Posts Made By: Charles Peterson

M-79 is kinda far to the south! I can break up M-79 in my 14.5" Starmaster, in mag 3.5 skies. But a darker sky really helps. I am in Florida.

Chas

I'm looking to upgrade to a large dob(probably 18"). I wanted to get your opinions on which brand you like better and why. Yes, I know you can't go wrong with either one, but the fact is each one has its advantages and disadvantages. I have never seen one of these scopes in person, only pictures.

Obsessions seem to have the high quality furniture look to them. Starmasters are no slouch, but they don't look quite as good as Obsession scopes. But I'm just going on the pictures I have seen of these scopes.

In terms of mirror, well I'm not sure that a Zambuto is really any better than a Torus(the mirror I would go with if I bought an Obsession). The thing that I like about Torus is they test each mirror and post the results on their website(with pictures of the test results). Still, Zambuto mirrors do have that cache about them.

I like the fact that Starmaster rigorously test each telescope(including the mirror) that it sells. I don't believe that Obsession does this. To me the testing that Starmaster does is a nice selling point.

Ok, bottom line, which brand would you choose? I would like to hear from people who have seen(and preferable used) these scopes in person. I know there are other brands of dobs to choose from out there, but I have narrowed it down to these two. And please, I don't want any of these types of responses: "Well, you can't go wrong with either one". You have to pick one or the other. Thanks!
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You cant go wrong with a Starmaster! I have owned four Starmasters, and i have a new 11" ELT with GO-TO on order.

Every Starmaster arrived in perfect shape, and was easy to set up, the optics are the best bar none! I have used over 1100x on the planets, in super seeing with a 14.5" Starmaster. The GO-TO works like a charm, and is very easy to use. I just cant find one bad thing to say about Starmaster, and Rick is a pure joy to talk with, and will break his back to help you with any problem!

Chas P.

I've heard so much about the APO refractors such as Tele Vue, Vixen,Takahashi & Astro Physics. Currently I own a 6" D&G refractor & a 12.5 Starmaster; but really, how good are these APO refractors? I read where detail can be seen in the red spot, etc. Can these scopes with 4 inch lens really deliver such performances? Why do I see so many advertised for sale on Astromart? I'm thinking about getting one. I am strictly a visual observator and do not want to dish out the cash if I'll be disappointed with what I get. Help me think through this.

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The 12.5" Starmaster will blow away the 4"APO on just about everything but maybe the sun! I had a 12.5" Starmaster and six 4" Apo's. The 4" APO is a great scope, that will show perfect round star images, and snap to focus on the planets, but once you get over 350x with a 4" you start to lose light, and the image gets dim. I could use over 800x in super seeing with the 12.5", all Starmasters make great hi power planet scopes when seeing allows.

I think having a 12.5" to 20" Dob and having a 4" APO makes for a nice rounded up setup. I now have a 14.5" Starmaster and a Brandon 94mm with AP lens. Both scopes do their job well.

Chas P.

Now why would some one take the Zambuto mirror out of a brand new Starmaster scope and sell the frame? That just doesn't make sense to me.
Floyd
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Please tell me why you think it dont make sense Floyd???

Chas P.

Now why would some one take the Zambuto mirror out of a brand new Starmaster scope and sell the frame? That just doesn't make sense to me.
Floyd
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Please tell me why you think it dont make sense Floyd???

Chas P.

Your comparison is simplistic at best. Were both mirrors of the same quality? Do both scopes have the same amount of light baffling? Were both scopes completely cooled to ambient temperature?

Unless you took those things into consideration, your comparison is meaningless. There's no way that a 10" scope will show the Trapezium to be sharper than in a 12.5" scope unless the latter is of inferior quality.

Nice try, but no dice.

Don Wyman
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My FS-78 shows the Trapezium as sharper than my 14.5" Starmaster, the reasons are, seeing effects the 14.5" much more than the 3" Tak! And you just cant beat a samll APO for that tack sharp image. But we all know the 14.5" will beat the FS-78 on brighness and deatil anyday.

Chas

Actually Charles, I was defending you. I dont care if you make money or not on the sale. All I know is that you have the right to sell things however you see fit. Some were questioning your motives for parting out the scope, my point was, so what? If I could recoup more of my investment or even make some money by selling something parted out I would surely do it!! My point was that it doesnt matter what your motives are, its your stuff and you can do whatever you want with it. Sorry if i was misunderstood or caused offence.
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Sorry i misunderstood you, please forgive me!

Trust me i am gonna loose my butt on this no matter what i sell! Thank god i dont try to make a living at selling astro stuff, otherwise i would starve to death!

I make alot of dumb moves and jump on stuff before i think, i need to stop buying so many scopes! It's like drinking ya cant stop

Chas

I recently purchased a second hand LX200 12". There appears to be a fault with the focussing. I have been attempting to star test my new scope. However The scope will not stay focussed, it slips out of focus all the time when looking up. I am aware that it is the main mirror which moves during focussing in these scopes. When I focus a star the mirror appears to slump out of position all the time. The focused image just starts to bloat and slips more and more out of focus This of course renders the scope unusable and I am very concerned about it.
Have you seen this discussed anywhere in the www?
Any discussion of this problem would be appreciated.
Thanks
Gerry
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I had three 12" LX-200's, they all had the same problem!
I used the JMI-NGF-S that solved the problem.

Chas P.

I've watched the classifieds for quite a period and its not scientific what I'm about to say, but I see especially in the refractor crowd people trading up from a 3" to 4" or 4" to 5" OR maybe someone owns a 4" and a 6" refractor. Does one or two inches actually make a big viewing difference? Is there really a huge performance difference between an APO and an achromat are the differences only most apparent to a veteran observer? Finally, I know two gentlemen one owns a 24" Starmaster, the other the 8" Astrophysics AP0 (thats correct the 8" AP) the AP owner said his scope does a great job on the planets and he had the opportunity to view through the Starmaster, which he said gave him the best views of the planets even surpassing his superb AP, does that surprise you? If not why do people drop that kind of money for an APO refractor when they could have so much more aperture for an equivalent or much less money? Thankyou for your comments.
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A 24" Starmaster that is cooled, collimimated and has the excellent Zambuto optics will beat out any 8" refractor, unless seeing is very bad! But a good APO can't be beat for that perfect clean snap in focus image.
I would love a 8" APO, but cost , weight and size would turn me off from getting a large APO! And then you need a super big mount for that big APO, and that is gonna be heavy and cost some big bucks.

I think a 10" to 24" well built Dob with super optics is the way to go, unless you wanan do CCD work, or photo work.

Chas P.

Who made the Dob? It looks nice!

Chas P.