ed 100

Ok, People have told me (on astromart forums as well as on cn ) to calm down my optics on the 100 ed sound good. I've been quiet for a while.
I just bought a klee 2.8 (used)there was real image break down at 252x (10mm sirius plossl + the klee)on both Saturn and Jupiter as well as color on stars.
It seemed like pretty good seeing and the skies were calm.
Is this normal? I've seen so many posts and reviews of people saying that they can easily push mag. to well over 300x. Collimation checks out fine with a cheshire(bigger black dot and little one totally merged. Does this warrent a trip back to Orion? Or am I just worrying once again?
or
Thanx

What part of the country do you live in, if I may ask? I live in Wesetern Ky. I rarely get nights where I can push 300x, in any scope. The jetstream seems to dip down right where I live. I have only had 5-7 nights since 2000 when I could really say that I could see much more at 300x as opposed to 220x or so. This through a variety of scopes. The reason I say 2000 is because from Christmas until New Years back then I had 5 nights in a row which were rock steady, ubelievable seeing.

Perhaps the seeing where you are at was not that great that night. Looks can be deceiving. Examine the in focus airy disc of a star and see if it appears stable. They should be easy to see with a 4" scope. Also, I have found that the moon can provide a good test of seeing sometimes as well. Try about 200x near the terminator. There is plenty of texture along the terminator. At that power and with a really bad night of seeing around here I can see the turbulence in the atmosphere. The tiny details blue then get sharp then blur again. On good nights at the same power the detail is all there and never waivers. Again, this with a variety of scope from 80mm up to 12".

One last thing. Planetary viewing can be an exercise in frustration depending on your local seeing. However, even with great seeing some details are only visible in fleeting moments as some people put it. Patience is rewarded. But some nights it doesnt matter if you are patient or not, the sky doesnt cooperate.

I suggest if you have not already, take your scope to a local club. Have someone there check the scope out if you are truly unsure. Better yet, view with them with your scope and theirs. Preferrably a similiar aperture scope. Only then will you be able to rule out bad seeing or bad a bad scope, unless every member there has a bad scope as well, which is unlikely.

Good luck.

>>>>Is this normal? I've seen so many posts and reviews of people saying that they can easily push mag. to well over 300x. Collimation checks out fine with a cheshire(bigger black dot and little one totally merged. Does this warrent a trip back to Orion? Or am I just worrying once again?
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The normal rule of thumb is that 50x/in is the maximum useful magnification with any scope under excellent conditions. For the ED-100 this is right at 200x and corresponds to an exit pupil of 0.5mm or 0.020 inches or about 5 human hairs in diameter... Pretty tiny..

Under some conditions it is possible to push things to greater magnifications especially on double stars but most often well, the seeing is not that great...

Ron Bee, the master of the 4 inch Light CUp (TV-102) says he finds the sweet spot at around 175X.

Personally I find it is better to just look and see what I see rather than spend too much time worrying about my optics. Most often seeing is the culprit, and in any event, your ED-100 has a 1 year guaranty, one night the seeing will be perfect and you will no longer worry about the quality of the optics.

Jon