Jeff Blazey article.qxd:1 - Astronomy Technology Today

CONFESSIONS
OF A
MAK-NEWT FAN
A Tribute to a Unique Telescope Design
that Really Does It All!
By Jeff Blazey
There it is again, a fairly extended
silence followed by “Hmm,” and moments
later a step back from the eyepiece and a
careful examination of the scope with the
beam of a red flash running up and down
the tube. Then the usual question: “Wow,
that’s nice, what scope is this?” I give the
usual answer, “It’s an Intes MN66.”
Without fail, that’s the kind of reaction
I get when people have their first look
thru one of my Intes Micro MaksutovNewtonians (Mak-Newt or MN). With
such almost universal reaction to the image
quality of these scopes, why aren’t they
more popular? Well, I don’t know.
But what I do know is that these
Intes Micro Mak-Newts remind me very
much of quality refractors – Apos in
particular.
I’ve been around this hobby for 40
years and even had a small part-time business at one point, buying, selling and trading scopes. I’ve owned and used more telescopes than you can shake a Barlow at and
can, by now, immediately tell a good set of
optics. What I’ve discovered along the way
is that really good scopes all seem to share
certain key characteristics and the MakNewts are no exception.
First, there’s no ambiguity to focus,
just an abruptness or “snap” at focus which
is unmistakable. I have never experienced
this before with a scope (reflector or refractor) of such a short focal ratio (f/6) and
over such a good chunk of the field of view.
If you’ve spent some time at the eyepiece of
a big, fast Dob, you know exactly what I
mean.
The next trait involves just how sharp
that well-focused image is. To me, what
differentiates excellent instruments from
the merely good is this characteristic of
image sharpness, and the Mak-Newts
I’ve used produce that sharpness of detail –
an etched, almost chiseled image quality
that I’ve come to expect from a highquality refractor. Moon and planetary
images are “hard” and sharp with very
solid boundaries against the blackness of
space.
They will readily reveal differences in
eyepieces that lesser scopes will, well, quite
literally, smudge over. Thus, the Tele Vue
Plossls and University Optics orthos work
especially well with these scopes. I’ve also
noted that these scopes are very “friendly”
to my older Plossl, Konig and Erfle
eyepieces in the 20- to 40-mm range (my
28-mm RKE is particularly enjoyable in
the Mak-Newts), despite their faster f/6
stop. I notice considerably less image
distortion towards the edges of the field
than I do when using those eyepieces with
a typical f/6 Newtonian. For example,
using my 30+ year old 2-inch 40-mm
Brandon “boat anchor” Erfle in an
uncorrected f/6 Newtonian would just
about make you sea sick. The outer twothirds of the 70 degree apparent field is a
whirlpool of elongated stars. With the
Mak-Newt, however, only about the outer
third of the field starts to suffer. This gives
me a noticeably wider working field of
view, again reminding me very much of a
well made refractor.
Finally, one characteristic surprised me
and it was something that these scopes do
not do – there is little obvious vignetting of
Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY
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CONFESSIONS OF A MAK-NEWT FAN
the light cone in these long focal-length
refractors truly strut their stuff over the
wide-field eyepieces. The secondary mirIntes-Micro MN66. The Apos are a bit
rors in Mak-Newts are relatively small
brighter, with a smidge better contrast and
given their fast f/6 design (typically around
greater capacity to absorb really high mag20 percent on the diameter), and the
nifications, but I gotta tell yah, after a
scopes usually have a fair amount of back
minute’s use, I’ve forgotten those differfocus. In a traditional Newtonian, that
ences and am totally involved in the views
small secondary
produced by
and long back
the
Makfocus
would
Newts.
Like
combine to progood
Apos,
duce an illumiMak-Newts do
nated field of
nothing wrong,
very small diamnor anything
eter and signifithat actively
cant vignetting
interferes with
in
eyepieces
the
viewing
with large field
experience.
stop diameters.
Quite
the
Looking into
opposite really
the optical path
– when using
of the Makthem, I’ve no
Newt sans eyedesire or urge to
piece
you’ll
rush back to the
indeed notice The Intes-Micro MN66/Losmandy G-8 Combination Apo. I just sit
that there’s a relatively small fully-illumithere and enjoy the views (and yes, you can
nated field and would therefore expect to
observe with the smaller ones while seated
notice some dimming of the outer edges in
comfortably). The Mak-Newts don’t leave
a wide-field eyepiece, and yes, it is there,
me feeling like I’m missing out on anybut not nearly to the extent I would have
thing.
expected. I have to actively look for it, a
Like any telescope design though, they
telling testament to the effectiveness of the
do have their own unique quirks and pracunique Mak-Newt design.
