Posts Made By: Bernard Kean

Judson
I pretty much echo your story. I was always interested in the stars and heavens. As a youngster back in the late 50's and early 60's I passed the time waiting for the school bus by watching the stars. Marveled at them while laying in the bush in Vietnam. When Halley's Comet came around I bummed a scope and went camping with my wife in N. GA and found it, and the following weekend we backpacked into a remote mountain top and found it in some small 10x25mm binoculars. A Boy Scout Troop came up and were not far away so I showed them how to find it and left the bino's for them to explore, and went to bed. We heard ooohs and aaaws and a few WOW's till late. For the next few years I've pulled out larger binos on published celestial events. But then about 5 years ago my wife asked me if I wanted a scope for Xmas so I started to read these and the other forums and with some good advise I picked up a TV85/Gibraltar off Amart and a TV8-24 to get started. IIRC Randy was a regular on a few forums then also. Where you and I differ is I didn't know squat about eyepieces and listened to many different folks and after a while it seemed most folks liked the TV line with very few dissenters. At that point I purchased a few Panoptics and was quite happy until temptation got the best of me and picked up the 13T6 Nagler. Very slippery and costly slope it was. I wheeled and dealed, and squeezed the rat hole money till the poke was empty and now have the NP101 SM11"f5.4 and a case of Naglers. So to date the thirst has been quenched. I still consider myself a biginner. I view strickly for my own enjoyment and don't have to view at every opportunity, and sometimes I just sit outside at night with some small bino's and look around and howl at the moon.
Just my $.002
Buck

Rod
I just switched to a premium (FT) focuser on a well known brand of refractor that is know for having a smooth focuser. At high powers there was movement however after switching to a FeatherTouch there is clearly an improvement. The very light touch required on the fine focus knob made a huge difference. You don't really have to grab it, just roll it with your finger tip. Keep in mind no focuser will make up for a shaky mount. I can't compare to an electronic as I have never used one. Some of the mentioned draw backs have already been pointed out. I like the action of the FT so much I have another on order to replace a JMI on my DOB. The JMI is good but man the FT is just so smooth in course and fine movement it is amazing. I know see why there is so much prase from everyone about the FT.
Hope this helps
Buck

Hi Paul
I haven't used the Blug myself but I haven't heard of anyone that did not like it. IIRC when Howie first introduced them there was an issue with the fit in the Feathertouch focusers because of the way they are cut away on the inside of the drawtube. However the issue has been addressed and as far as I know they work fine. I use a HG laser and the flat barlowed laser attachment and it works extremely well. I follow up with a peak through an autocollimator and usually don't need to tweak. Very quick. If I had a big scope and ladder involved I would think the Blug would be the ticket.
Hope this helps
Buck

A cage

Greg Nowell said:


While I have all these smart people here: what is the correct term for the assembly that keeps the ball bearings together? A cage? A ball race?

regards
greg n

Hahahahahahaha....ttoooo funnnny.

Stephen
It looks good to me and nothing wrong as far as the barlowed laser and primary alignment are concerned. As long as your Lasermate is collimated and your center dot with donut is centered you should be good to go. One addition to really nail the collimation would be to add an autocollimator to finish off the collimation and make any final tweaks.
Buck

Hi Dave
Try removing the OCS cell. As I remember that was part of the reason for the OCS cell was to lengthen the light cone so most normal scopes would come to focus. Most of the "BV Ready" scopes were shortened so the BV didn't need the OCS cell, and usually included the extention tube for normal use. You may not need the OCS cell. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
Buck

Robert
That would depend on if you want to get to higher powers. Your 9mm in the 1800mm scope is 200x. If you want to or need to go higher, then you will have to move into the 1.25" eyepieces. Personally I do go higher when contditions allow.
Buck

Edward
I could be wrong here, but if it a 2.5x then it is a Powermate. I'm not aware of TV making a regular 2.5x barlow.
Buck

Paulo
Hard to beat a Televue NP101 for excellent wide field views. Maximum Tfov with a 55mm Plossl is 4.9°. I have a 31T5 which will give 4.5°. Not too many objects that can't fit in that much FOV.
Just my $.02
Buck