40mm Paragon, 20mm Owl (as a 20mm and 30mm), both Meade UWAs, a Proxima zoom, a 40mm Plossl, and a Celestron 26mm silvertop all went in the scope, and none disappointed. In the Owl eyepiece as a 30mm, there was such a tiny line of CA that it's almost not worth mentioning. The scope performed perfectly, though, in all regards with those eyepieces. With the stock 20s and the two Proxima zooms in the binoviewer, I was treated to some seriously incredible views of the Moon.

I shot some pics of the Moon while it was still light out, so they didn't come out sharp, but they were good enough for now. I was looking at things from a visual approach last night, so the pics didn't cause me any worries. That's going to take a few solid two or three-hour nights to figure out what the camera will do. I will say that optically, it outperforms the Orion achro I had, which is kinda what I expected, being an ED scope.

I've read some reviews of the Megrez 110ED that say it comes closer to APO than ED, and from what I've seen so far, I'd have to agree. I slewed to three different bright stars, don't ask which ones, and it was perfect on all three. No halos, no flare, no bloating. Nothing. Nothing but tight, sharp stars. I ran focus in and out, and the results were perfect both in-focus and out-focus. Perfect. Just about as perfect as perfect gets.


Here's one of the Moon pics. Now, remember. My camera has some pretty bad edge curvature, so if there's any goofiness in the shot, blame the camera. Visually, I didn't see any bad issues, even with plossls. The one eyepiece I didn't try that I should have was the 11mm Owl. That thing is really finicky as to what scope it goes in. I have to remember to try it in the Megrez. This pic doesn't look all that sharp or spectacular for two reasons, it was still light out, and I didn't know at the time that I was set at ISO800. The camera really likes to throw noise into some shots at that ISO.





But, the good news is that I love the scope, and subsequent nights with it will get me settled on what settings are best.

The other good news is that I should be getting a Canon 10D some time this week. I already have a CNC Supply True-2 adapter for it, and am itching to get it on the scope. I know for sure I'll enjoy using the 10D and the Megrez together. It should be a great setup. I'm also planning to put the 110ED on the LXD75 once in a while, to see how it handles on an EQ mount. I know from the 30 second shots I've gotten with my S600fd on the 200R fork mount, that it tends to stair-step the stairs, and I get slight trails from field rotation. I'd like to see what I can produce with 30 seconds or more with the 10D, and the S6000fd, on an EQ mount.

[Maddad]

Now that the weather's warm, you should have some interesting sharp shots.