Posts Made By: Ron Bee

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1593

Enjoy,
Ron B[ee]

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1593

Enjoy,
Ron B[ee]

The two sunspots really, really gave me this impression .

Enjoy,
Ron B[ee]

http://www.televue.com/engine/page.asp?ID=309

Yes, you read it right ;-)! Stephen O'Meara has joined the 5-incher club with his brand spanging new 5-inch Tele Vue NP127 "light cup" ;-)!!! I'm willing to bet my 20mm TV Plossl ;-);-) that this will be the "genesis" ;-) of his next book on the H.400 using his NP127!

Congratulation Stephen!

Ron the 5-inch Tall Evangelist B[ee]

Just read this in the Tele Vue eGroup ;-). ATWB has all the sale prices!!!

Ron B[ee]
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Dear Esteemed Members,

We're takenly surprised but delightfully elated to let all our esteemed
members know that *all* Tele Vue eyepieces, barlow and powermate are
all of sale at your favorite dealers to usher in the new dawn of the
Ethos eyepiece!!! Disclosed :-) sources cited this rare event will run
for approx. 13 weeks.

Yes, even the Ethos is on ... gotcha :-):-):-), nope the Ethos is
*not* on sale.

Do not walk but run to your nearest Tele Vue dealers (personally we
would not want to wait near the end of the 13 weeks :-). Remember, you
heard it here first :-).

Well, I've been badly bitten and drooling over ImagingSource camera ;-). At first, I thought the obvious choice would be one of the monochrome DMK and start learning how to fiddle with RGB filters and filter wheel (BTW, I got a real sticker shock on how expensive the filters and wheel are!)

One issue about using RGB filters I don't know anything about is how much extra exposure (or maybe not at all?) would I need in R, G and B channels vs color camera. I'll be using the camera primarily with my 5-incher to image the planets and Moon, some double stars (I've been toying with getting tube rings for my 8" Dob). So what I did was I tried using my #23 orange filter with my color Toucam set in b/w mode on Jupiter at f/26 with my 5-incher. Well, the result was so shocking, even at 70% gain, the image was still very dim!!! However, there's plenty of light imaging in full color mode without filters.

So do the RGB filters "rob" a lot of light?

On the other hand, I've been seeing incredibly fine images from the DBK color camera. So for small apertures, would this be a safer bet?

Thanks in advance.

Ron B[ee]

One never quite know what delicacies would jump out of the Moon ;-).
http://www.astrobee.000webhost.com/mi/Moon/Lacus-Locusta.html
So look deeply and look often at our closest neighbor!

Enjoy,
Ron the 4-inch Tall Evangelist B[ee]

Just saw this . FYI, Borrego Springs is in southern CA .

Ron B[ee]
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Dear Esteemed Members,

This weekend, RTMC will host a star party and sessions, esp. imaging sessions, at Borrego Springs.
http://www.rtmcastronomyexpo.org/nightfall.htm
We have confirmed that if you're within driving distance, you do not have to get the hotel room or RV spot to attend. You can register at the show.

Meet Jim Burnell and discover what is his secret imaging ingredience :-). We hear John Rhodes, "The Ethos Man" :-) himself will also be attending along with the Ethos.

Finally a comparison using the Red Planet Mars ;-). Seeing was poor but I don't know when I'll get another chance (it did improved during my visual observation). I'll caution that the CCD camera does not respond the same way as the eye nor with the same exact color! Another disclaimer: I've found the image without visual filter always show the best details but visually I found filters helped me.
http://www.astrobee.000webhost.com/Toys/Images/Mars-Filters-NP127.jpg

Finally, the jury is still out ;-) on Orion Mars filter for me. I need to use it through this apparition to make any conclusion for myself. But it is safe to say ;-) that just based on last night, I still prefer my Tele Vue Type B and Baader Moon & Skyglow to the Orion for my small telescopic aperture.

Ron B[ee]

I haven't been able to see the comet again since the 24th due foul
smokes and then bad weather :-(. Scattered and passing clouds tonight. So I thought I'd quickly setup my 4-inch TV-102 for a quick look. Well, there seemed to be less clouds after a while and the comet has gotten a heck of a lot bigger. So I grab my DSLR and shot a few pics.

Enjoy,
Ron B[ee]