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Posts Made By: Steve Stonehill

September 23, 2003 11:43 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Opinions, please.

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi James,

I don't want people who own 6" f8 achros to take offense but the 4" APO is better in every way. I own 2 4" APO refractors and I recently had a brand new Konus 6". The achro was inferior in every way, from its size and weight to its soft images. I also own 8" and 10" newts and except for cooldown time they are both superior on planets to the APOs. A 6" f8 reflector, a Mak-Newt or Cass, IMHO, are vastly superior to the 6" achro. I've never used a Chromacor equipped scope but I would think that is the only way to make a 6" f8 achro a worthwhile planetary instrument.

My .02,

Steve




October 4, 2003 01:16 PM Forum: Refractors

Meade 312. What should I expect ?

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi Nathan,

I would suggest a 9mm Plossl eyepiece, this will provide a .8mm exit pupil. I know it's only 100x but you aren't going to get much more out of an alt-az mounted 80mm achromat. A .8mm exit pupil is, IMO, about the smallest that is comfortable for most high power observation. That is why aperture is nice, it allows you to maintain a large exit pupil even at very high mags. Train your eye to see detail and don't expect too much detail from an 80mm scope. If you enjoy astronomy you maight consider getting an 8 or 10" Dobsonian as a companion for your refractor.

Don't Give Up!

Steve

October 5, 2003 02:52 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Any ideas for mounting a 6" F8 refractor?

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi Bill,

I had one on a brand new CG5 on a very heavy wooden surveyor tripod. It wasn't even close to being sturdy enough. I would suggest a minimum of an EQ6 or G11.

Clear Skies,

Steve

October 6, 2003 11:45 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Portable (affordable) Planetary Scope

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi Ian,

A Vixen 102ED f6.5 (used) on a new Orion SVD mount. Rock solid, portable, quick to cool. I own one of these and a fluorite and can tell you that the views they provide are very apochromatic. I also had an Orion 127 Mak, not a bad scope at all but nowhere near as nice as either Vixen.

Clear Skies,

Steve

October 6, 2003 12:05 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

What to buy for decent 4" ota? help!

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi Erik,

I have owned and tried many different types of scopes over the years and can, from experience, tell you that most achromats are inferior to all other types of scopes in terms of the views they provide. The only achros that are truly nice scopes are not Chinese but fairly expensive and large brands like D&G. You will be far better served by a 5" Maksutov than a 4" achro. I have side by side tested an Orion Mak up against a 4" Vixen fluorite and the Mak, although not quite as good, was performing much better than its price would indicate. The achros are not junk by any means but they are, in my experience, not worthwhile when compared to reflectors in their same price category.

Hope This Helps,

Steve

October 8, 2003 02:54 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Solar Max 40 Set Up

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi Brad,

I have read advice from Roland Christen that an apo is not necessary for solar viewing. I have a SM 40 on a Celestron short tube 80 and I cannot see any colors but orange-red and jet black.

Clear Skies,

Steve

October 10, 2003 08:41 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Stellarvue 102 APO

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi Bill,

Are you primarily interested in visual or photography?

Steve

October 11, 2003 09:16 PM Forum: Refractors

Vixen ED102SS Vs Tele Vue Np 101...

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi Anders,

I own and cherish a Vixen 102EDSS but there are many choices out there. The NP101, TMB, AP are all fine scopes that will certainly please but there are alternatives to these as well. The Mak-Newt scopes will do what you want and even a decent 6" f5 Newt is a darn nice scope. The short focus achromats are OK for low power views but on planets they leave much to be desired. A triplet achromat doesn't have better color correction than a well made doublet just a flatter field for photography. The APM triplet achro is about 4lbs heavier than my f9 Vixen fluorite, too heavy IMO. There was a Vixen 114 in the refractor section today for $1250, thats a low price.

Clear Skies,

Steve

October 11, 2003 11:49 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

WO 2" Diagonal

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi Joe,

I use the WO with a 102mm APO and I love it. I use it with 1.25" and a binoviewer and it has always performed very well.

Clear Skies,

Steve

October 11, 2003 11:55 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Refractor Focuser Alignment

Posted By Steve Stonehill
Hi Rod,

If you do a high power startest with a green filter and the rings look concentric I would not fool with it at all. If the startest shows the scope to be out of collimation then it would probably be worth trying to fix it. I would also suggest doing the startest with and without a diagonal. I have a TV 1.25" standard diagonal that is so bad I would sooner throw it away than pawn it off on someone else.

Clear Skies,

Steve

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