tical considerations. The collimation proIt’s only in direct, side-by-side comparcedures and tools required to carry them
isons, under very steady skies and at very
out are basically the same as for any
high magnifications, that my two (yes, I
Newtonian, with adjustments available for
have two) Astro-Physics 152 Starfire Apo
both the primary and secondary. One
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Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY
CONFESSIONS OF A MAK-NEWT FAN
wrinkle is that you can’t, as in a
Newtonians. I can still get a sharp image
Newtonian, rotate the secondary holder by
with small amounts of miscollimation.
reaching in through the front of the tube,
Even when collimation is slightly off, in
because the meniscus is in the way. Instead,
and out of focus stellar images are still
you have to use your finger tips to rotate a
round, exhibiting only a slight mis-centerknurled ring on the front of the secondary
ing of the airy disk inside the first diffracholder. There’s not a lot of space between
tion ring – with an f/6 Newtonian, coma
your finger tips and
creeps in much
the meniscus, so it’s
more quickly under
easy to get finger
the same condiprints on its coated
tions.
surface. Just be
Cool
down
careful.
time is not an issue
Also,
these
for me, even in the
Mak-Newts
are
extremes of winter.
equipped with bafIn fact, my Makfling under the secNewts cool faster
ondary and it is so
than my Apos.
effective it can be
That’s because the
difficult to see the
meniscus and secoutline of the secondary have no
ondary against the
“power” associated
internal diameter
with them; the mirof your sight tube.
rors are spherical
I guess we should
and thin, the tubes
all have such probare aluminum with
lems! However, the
effective ventilacollimation adjusttion, and the bafments and locking
fling acts as heat
The Intes-Micro MN86 mounted
features are straight
sinks. All good
on a Losmandy G-11
forward and effecstuff! I just point
tive so that, once dialed in, it takes a pretty
the scope down and open the back plate to
good jolt to knock anything out of alignallow the warmer interior air to escape. The
ment.
only thermal issues I’ve experienced have
Interestingly, I’ve also found these
been thermal plumes coming off of the secscopes to be considerably less “fussy” and
ondary and then only when I’ve done
more tolerant of collimation error than f/6
something dumb like leave it exposed to
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Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY
43
CONFESSIONS OF A MAK-NEWT FAN
The Compact and Portable Intes-Micro
MN55/Vixen GP Combination
direct sunlight.
The scopes’ weights are completely
reasonable for each of their aperture sizes
and there are dovetail options a-plenty for
any mount. I imagine they would also
work very well in a Dobsonain configuration, although I’ve never tried that myself.
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Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY
There has been a lot
of carping about the
quality of the stock
finders and, especially,
the focusers. I find
both to be completely
“serviceable.” But, if
you want to upgrade,
there’s no shortage
of either. I can personally recommend the
Starlight Instruments
Feather Touch replacement focusers.
One last high-performance scope trait I
failed to list earlier is
that I find Intes-Micro
Mak-Newts terribly difficult to part with.
I still own three of them (MN55,
MN66 and MN86) and only parted with a
MN56 because a friend really wanted it.
I know of several former MN76 owners
who now completely regret selling them.
They’re just really nice packages. The
f/6 focal ratio is perfect for most applications; it allows use of 40-mm wide-field
eyepieces for really low-power work, or
high-power viewing using a Barlow,
without having to resort to a peephole 4- or
5-mm eyepiece.
I specifically purchased a MN55 to fit
on my Vixen GP or Meade LXD75
mounts for portability. Low-power
deep-sky views are its forte, but the high
power views compare well to my old A-P
130-mm f/6 Apo (the one with the
“NASA glass”) and that’s really saying
something!
The MN86 fits extremely well on my
Losmandy G-11 mount and the rotating
rings (standard on the MN76 and larger)
allow easy access to the eyepiece no
matter where the scope is pointed. Despite
the MN86 being a bit of a beast weight
wise (~45 pounds), the MN86/G-11
combo demonstrates excellent damping
times – a poke on the side of the tube
causes nothing more than a one-cycle,
out-and-back motion, with no “ringing” of
CONFESSIONS OF A MAK-NEWT FAN
the image. This scope does it all by
providing stunning high-power views of
the Moon and planets, while also providing
enough aperture to do some serious
deep-sky damage. M42 and M13 are
exceptional through the MN86.
The MN66 was, if the truth be
known, an impulse buy as it looked so cool
with Parallax rotating rings. But, it’s turned
out to be my favorite Mak-Newt for public
gatherings and is mounted on a Losmandy
G-8 mount.
In closing, as the title says, I’m a
Mak-Newt fan. They provide a fat slice of
the performance you get from a good
Apo (exceptional, stable image quality)
and the simple layout of a Newtonian,
without the disadvantages of tube currents,
diffractions spikes and coma). I consider
these scopes to be a tremendous value,
even at full list price. The MN76 is a
particularly compelling package with its
large-aperture, sharp optics and reasonable
weight and length. Recommended?
No…HIGHLY recommended!
This close-up of the meniscus of the MN demonstrates both the relatively small diameter of the central obstruction formed by the secondary and the effectiveness of the
meniscus coatings. Note also the internal baffles of the optical tube.
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