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Posts Made By: Judson Mitchell

May 12, 2010 11:04 PM Forum: Religion

Hmm, and I though it was the Religion forum.

Posted By Judson Mitchell
Floyd: Perhaps I differ in that there is no definition of the forum other than "Religion" which really opens the door for pretty much anything. Seems that since this is a site relating primarily to Astronomy, both sides of the issue should be contested. The real interesting aspect of the forum is the vehemence. Participants need to recognize that, and realize that when they comment, there will definitely be those who are willing to provide opposing opinions and issues. Taint no one-sided group here.

It may be of value to retitle the forum as Religion as it applies to astronomy.

Jud

May 26, 2010 11:09 PM Forum: Eyepieces

How does a 24mm UWA stand up to f4.5 ???

Posted By Judson Mitchell
Have you considered the 28mm UWAN hand grenade?

Jud

July 27, 2010 01:49 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Oh Boy! Mars as big as the full moon time again!

Posted By Judson Mitchell
Tis sad that this is the only activity on Astromart Forums this morning.

September 17, 2010 11:46 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Problems w/ reflector on goto mount

Posted By Judson Mitchell
Welcome to the vagaries of an equitorial mount. My feeling is that rotating rings are the best solution. However, you still have to deal with the reverse rotation problem which causes you to do multiple gyrations going from some objects to another. Planing minimizes that problem. I was able to loosen the rings on my RV6 and rotate the tube, making sure that I returned the tube to my "mark" to insure the tube remained balanced. It is easy to let the tube slip down through the rings when rotating.

Good luck
Jud

October 13, 2010 11:15 PM Forum: Eyepieces

New Product Announcement

Posted By Judson Mitchell
No one has mentioned the concentrated centrifugal air densifier; a device that creates a simulated lens of densified air aligned in such a manner that mimics a telescope. Attached to the head, the viewer merely needs to look in a given direction and modify the settings of the simulated lenses to provide aperture and magnification. We are now working on the stabilization positioner. Right now operators experience vertigo due to the lack of control. But, preliminary tests are promising for the stabilizer. Any assistance in this area would be appreciated.

Jud

November 14, 2010 11:16 PM Forum: Reflectors

1/10 secondary upgrade?

Posted By Judson Mitchell
Perhaps I am wrong and sager minds will chime in, but it seems that you get more bang for the buck by upgrading the secondary than refiguring the mirror. I did both. Also remember that much depends on seeing. So the improvement may not always be obvious without excellent seeing. Being from NW SC, we are not too far apart, so my suspicions are that your seeing is probably mediocre much of the time.

Jud

November 16, 2010 04:58 PM Forum: N.A.S.A.

One way ticket to midnight...

Posted By Judson Mitchell
Only if I had 6 months to live.

Jud

November 20, 2010 05:40 AM Forum: Eyepieces

star testing eyepiece needed

Posted By Judson Mitchell
Jeffery:

You can probably get decent star tests from 15mm and below in your scope. Longer focal lengths seem to fall short of good visual tests. My biggest problem is when short FLs are used, the floaters tend to obscure the test. Thus, at my age (69) the longer FLs (around 13-15)are best for me. With smaller exit pupil views, the results are more difficult to evaluate.

Jud

December 14, 2010 11:28 PM Forum: Meteorites & Meteors

Geminids from N.E. Illinois

Posted By Judson Mitchell
From Greenville SC environs (outlying urban)

Twas good. Sunday night I looked out my front door sidelight before going to bed and almost immediately saw a Geminid. That Piqued me for Monday. Around 10 pm I stood in the cold behind my house with not a great view of the sky and saw 3 in about 6 minutes. Just after midnight I ventured out for about an hour and twenty minutes and saw 50. The interesting thing with these Geminids was that they came in bunches more often than I had ever seen in a modest meteor shower. In periods of 5-20 seconds I saw 2-5 meteors which was unique in my viewing history, disregarding the 1966 and 2001 Leonids. Also noted were quite a few meteors within a few degrees of the radiant.

Came in to warm up and drink a bit of coffee and ventured out again just after 2 am and witnessed 60 in about an hour and a half. Considering that the transparency was compromised at well under mag 5, it was viewed by me to be a successful night/morning. Sorry you missed it if you did, but you gotta pay to
play.

Jud
Simpsonville SC




January 20, 2011 10:40 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Items purchased twice?

Posted By Judson Mitchell
Sold a 28 UWAN to finance a 17 Nagler; now I want the UWAN back. It fills a gap between my 40 Paragon and 20 Nagler. It was excellent for my needs.

Jud

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