Posts Made By: Paul Titus

Ken,

One advantage binoculars have over regular scopes is how easy they are on the eyes since you are using both eyes to view a section of sky. If you do go this route either make or invest in a parallelogram mount for the binocs, alternately you could make a binocular observing chair if you plan to scan the skies for any length of time.

The lower power 7x50's (or better yet some 9x63's) are good for quick spotting, but no matter how light small binocs are your arms and neck eventually become tired being held in 'scan' positions.

Widefield telescopes are good for viewing larger objects like the Orion nebula, Pliedes, North American Nebula, etc. However as a beginner trying to learn the association of objects within constellations, having the 3-5 degree fields in binoculars is more useful. M42 is a good example as in binocs you can see it's relationship to the belt stars in more comfort.

Matt,

Here in the Southeast our skies range from 3.5 to 6.5 at the darker locations. The telerad is great for star hopping into a field you want to get to, and as long as it's collimated to the telescope you can just pop in a 40mm or wider EP on your scope and probably find most targets and/or close reference stars.

A 50-80mm finder is useful if you're looking at several objects in a larger field and want to pinpoint them before looking through the main scope. If you have a setup that allows the heavier weight of an 80mm consider getting an Nebular filter/LP/and even a solar filter for it, then you've got a multipurpose unit. An 80 is impractical and weighty on newtonian/dobs less than 16", so opt insted for a 50 or 60mm. If you have a 9.25 or larger SCT then an 80mm is doable, but a balance system would be helpful.

And don't settle for Meade or Celestron 50mm's, get a finder that has really good optics, otherwise looking through it is more of a pain than it's worth.

Ken,

As I recall from having owned one there is no port on an LX-10 to connect in the 201xt. Not sure if this is true for the LX-50 though. Also not sure if there is an aftermarket box which can be used(doubtful). The LX10 is a pretty basic unit essentially made to manually guide using the controller, but I suppose it would be possible to send signals to the scope by creating a serial cable interface via the normal 4 button paddle and have a laptop act as interpreter. But for the cost it probably is easier to buy a used scope more capable than the LX-10.

Anthony,

I know of one local member who has a GPS 8", haven't heard of any direct complaints from him, but will ask next time I see him.

I have a classic LX-200 8" f/6.3, which they don't make in GPS form last time I checked. But I was still interested to see what the new GPS models could do. I did get a chance to see both the Celestron and Meade GPS scopes last March at a local event in North Carolina.

You can read my first impression at http://www.carolinaskies.com/review/lx200gps.htm

Having had a year to think it over if I was mostly only going to do visual and light astrophotography I might go for the GPS, otherwise I believe I'd rather have the LX-200 classic and add a form of GPS capability to it. See the following TechTV article for an interesting concept.... http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/modtips/jump/0,24331,3599274,00.html

Jay,

I've used one of those same cases for years and have not experienced any problems. If you have any fear you can remove the pieces and let them air out before using for your eyepieces.

The gases, if any, released aren't caustic to glass, but may cause 'filming' on exposed glass surfaces. Most people leave top and bottom caps on their eyepieces, filters, etc anyway so exposure would only be during removal. Eyepieces should be cleaned regularly anyway as you'll have more problems with fingerprints, eyelashes, dandruff, dirt, moisture, etc than from any problem with gases. Also, don't leave the case in direct sunlight or high temperature areas for prolonged storage. It is at these higher temperature points which 'gassing' is more likely to occur. Also, as a sidenote you can put a couple of packs of dessicant in the case to take care of moisture left inside closed case after a night's observing.

If you are really concerned I would suggest looking for a scientific supply house which deals with special foams. Also, consider using the new plastic cases which encase the whole eyepiece. These will be helpful.

David,

Part of what you see is what's called living on the bleeding edge. For those with the money to afford the latest scope or gadget the price difference is in the use they get. They sell for what appears to be a loss, but if the intent was temporary use then they figure they've made up for the loss by having the equipment to use.

As far as overall pricing you cannot truthfully consider what you paid for any item unless it just came out and you happen to be one of the first few to possess it. We saw this when the GPS scopes came out. For scopes that are over a year old figure a loss of 30-40% for the average scope even if rarely used. Sort of like the computer market, in 6mos you can get a computer that's twice as fast and costs half as much.

I bought an LX-200 back in 2000 before the change to GPS scopes. When they came out the price for classics dropped at retail stores and here. And used ones became even less valuable. But there is a bottom end to the market, sort of a bare minimum value to most decent telescopes.

Your best bet might be to decide what other type of scope you might like and see about trading. Some people advertise nice scopes at a loss because of health reasons, etc. You may be able to trade into a better scope and they get something they can actually set up.

Time to arm the space shuttle with beam weapons!

David,

Though I don't have a scope with UHTC coatings, from what I hear they are worth it.

Does the scope come with tripod AND wedge? When I got one in 1997 it didn't include the wedge, which is a good thing to have with one of these as it saves the neck when viewing near zenith.