Posts Made By: Greg Elspas

Anyone know where I can find manufactured refractor OTAs minus the optics?

Took a roll of film (all pictures of the moon) to a 1 hour photo processor. Almost all of the pictures were cut in the wrong place with moon sliced in half in many of them when it was obviously centered in the shot. Is it so difficult for a lab to determine where a picture begins and ends? Is there anything that can be done to prevent this? Needless to say I'm going to avoid the 1-hour lab in the future.

I've built several successful (IMHO) refractors now with the latest being achros using Hollowood tubes. Now that I'm feeling confident I guess it's time that I "read the instructions". You are supposed to do that last, right? What can you recommend as the best guide(s) for practical design and construction of refractors?

Has anyone USED BOTH of these and able give a comparison?

I currently have a GM-8 but would like to find a lighter more transportable mount for my Borg 125ED which weighs in under 10 lbs. Would the EM-10 be a suitable replacement and still be accurate enough for for photography with the Borg? If not the EM-10, then what? Thanks.

Looking for a mirror set for a potential 110mm anastigmatic Kutter Schiefspiegler project. Can anyone recommend sources? Thanks.

I'm looking for a plastic push-on type cap to cover the open end of a telescope tube (140mm diameter). Basically, a large lense cap to keep the dust out, etc. Anybody know where I can find something like this?

This year will be my first trip to BFSP, Cherry Springs State Park, PA. http://www.bfsp.org

I'd like to hear any comments on BFSP from those who have attended in the past/plan on attending...

Okay...I've been following some of the conversations here regarding which binoviewer, yada, yada, yada...and now I'm totally confused.

I have a Borg 125ED for which I plan to purchase a binoviewer. I have been looking at the Hutech binoviewer. Hutech claims 22mm clear aperature and that I can remove my Borg focuser and attach the Hutech binoviewer with a short-path diagonal removing the need for any barlow. This seems like a good thing to me as there would be no increase in magnification.

However, I'm awaiting delivery on a 14" F4.7 dob and it occurred to me that if I like these things I'm probably going to want to use them in the dob. At this point, am I going to need an OCS or barlow? Can I buy an OCS from Denk or Siebert, etc. that will work with these binoviewers? Should I be looking at different binoviewers? The main reason I want to go with the Hutech binos is that I can remove the main focuser and go without a barlow. These binos have individual EP focusers.

Yes, I am confused...constructive help would be appreciated.

I purchased a set of Oberwerk 15x70s and a tripod for my dad on his birthday and he loves 'em. Only problem is that he'd like to learn the sky better and asked me for book recommendations. I gave him my copy of "Turn Left at Orion". Is there anything else I should suggest (maybe something specifically targeted at binocular viewing)?