The Moscow STF Mirage 180 f/10 Maksutov-Cassegrain.

The STF 180 f/10 resembles it's Intes Micro Alter M703 cousin, but it does not have extra internal baffling of the main OTA. Actually in this design this is not needed, the tube walls are covered with some rough kind of flat black paint.   It is a Rumak Maksutov-Cassegrain, the instrument I have is Serial Number 0007.  A review of this particular instrument can be found on http://www.cloudynights.com/reviews4/mirage.htm, it is written by the previous owner Dominique Dierick aka DoDi.

This STF 180 differs from the Deluxe version by not having a ventilation fan.  The Deluxe version is said to have better correction, but practice shows that this instrument, with a certificate of l/6 on the wafefront will just show as much as the Deluxe version stated as better than l/8!

The STF 180 has a different focusing mechanism than the Celestron/Meade SCT's. This makes focusing as easy but with much less mirror shift than on said SCT's! While the focus knob on a Celestron/Meade SCT stays fixed relative to the backplate, the focus knob of the STF moves in and out during focusing.

The STF 180 has the same thread as the smaller Celestron and Meade SCT's, so you easily find and use a lot of accessories. The finder quality is acceptable and does its job. You can easily move the finder holder to a second position on the tube.

The plastic back plate is easily removeable and then exposes a ring of holes that allow better ventilation and cooling of the instrument.