Celestron C6-A Schmidt-Cassegrain Optical Tube Assembly

Comments about Celestron C6-A Schmidt-Cassegrain Optical Tube Assembly:

THIS SCOPE IS INCREDIBLE. I ALSO HAVE A 8 INCH REFLECTOR AND AT TIME`S I WONDER IF I AM LOOKING THROUGH IT INSTED OF THE 6 INCH.SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A MEDIUM SIZE SCOPE WITH A LOT OF POP,LOOK NO FARTHER.IMAGE`S ARE CRISP AND CLEAR.MAKES A GREAT GRAB AND GO SCOPE.

Comments about Celestron C6-A Schmidt-Cassegrain Optical Tube Assembly:

I have had this scope now for about three or four months, and I have to say that I love it. The image quality is fantastic, particularly from a dark sky site. Globular clusters are particularly impressive, as are galaxies, nebulae, planets and the moon. Pretty much anything you would care to look at.

Truthfully, there are limits to a 6" scope as compared to bigger and more expensive ones. This past weekend I had my 6" out next to a friend's 12" Schmidt-Cassegrain. Naturally the 12" had brighter and clearer images, but I don't know if they were thousands of dollars brighter and clearer. So this definitely has a lot of bang for the buck. It probably cost about 1/6 of what that 12" cost, yet the image quality was approaching that of what you got with the 12".

Another advantage this scope has is size. I bought a hard case for it, putting the factory foam shipping insert into the case. In this configuration, it's just about the right size to be able to take on an airplane as carry-on luggage, which I have done. I don't know that you can find another 6" scope that can travel so easily. Newtonians and Dobsonians are too big to take aboard a plane and have to be checked in, which is a scary thought.

This scope took a little bit of tweaking to make it work optimally. First of all, the collimation may need to be adjusted. This is incredibly easy with this scope, it only requires looking through the scope while turning a screwdriver. The other thing was that, from the factory, the this scope came with what looked like an uneven oily film on the corrector plate. I was hesitant to clean it because I know it's a coated corrector plate and they tend to be very touchy. Finally someone convinced me that the oily film was likely some type of substance used to adhere the corrector plate to the tube, and some of it had seeped out onto the plate. Using a very soft cloth and 91% alcohol, I was able to remove this film. Afterwards, the image quality went from good to outstanding.

Comments about Celestron C6-A Schmidt-Cassegrain Optical Tube Assembly:

Well built and nice looking scope. The views are great,very sharp for a Schmidt Cass. The only drawbacks would be the undersized finderscope, and the diagonal which should be replaced with a high quality one.