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Posts Made By: Stephen Sherrod

June 18, 2003 02:14 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Antares Super Plossls

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
I have Orion Ultrascopics and Antares Ultima eyepieces, and they are identical. It is true that these and the Celestrons are made in the same Japanese factory, and the design is the same on the Orions and Antares, but NOT the same as the Celestrons. Slight differences; the Celestrons are different fl's, 50* AFOV instead of 52* for the other two, and less eye relief with the Celestrons. I have tried the Ultrascopics (Orion and Antares) side by side with the famous TV plossls, and the TV's don't measure up to the Ultrascopics at all in any f/ratio from f/5 to f/12 (AP 6", f/12 APO). Maybe shouldn't put it here, but a VERY LARGE retailer advised me to get the Antares over the TV's, for several reasons. For a Plossl, the Antares can't be beat.

S. Sherrod

June 22, 2003 06:37 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Nexstar 5 Eyepieces

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
Forgetting eyepieces for the moment, if you live in Tampa, like I do, consider going to the Hickory Hill observatory with the rest of the crew. We go at least once / month (pending weather) and stay the weekend since it has a house, three bedrooms with bunks, fully stocked kitchen and two, nice bathrooms.

If you want to try out some other eyepieces, like some mentioned here, email me and I'll be glad to share.

Steve Sherrod
[email protected]

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/smilner/sherrod1/Astronomy.htm
No one can laugh at my web stuff, I have never done any before this experiment!

August 18, 2003 02:42 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

building newtonian, 8 inch ? elliptical size?

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
Do some easy measurements and use the formula found here:

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/smilner/sherrod1/diagonal.htm

For smaller objects, planets, small-angle deep sky, etc., you can use a smaller diagonal, while any wide-field stuff and photography needs a larger diagonal. 0.25" full illumination is just fine for most observing. Also, the illumination falls off LESS in a fast f/ratio scope than it does in a slower scope.

October 20, 2003 06:28 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

of arcseconds and the NEED to know

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
That's a damn good idea for comparison. Never heard of it before, since I don't use binoculars very much. I'm going to try it, and I'll guess in advance that some of the "cheapos" might do as well as the high $ jobs.

November 17, 2003 01:05 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

WideScan Type III: 20mm

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
I use one a lot in an f/6 Newt. It is VERY good across the field, losing only a bit at the edge. In a 2.5x Powermate, it is razor sharp all across the entire field. Makes a great 8mm eyepiece that way.

November 17, 2003 10:21 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Eyepiece P. S.

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
Use it? Heck, I just want to collect them and talk about them. Why would anyone want to actually USE an eyepiece? Besides, if they were used, they might get some tiny scratches on the barrel; then they wouldn't look as good in an eyepiece impresso-case smile

November 18, 2003 04:05 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

5x Powermate Vignetting?

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
I use the 2.5x PowerMate a lot and there is NO cut-off with a 32mm Plossl or even a 20mm, 70* AFOV Widescan. I borrowed a 5X to check the same thing and it was still fine (full field) with the 20mm Widescan and a 25mm Ultrascopic Plossl. Didn't try the 32mm. I'm considering the 5x also now.

November 20, 2003 08:58 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Tube modifications

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
IF you have to ventilate, you would probably be better off with two, larger holes drilled into the SIDE of the tube about 2" back of the corrector. 50-60 holes around the thin metal supporting the corrector could cause a disaster. Either way, the whole thing will have to have all optics removed and other parts (focuser, etc.) masked off or the shavings from drilling could cause big-time damage. A filtered fan at the back and two filtered holes near the top sounds a lot more feasable.

December 3, 2003 02:43 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Scopetronix 14mm and/or 18mm

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
I bought the 18mm for visual-only because of the FOV and eye relief. At f/6 it was super-sharp, easy to take in the full FOV and it barlowed (2.5x Powermate) extremely well. No complaints at all. I was surprised at the "premium" performance for the reasonable price. I might get the 14mm also.

SS

January 1, 2004 05:10 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Newtonian focuser

Posted By Stephen Sherrod
Middle of the page at:

http://www.oneilphoto.on.ca/oneilatm.htm

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