Posts Made By: Scott Baker

LX200 Users,
I've recently moved my web page "Scott's LX200, ATM, and SCT Gadget Page" to a new, dedicated web page, you can now find it at www.starcrwzr.com. So if you had my web page bookmarked, make sure you update the link.

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Scott Baker
www.starcrwzr.com
San Diego Astronomy Association
http://www.sdaa.org
International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org

Members,
I've recently moved my web page "Scott's LX200, ATM, and SCT Gadget Page" to a new, dedicated web page, you can now find it at www.starcrwzr.com. So if you had my web page bookmarked, make sure you update the link.

--
Scott Baker
www.starcrwzr.com
San Diego Astronomy Association
http://www.sdaa.org
International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org

Use the sand. Sand, even though it will compact, will absorb vibration better then other materials. If in doubt, try tapping on a pier, with a hammer, that contains sand versus one filled with concrete, their is a distinct difference, especially in the higher frequencies. I've read of someone who used cork, and achieved very good results, but it was difficult and expensive to install. Good luck.

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Scott Baker
Vice President, New Member Mentor
San Diego Astronomy Association
http://www.sdaa.org
International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org
Personal web page: http://www.starcrwzr.com

Well, not really mine, but I ordered one a few days after this shot was taken. This is the demo unit that Meade brought to OPT last March. I talked to the VP of Sales Scott Roberts, and after looking at the scope and talking to Scott, I ordered one. Now I can't wait to get it into my observatory!
--
Scott Baker
Vice President, New Member Mentor
San Diego Astronomy Association
http://www.sdaa.org
International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org
Personal web page: http://www.starcrwzr.com

OK, I've shown you my soon (hopefully), to be delivered scope, here's my real one. A Meade 10" LX200, shown first on a permanent pier at our observing site, and then in it's new home, in a roll-off roof observatory not far from it's old pier.
--
Scott Baker
Vice President, New Member Mentor
San Diego Astronomy Association
http://www.sdaa.org
International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org
Personal web page: http://www.starcrwzr.com

I just got the word that my 14" LX200 GPS is ready to ship. OPT said it would be 60 to 90 days from the date of order, and it was exactly 83 days, just under their commitment, way to OPT! I am so happy it made it in time for the Mars opposition, now for the long wait, while it trucks from Irvine to San Diego, all of 75 miles ;-) I'll write a first article inspection report, with pictures, here in a few days.
--
Scott Baker
Vice President, New Member Mentor
San Diego Astronomy Association
http://www.sdaa.org
International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org
Personal web page: http://www.starcrwzr.com

Well, it was an interesting night. Several club members helped me unload my new 14" LX200 and get it up onto it's pier in my observatory. I then started the alighnment process only to have to do it again in a little while, when the roof of the observatory hit the OTA and pushed it out of position, oops, no serious damage done however. I then started the alignment process all over again (this was going to be a pretty common theme for the night). To make a long story a little shorter, I think I must have started the alignment routine at least three times in the following hour, because of operator error, mostly from using the keypad wrong. I'd be looking in the EP trying to get a star centered when I'd hit the MODE button, thus canceling out of the procedure. Back to step one. Sigh. I finally achieved alignment, to be rewarded with dead on accuracy for most of the night, that is, until the coiled focuser power cord got pinched between the fork arms and the front panel during a slew, and managed to shut off the power switch. Back to step one, again. All in all the scope performed flawless and some images that I remember were as follows:

Veil Nebula - Outstanding! Wish I had an OIII instead of the Narrow Band filter, but still very nice.

Pluto - No longer a challenge, was right where "TheSky" showed it to be, no averted vision required.

M57, M27, M13 - Not enough words here.

Stephen's Quintet - Three main blobs were easy, but splitting the two pairs was not possible tonight.

My overall opinion of this scope - An excellent value. Optics are superb. Collimation out of the box was excellent. The fork arm mount, well, the mount is a little shaky, making it hard to focus using the coarse knob, but settles out fairly quickly. Precision of the GOTO was EXCELLENT, with all objects being in the center of field on my 22mm EP, once the operator did everything right. I guess I'm one happy camper, 'er, astronomer.
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Scott Baker
Vice President, New Member Mentor
San Diego Astronomy Association
http://www.sdaa.org
International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org
Personal Web Page: http://www.starcrwzr.com

Here's a picture of me and my new 14" LX200 just after it was installed on it's permanent pier.
--
Scott Baker
Vice President, New Member Mentor
San Diego Astronomy Association
http://www.sdaa.org
International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org
Personal web page: http://www.starcrwzr.com

Anybody done a side-by-side comparison of Thousand Oaks OIII to anyone else's OIII? How about the H Beta? I was thinking of picking up one of each, in the 48mm size, and wanted to know if anyone had any experience with them.

Scott B)

Here's a picture of me with my new 14". I'm kind of a nerd and all similarity to someone else, either fictional or real, is purely coincidental.
--
Scott Baker
Vice President, New Member Mentor
San Diego Astronomy Association
http://www.sdaa.org
International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org
Personal web page: http://www.starcrwzr.com