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Posts Made By: Adam Albino

October 4, 2006 08:30 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Another Mundane Finder Question

Posted By Adam Albino
Lumicon
Antares (same I believe as the SV)
Russel Optics

All good finders. The advantage of the Russel is the 80mm fits 50mm Rings.

October 27, 2006 11:30 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Well my Zenithstar 110mm is a winner

Posted By Adam Albino
I had originally purchased one of the first ZS 105APO's. It was horrible. Completely out of collimation - and could not be fixed as it was the individual lens' that were not square. I tried and WO tried - twice - to fix. Couldn't get over 150X without the image falling apart. My ZS66 blew it away....

Then they sent me a hand picked ZS110 Lens assembly to replace. Wow. I've owned three APO's in this size range and this is by far the finest I have ever owned. Text book rings - and it handles 100X inch without an issue on good nights. Oh, they re-built the focuser for me also (it was stiff - but acceptable) - as smooth as any out there - including Feathertouch.

BTW for those not knowing how to collimate these - remove the dew shield and under are the push/pull screws.

October 27, 2006 07:51 PM Forum: Mounts

8 Inch Reflector on a tracking mount?

Posted By Adam Albino
You can track with a dob. See Tracking platforms (usually a few for sale here as well as a vendor or two)- that would probably be the easiest. Also, you can pick up for fairly short $$ something like an old Meade Starfinder / Deep Space series mount.

October 30, 2006 10:04 PM Forum: AstroMart FAQ

To good to be true - C8 OTA

Posted By Adam Albino
Why would you not think so? It's not really collimation as he rotated the corrector plate (and is probably off center in the cell as well). Not really difficult to fix for people with knowledge or are handy, but for someone who has never done so or is a beginner - it can be quite daunting and nerve wracking. I actually sent him an e-mail to explain - urging him not to sell.

It's gonna cost him 150 to have Celestron fix plus shipping - and whats an older average black tube c8 worth - 300-400?
Oh, he also has five, five stars - so I see no reason NOT trust him.

October 31, 2006 12:53 PM Forum: Refractors

Thought on refractor upgrade

Posted By Adam Albino
Relatively speaking.... You will find that experienced observers will notice just a few MM in diference with everything else being equal (this goes for eyepieces as well). There is no magic number that says you have to go from A to B before you will see a difference. And yes, to most experienced observers these slight differences may be worth it.

November 2, 2006 04:29 PM Forum: Refractors

Suggestions for a small refractor

Posted By Adam Albino
WO ZS-66SD. A small 70mm class APO for 299.00

November 3, 2006 07:37 PM Forum: Celestron

Moving up to a 9.25"

Posted By Adam Albino
I found it to be a very noticable difference. The 9.25 has a longer FL primary and a touch flatter field. The 9.25 is my favorite in the current stable of Celestron OTA's....

November 8, 2006 05:25 PM Forum: Reflectors

Comet Catcher Focuser Upgrade

Posted By Adam Albino
I do not believe you would have enough back focus for most eyepieces. Moving the primary - or secondary as in the CC case - drastically moves the center of the FL. It is why the SCT's can focus just about anything.

Why is it you don't like the sliding focuser? IMO it is a design that has some merit - and wish more ATM'ers would experement with....

November 9, 2006 05:08 PM Forum: Refractors

Some more questions about the 66mm

Posted By Adam Albino
David Colton said:

A couple of questions about the WO 66:

1. Is it the same telescope as the Astro-Tech 66mm? - Sort of. Come from same manufacturer, but they have different focusers and my guess is different lens (slightly different F/ratio) and maybe coatings. Note WO makes three (or did) different versions, a doublet APO (similar to the AT), a triplet APO, and a Petzval Achro.

2. Do you need an extender to bring eyepieces to focus without a diagonal? - Not usually but that is an individuakl eyepiece issue.

3. An earlier post (Don Pitt, 11/2) indicated problems bringing eyepieces to focus and the reply was use a Nagler Type 6. So what about Plossl’s and Ortho’s; will they work? Are there eyepiece sizes that just won’t work with the 66’s short focal length? As Jon stated usually because of the diagonal. These work well with 1.25 diag, and most of the time with 2" SCT Diag (Short versions like the WO one). Refractor type diag are a no no.

4. Considering the primary use of a 66mm scope is birding or wide-field astronomy, is CA a critical factor? CA is always a factor. CA is not just annoying "color" - you are not focusing some of the light/energy - so your views will not be as sharp and contrasty...If that is important to birding I can't say, And while less so with wide angle low power view, it is none the less and important consideration.

November 10, 2006 06:49 PM Forum: Eyepieces

best wide angle

Posted By Adam Albino
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