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Posts Made By: Greg Elspas

May 27, 2003 09:25 PM Forum: Telescope Making

source for achromats?

Posted By Greg Elspas
Charlie,
My first suggestion would have been Apogee but how about these?

http://www.islandeyepiece.com/ATM_building_supply/objective_lenses.htm

Greg

May 29, 2003 07:27 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Portable Refractor

Posted By Greg Elspas
A Borg 76ED would seem to fit the bill. It is very lightweight and transportable weighing in at under 4 lbs. The standard 76ED is F6.6 but there is also a 76EDFL version which is F10. That might be a better choice since you stated that you are interested in planetary and lunar observation. Both of these can be purchased new within your given price range.

June 12, 2003 11:08 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

APO v. Achro

Posted By Greg Elspas
Leif,
I owned an AT1010 at one time and there will be color (a fair amount on bright objects). For wide field use it is a pretty decent performer. As a finder and quick look scope it would do well but if you plan on spending a lot of time with it especially on brighter objects like planets and the moon you may want to consider something else. There are some good ED scopes that come in somewhere between your basic achro and true APOs that will show considerably less color than an achro at less cost than a full-fledged APO.
Of course, I think the best advice is for you to find a club or star party and take a look through an AT1010 as well as other achros and then through an APO and decide for yourself whether the difference is worth it. I did exactly that and after looking through an APO decided the AT had to go.

June 19, 2003 06:23 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Vehicle Recommendations

Posted By Greg Elspas
Used to tell myself I would never be caught driving a mini-van. Have to admit, my Voyager has lots of room for a big dob, a couple refractors, camping equipment and it rides alot nicer than the old Blazer I used to own. The kids and wife like it better too (nice car for long trips/vacations).

July 7, 2003 05:51 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Are resellers ruining AstroMart?

Posted By Greg Elspas
It is kind of irritating to sell an item only to see it back on Astromart within no time at all for a higher price. It has happened to me. I suppose, I would like to think when selling a telescope for example, that the buyer will get some satisfaction out of owning it as I did. However, I tell myself that I did receive what I thought was a fair price for the item so I should be happy with that and whatever the buyer does with it afterwards is inconsequential.
Recently, however, I have run into some individuals that make ridiculously low offers on equipment and then continuously pester me about selling the item to them. It's often easy to tell what their intent is (flipping) just by looking at their past ads and their frequency. Some might argue that they are just "enthusiasts" and like to try out every widget (even if they only keep if for 3/10 of a second before relisting it). But In that case, if you find it bothersome, you certainly shouldn't feel in any way obligated to sell to them.

July 10, 2003 12:40 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Can anyone identify this part?

Posted By Greg Elspas
Looks like a camera flash bracket.

July 11, 2003 08:14 PM Forum: Star Parties

Black Forest Pa.

Posted By Greg Elspas
I'm planning on attending for the first time as well. My only concern is that since sending in my registration payment I haven't received any confirmation. I've emailed the contact address as well and haven't heard back. Is this normal? Just want to make sure since it's a long drive up there for me.

August 14, 2003 06:53 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

$429 Orion "true" APO? Maybe not, but...

Posted By Greg Elspas
Agreed. It's about time there were some alternatives to the $Vues at the lower range of the equipment spectrum. I've seen some comments already about competing brands coming with better mechanics, sliding dew shields, a personal touch, etc. I can't believe that these things are really important to what I expect this scope's target market is...folks looking for a no nonsense scope with decent optics at a REASONABLE price. I'm not in the market for another refractor right now but if I was, I'd be very tempted to at least give this one a look. Especially considering it's price point in comparison with some other well-known 80mm achros and semis out there.

August 27, 2003 12:35 PM Forum: Eyepieces

2" Barlow under 2X?

Posted By Greg Elspas
Hands on Optics sells a 2" 1.5x Proxima Barlow. It is shorter and lighter than the 2" 2X TV Big Barlow that I used to own. I have been very happy with it.

August 27, 2003 02:26 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Rich field refractor, opinions please.

Posted By Greg Elspas
You might want to look at the Borg 76. You can buy it in either an achromat or ED APO configuration. It's extremely lightweight, portable, highly configurable and the nice thing is that you can always upgrade the objective to a 100Ach or 100ED later without buying a whole new scope. In fact, there is also a Borg combo package that includes both the 76ED and 100Ach objectives for less than what a new TV-76 would cost you.

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