Posts Made By: David Simons

Surplus Shed dot com used to have these also. They are the best for any of the 6" f8 or f9 refractors. They fit the Meade 152ED and Celestron and other 6" f8 achro's like a glove.

David Simons

Some folks use a combination of Dog leash/straps/harness to attach the handles to a large strap.

I agree, my 10"GPS is a beast. Strangely, I don't mind hauling around my 12" old style LX200. It seems the grip is much better on the old style.

I friend of mine who sometimes posts here, has his Meade 10" SCT mounted to a CI700 which seems to work well.

David Simons

HI Glenn,

I think I have something like the "Black Box" interface. I will see if I still have it.

We can horse-trade off line if I can find it !!

David Simons

Hi Floyd,

I have a later model original Coulter red tube 10". It's heavy and hard to move. Not all that stable either, as the bearing surfaces are not teflon. The mirror is very thin, and glued to the cell, which for a 10" mirror is not the best solution. The focuser is somekind of pipe fixture, which works, but begs to be upgraded. The optics on mine are passable, but I also have a 13" mirror from Coulter that is >very< good. The earlier blue tube models are supposed to have the best mirrors, as they were close to full thickness. I got my scope very cheap, so I was not as concerned about all those things.

Bottom line, check it out in person, and if things look OK and you don't mind the weight, you may be OK. But as others have said, these are really "project" scopes, so if you like to build and modify things, this could be your scope !!

Oh, as others have mentioned there is also a "new" Coulter which will probably be a completely different configuration, can't comment about those.

Let us know what you find out !

David Simons

[SIZE="Small"][COLOR="Blue"]Just as an aside ... you can get a right angle flip mirror for a Telrad, so that you don't have to crane your neck to use it. Not as elegant as a Televue starbeam, but still functional.[/COLOR][/SIZE]


What I'd like to see, is an illuminated Telrad type device, with a long eye relief that gives a correct image, right-angle view, with either unit power like a telrad, or maybe just 2 or 3 power to bring a few fainter stars.

Any takers ??

David Simons

Hi Dave,

I received a vintage C8 scope a few months back, and it was packed in thick soft foam. It seemed to survive the trip just fine. Here is a picture of some of the packing.

Also, here is a picture of how I packed a C11 scope. The end packing material is thick, firm, "Ethafoam". I used two thick layers. It is some of the best packing foam there is.



David Simons
(C8 pictures below)

[COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="Small"] For DSO and for travel, not planets...[/SIZE][/COLOR]

Hi William,

These are really two very different scopes, with only some overlap.

The ST150 is short, big and heavy. It excels at wide field views. Clusters, Milky Way, and bright nebula are breathtaking. It is good to about 100X (noticable color)but still reasonably sharp. One could argue why not a newt ? But to get the same FOV requires a larger exit pupil that can sometimes start to show blackout in the center FOV of a newt. The 3.4 degrees with the N31 is really sweet in a dark sky. Dark nebula and the Milky way texture start to be obvious at this aperture.

The BO1278 is a long heavy scope. They seem to be built differently than the other Chinese scopes, more solid. Mine gives pinpoint stars. Color starts to show around 200X, but the image is still very sharp. It loves planets, the moon and little double stars.

For DSO the 6" will get you farther, and a wider FOV, but it is not as versatile as the Burgess. If you are willing to make that tradeoff, then the ST150 is probably your scope ! Warning, this is a heavy scope, and will need a >very< heavy duty tripod or mount.

David Simons

Hi Floyd,

A few years ago I had a used 16" Starsplitter shipped from Texas to CA, no problems.

Funny thing was the fellow used to live pretty close by here in N. California, then moved to Texas where he said the seeing was bad all the time :S , and decided to sell the scope !

The scope arrived in a bunch of boxes, and actually collimated pretty close, right out of the box(es). I would be concerned, but not too worried about shipping, providing it is done right.

BTW I like your choice on scope size. It's a big scope, but managable.

David Simons

Mok,

Does it have the red (gold) coatings ?

David Simons

Roland,

Those rings seem mighty thin to support what must be a fairly heavy scope based on the size and number of the counterweights. Or are they more like straps to just hold the OTA against a cradle ?

David Simons