Posts Made By: David Simons

How about a motorized observing chair to adjust the height ?

David Simons

David,

I have used the Zeiss cleaning solution with great success. I have used it on my 6" Fujinon binoculars eyepieces and objectives, and the lenses look new.



I just received an older C9.25, and will be cleaning the corrector with it.

For all I know it's windex, but it foams a little when you spray it on, and really seems to thoroughly clean the glass. I usually spray it on a white unscented kleenex type tissue, and [COLOR="Red"]gently[/COLOR] wipe across the surface.

Of course you will want to have removed as many particles as possible by using a blower, or fine brush first.

Anacortes sells this stuff. Search mfgr's under Zeiss.

David Simons

Hi Darlene,

Although I am butting in here a little 8) , from my experience, the Zeiss cleaner works really well on any coated glass surface, and does not leave streaks.

David Simons

Ivan,

What about the TEC 140 (5.5"), seems to be a "best of both worlds" situation, and the wait is not too long.

I have the AP130EDF and really like it's portability. The view is much superior to a 4" Celestron Fluorite. So that's an easy one. Also I don't think mediocre seeing will have much of an effect on 4" or 5" aperture. The 6" APO's tend to get big and heavy fast. But when the seeing is really good, my Takahashi 152 will give obviously better detail. The problem is, the seeing around here varies a lot, which means the image detail may not be a whole lot better than the 5" with the larger aperture except for brief glimpses. But when the seeing settles down, the six inch comes into it's own, and then you want all the high quality aperture you can get. We had an unusually steady night at the Chabot observatory last month, and the old 20" refractor (Rachel) was running full aperture at a clean 800X. You know, there are a lot of rilles on the moon

Not an easy decision, but a lot of viewing can be done with a 5" scope on any given night. If you have steady skies, then go for whatever you can handle.

David Simons

Andre,

This is the Orion focuser. It has to be very close.


Also there is a fellow that I believe carries that exact same focuser here in Santa Rosa.

I can send his email address offline.

David Simons

Allen,

Sounds very interesting. There is a special tube (tele-extender) that Meade/Celestron etc. used to sell that you could place an eyepiece in it for doing eyepiece projection. I suppose you could clamp two eyepieces into this tube to try it out.

Here is the Orion version:

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=52&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=6&iSubCat=29&iProductID=52



Also, once the light was collimated by the first ep., I suppose you could just put a finder scope up to the exit light of the first ep, and see the image with the new focal ratio of the finders objective. Maybe not too useful, but might show a proof of concept.

Here is a test I did by holding up a "relay" lens to the focuser, and took a picture with my digital camera. It shows some field curvature, so I suspect this will be a problem.

http://www.astromart.com/forums/viewpost.asp?forum_post_id=232923&poll_id=&news_id=&page=


David Simons

Hi Bill,

I have the same problem. I think the maglight has too narrow a beam giving a projected beam angle going into the scope depending on the source angle, giving the effect you see. If the source light is much more diffuse, then the input angle of the light will not make any difference. I think Joe has the right idea. Maybe putting a piece of diffuse clear tape over the entrance hole might help, or use a more diffuse source of light.

My problem is, I would get everything aligned at one focuser position, then if I racked in the focuser, it would be off again :S I think I may have an offset focuser. I have also been doing some tests with a laser to see if the reflected light returns back into the laser. This also looks promising.

David Simons

Hi Jaron,

If you are at all handy with wood, then go the traditional Dob mount. If you are like me, than the pipe mount may tide you over until you can get a real mount. The one I built was very fast to make, and required almost no skill. Those Refurb Meade 8" scopes look like a good deal. Although there may be someone on AM here that would sell a whole 8" dob for nearly the same price. I think (re-)building scopes is half the fun of this hobby though

Post some more pictures of whatever you come up with!

David Simons

Hi Kim,

It took me over a year to get my wagon as well. I may still have his contact info somewhere (i have moved) Will let you know what I find.

David Simons

Hi Mike,

I have seen a a kind of "umbrella shelter" that vendors use at street fairs. These seem to unpack and go up very quickly. If you could get some side panels, that would maybe make a nice shelter, but using any kind of non-electric heater might raise some serious ventalation risks.

David Simons