Posts Made By: Bernard Kean

Steve
The easest way is to go to the Amart ad that you purchased then click on the persons name and it will take you to their profile and you should see a box to the right that should say you are allowed to rate this person for ad #. Another way is to search the Users Profile from lower box on the left of this page, type in their name or email address and it should take you to their profile and the same message to rate them.
Hope this helps
Buck

Hi Bill
I have the SM11"f5.4 and I had simular issues with the 2" 26t5 to the 13t6. I solved this with technique, kinda like a slight of hand movement. I remove the large eyepiece with my left hand, thumb and tree fingers and just keep my left pinky in contact with the focuser just enough to steady it, then carefully insert the next eyepiece with my right hand (thumb and three fingers holding the eyepiece and adapter and pinky on the focuser) all in one fluid motion. With a bit of practice it becomes automatic and fluid and the target stays centered except for normal rotation across the FOV.
Changing 2" to 2" or 1.25" to 1.25" in not a issue for my setup.
Hope this helps
Buck

Hi Rob
First off Saturn is big and bright. Seeing and Transparency will play a big part and and can cause the bright glow so I wouldn't worry about that too much at this point. Laser collimators are only good if they are in fact collimated. You need to set it up in a very steady v-block and carefully rotate it while letting the beam shine on a piece of paper about 15 feet away (tape to wall or other steady object) to see if the dot moves. If it moves in a circle you will need to collimate the laser. Until this circle is collimated down to a dot the laser is not much good and can tell you nothing and can cause more problems then solve. The laser needs to be held flush to the outer front surface of the focuser for best results with little or no tension on the retaining screws.
I have no experience with the Orion focusers but after you are comfortable with the collimation of the laser you will have to recollimate the focuser to the secondary then the secondary to the center of the main mirror then collimate the main mirror. I would do this part first with a cheshire and site tube (the orion cheshire/sitetube combo are great). After that then check and fine tune with your freshly collimated laser.
You might want to search this forum for a tread by Floyd Blue about collimating lasers (worked for me).
Hope this helps
Buck

Robert
First off I'm a relative newcomer of 2 1/2 years in this hobby. I currently have a 4"APO and a premium mid size dob and a set of premium eyepieces. I've seen those the do not use filters at all and there are those that find them invaluable. Personally I do not use them. I tried the Ultrablock or light pollution filter in both my scopes and did not like it. An example is Orion Nebula did stand out just a bit more but I did not like the mottled and blurry look in the rest of the FOV. I tried it on several other targets and had similar results, I just didn't like the over all view using it.
As far as colored filters I'm still learning. Most colored filters are too dark for small scopes so I cherry picked to make up a set of very light filters but in all honesty I haven't used them much or enough to give a good opinion. I can't say about colored filter use in medium to large scopes. All in all I recommend taking it slow on collecting filters because many filters out of a set may just not work.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/raycash/filters.htm

http://sciastro.net/portia/advice/filters.htm

Here are two web sites about filter that may be of some help if you haven't been to them yet.

As far as the threads fitting the Ultimas I cannot help. I do know they fit the Televue line of eyepieces.
Hope this helps
Buck

Paul
Set the laptop inside a corrugated box so one side is over the top of the laptop to create a dew shield so to speak. This allows good air flow and shields from dew.
Just a thought
Buck

Jimmy
I'm not trying to dodge your question, however there has been SO MUCH written about all the various models and everyones likes and dislikes I suggest doing a search. Use the Advanced Search box and in the forums, select Equipment Talk and type in Green Laser and you will get hundreds of hits regarding many brands and the likes and dislikes from many different folks. If you need other info I'm sure someone can answer questions about specifics. I'm only suggesting this because discussions of green lasers usually degenerates in to a bitter pro/con about usage and you will get much info, much quicker.
Hope this helps
Buck

David
I don't believe you can align the Sky Tour using this method. I think you first have to use the listed guide stars to do the initial alignment. There is a list of guide stars on the Y ahoo Televue Group in the files section. Look for SkyTour_DB_.xls file and open it then look for the Guide Star tab along the bottom. I also am surrounded by trees and have a small window above and I have always been able to locate several stars to align on. Sky Tour does work quite well and easy to use.
Hope this helps
Buck

Steve
Anacortes list the Discovery 10" F4.5 mirror on there web site as does Discovery Telescope.
Just a thought
Buck

But..but..but where is the steel diamond plate box on the outside. Good gosh man, you forgot the most important part, what were you thinking.
Buck

Ha, is there a wait list for these.