Hey all,

I broke down and purchased a 2.6" semi apo from Astronomics last week and it arrived Wednesday. I'm very impressed with the fit and finish of this solid little dude. Everything about it has exceeded my expectations so far and the good reviews I've read about the Astro-Tech 66ED have been very acurate. The focuser is as smooth as butter and the optics produce crisp pin point stars with out any noticable false color in my novice eyes. Although visually is not in the same league as my 10" newt, it does make up a with its ultra wide fov. I just recently constructed a pier, so I was anxious to try it out on some faint fuzzies and the ccd. At the time, my pier had some unforeseen problems with the Alzmuth bolt, so long exposures was out of the question and not to mention a rather bright moon. Any who, here is my first effort with the new refractor and pier.



35x60sec. un-guided

Thanks for looking

Nice first image, Larry!

Looking forward to seeing you and the family on the 16th at the Girl Scout Star Party. Right now the long-range forecast fro the 16th looks favorable.

Thanks Dave.

We are still planning to come down. I sure hope the weather is better...