Posts Made By: Gary Davis

Ron,

How did you get my skies ? Yep, not as bad as mine though. Always looks like that and more often than not, WORSE. While I was in Arizona for two weeks "Show Low, AZ Elev 6300ft" not until my last two nights was it any better. Except it was at least DARK and the Milky Way was as it should be. The sky was so turbulent it made Mars a blob. Jupiter had no bands and just shimmered. Like I said the last two nights did make up for the bad ones. Here in Fresno, its always rotten but I may be moving to San Diego soon, I here its not to bad around those parts ? BTW I see number 5 and 6 most of the time.

Yep Floyd, thats what they are. Don't laugh but if you feel like it and the blades on your spider are round or like vanes, you can wrap "or bend" aluminum foil around them to reduce it on planets, somewhat. It helps some of my scopes. Not gone completly but reduced. You just have to try it to see if it works for you. At least it will not hurt the scope and you can take them off if it does not help. The only other choice is a curved spider or different type of scope.

Not a real good idea and its been done before. Personal use of business property in most cases is not legal. A schedule C is required with the tax return. Getting tax credits, tax breaks, claiming depreciation and so forth are subject to many rules and regulations. A hobby is a hobby in the tax code "you can claim nothing". A business is supposed to show a gain in at least three years. The way tax law is written, without a gain, it could be deemed a hobby. This would force a recapture of the depreciation and credits taken. It could get ugly in a hurry. My advice is---See your tax practitioner before embarking in an endeaver such as this. If its a true small business then no problem. The description of what the tax code considers a business can be found in IRS publication 17. A desciption of "hobby" is also found in that publication.

Thats PERFECT :-) Its my dream too. But I, like you, am a lover of fine workmanship. Yes, I thank them, one and all !

Yes it does make a difference. Here in Fresno, CA we have fog most of the winter months. When its thin it will create a very nice filter. When fog is present, it is normally a sign of very still air. A new type of filter in the fog range might have an application. Maybe I could can some fog, add glass and presto, instant millions. Not to worry, I would share the wealth.

Anthony,

Not positive but I may have caught a peek of one of them last night. I only know it was very close to mars, very close. I was using an XT-10 at 250X and had moved mars near the edge of the field, and could see a tiny speck of light near the limb. I could only detect it for about 20 min. I only observe. I don't use positions and the like. Not into astronomy that way. Not sure what scope will do it !

Jim,

I see it the same way but like Mark said, an act of God or something. I'm guilty, I have given ratings that should have been less. Its a shame when you have to give perfect so that your own feedback is not destroyed in retaliation. Thats one of the less desirable side effects of a rating system. There is deceit in the system making it in-accurate. Its a guideline, much better than a guess but needs improvement. All the ratings sytems I have seen to date have flaws but I do not know how to fix the human element "the real flaw". Character is "doing the right thing when no one is looking".

Make sure the atmosphere is able to support your viewing night. Slightly de-focus the planet and check for movement of the light. You may see what looks like a river of rushing air. If you do, chances are good your seeing conditions are limiting your views. Focus the planet to a nice round ball, if you cannot and it shimmers or is in turmoil, your conditions are not good. In the beginning use around a 10mm eyepiece, most scopes will support 100X to 150X in bad conditions. Next, take time at the eyepiece, it takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to the bright light and the planet will look washed-out. Look for contrast in and around the darker portions of the planet. Surely you can see the ice-cap. Another way to obtain a near perfect focus is to find a nearby medium bright star. Useing 250X to 500X see if you can make this image of the star, a small round dot "the airy disk". Take the scope back to the planet and it will be in focus or very nearly so. This will be the best you can do for this night, check back later in the evening if its ugly. Are you checking mars late or early in the evening, the later, normally the better. There could be other reasons, but I bet it just your conditions. keep trying, there will be nights that support a good image. Not every night is a good night, they are few and far between in most locations. If its really to bright you could increase the magnifacation, with a loss of resolution. Its a trade off especially under bad conditions .

Darlene,

It sure looks like atmospheric disturbance to me. How long have you had the scope ? Has it always been like this or are there times when its better ? Where do you live ? How long have you been viewing ? With these questions we can better answer your questions. All of the images I seen "the ones you refered to" they seem out of focus, except the last one which is a drawing.

Jim,

As you now know you have to be very careful with this type of filter. The coating is NOT protected and is easily damaged even by moisture. An attempt to clean it will in all likely-hood, destroy the coating. Very delicate indeed. I have(had) one that was forgotten and left in dew for a few hours. It left stain marks on the glass. I attempted to clean it with a cotton ball. Some of the coating came right off when I touched it and made a lite stroke with the cotton ball. Its ruined...............