Posts Made By: Doug Culbertson

I hear ya! I have had so many low-ball offers that if I am selling something rather high end, I tend to add blurb to my ad that low-ball offers will cheerfully be ignored!

Doug
Midway, FL

Congrats! That telescope should provide some fine observing...once the weather clears up around December, that is.

Since I just took delivery of a 16" Starmaster goto, I guess the weather will be totally messed up from coast to coast now. 8)

Doug
Midway, FL

Yep! After catching it on ppv, I went out and bought the DVD.

Doug
Midway, FL

When you place an ad on Astromart, just use the "Wanted" option from the drop down menu for ad type.

As to an optics category, there is a Telescope Making category, so perhaps that would be the place to place such an ad?

Doug
Midway, FL

Our cat usually spends the night with me when I am out observing, stretching out as close to my telescope as he can without getting stepped on. Can't say that I have ever noticed him taking an interest in observing though.

Our dogs tend to spend all their time outside with noses to the ground, and never look up.

Doug
Midway, FL

The seller of that Ethos posted on CN that he had hit a rough spot in life, and was selling a lot of stuff besides the Ethos. Check out his name and you will see that most of his eyepieces are up for sale right now. Hopefully, things will look up for him soon!

Doug
Midway, FL

Very similar to your herd:

16" f/4.3 Starmaster w/goto for the DSOs

10" f/6 Teeter dob for lunar/planetary/everything else when I don't feel like toting the SM out

Orion 100ED for short nights/fast cooldown/easy out the door observing. I am actually thinking of replacing this one with a cheap Orion 120ST refractor, since I want really wide field low power views.

Done? I keep telling myself that I am, but having gone through more scopes than I can actually remember right now, it's not likely. I would, however, like to get back to binoviewing.

Doug
Midway, FL

Count me amongst those that hate 'em too. As I recall, those stupid things came out back before compression ring focusers/diagonals/Paracorrs/barlows became all the rage, so they were designed to hold the eyepiece just in case the setscrew wasn't tight enough. I still think that the grooves are an abomination.

FWIW, I don't like compression rings either. :S

Doug
Midway, FL

Bill,

As I mentioned in the thread on the Equipment forum, I also have a Tom O. platform, but mine is the wooden model. Back when I ordered mine, I was all set to buy a Round Table Platform due to the great reviews and the price. One night I observed with a friend that had a Starmaster V8 on a Tom O. platform, and the next day I ordered mine.

The platform is a joy to use, and is ultra stable with my 10" f/6 dob. I get absolutely no jitters or jiggles when using the dob on this platform. My only real grip is that I still haven't quite figured out the whole "platform reset" in my Sky Commander so that it actually syncs with resetting the platform. I guess reading the manual would help though.

I had mentioned earlier that I was going to sell my platform due to the fact that I need to use a step in order to reach the eyepiece when the 10" is on the platform, however, I believe that I have changed my mind. I figure I am already using a step to reach the eyepiece on my 16" f.4.3, so what the heck?

Here's what I like about using a dob on a platform as opposed to using the Sky Tracker on my Starmaster, or the ServoCat...Using a dob on a platform is very similar to using a telescope on a Losmandy mount with those wonderful slip clutches. In other words, you move the scope, let go, and it tracks.

I have included a not so great photo of my platform.

Doug
Midway, FL

Bill, we have a 2004 Scion xB, and I used to fit my 14.5" Starmaster, along with Starstep observing chair, eyepieces, tables, charts, etc in it with no trouble at all. I haven't tried my 16" SM in it, but I would imagine that it wouldn't be too difficult.

Since the 2008 xB is even bigger, and depending on the telescope you are using, I don't think that it would be a problem at all.

Doug
Midway, FL