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Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

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Posts Made By: Wayne Gay

August 23, 2004 11:09 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

meade lx200 vs. celestron cge

Posted By Wayne Gay
First off, let me say I have a Meade 8" lx200, and am quite happy with it. As a 'take with me scope' I take it camping, and it works great, but it is heavy. I have heard the 10 and 12 are much heavier and bulkier. I am not familiar with the Celestron scopes, so I am no help there. I am also venturing into the world of astrophotography, and for a low cost setup, the Meade's work fine for me.

Wayne

September 2, 2004 01:25 PM Forum: Home Observatories

new roof

Posted By Wayne Gay
Hey, Ignore those idiots....

It looks fine to me. grin Beats the heck out of my observatory, oh ya, I don't have one... sad
I guess that is my point... Might not be the prettiest, but it does look functional. 8)

Clear Skies

Wayne

September 12, 2004 03:35 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

SAC7

Posted By Wayne Gay
I used a borrowed Sac7b for a few months, and almost bought it from the owner. grin
Was great for Planetary work, but the long exposure didn't work. The owner of the camera returned it to Sac and was sent a replacement camera after a couple of months and several phone calls and e-mails. shocked
Was a bit of a hassle, but not to bad.. They did send the replacement when they said they would, just took a while for them to say they would, after initially saying they would fix it under warranty, and never getting it done. Just remember, this is (I believe, correct me if I am wrong) a one man operation. 8O
I never got a chance to use it for long exposures, so I really cannot comment on that. 8)

Wayne

October 12, 2004 07:13 PM Forum: Home Observatories

Windy Ridge Observatory

Posted By Wayne Gay
Alan,
No laughing from here. It is a far cry from my observatory, as I don't have one... I can only say, if it works for you, then I am happy for you. Don't let others laughing get to you, they either don't have one, or they have one they spent a fortune building. Heck, I am having a hard enough time getting my wife to let me install a pier in my yard...

October 20, 2004 01:19 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Good wide field refractor for astrophotography.

Posted By Wayne Gay
Hmm, the Borg looks interesting, have been told by a local astronomer that the borg is plastic and has the rough feel. He looked at it side by side with a Takahashi, and ended up getting the Takahashi.
The Astro Physics are out of my price range...

I am curious though, I just realized most of you have pointed toward 80mm scopes, versus the 60mm Takahashi I mentioned I was looking at. Is 60mm too wide field? I have my 8" for the smaller stuff(I know, the optics are nothing like the APO's but it will have to suffice for the time being.)

Thanks again for all the good info. My mind is still not made up, although I do have more to analyze before making the purchase...

Wayne

October 23, 2004 11:41 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

f10 or f6.3 - newbie needs help!

Posted By Wayne Gay
Peter,
I own the F/10 model and use it primarily for CCD use, and Mostly with the 6.3 Focal reducer. However, I prefer the f/10 for its versatility, as I can go from f/10 to f/6.3 to f/3.3 with focal reducers. With the f/6.3 you would need a barlow to get to f/10. It really is up to you and how you want to use it. I like to think of it like this, with 6.3 you will get a wider field of view from the get go. But to zoom into those planets you will have to use a barlow, and higher magnification eyepiece's and will never reach the potential of the f/10 unit. The only downside is the wide field of the f/10 can only be reduced to f/6.3 for visual use, and the f/6.3 unit will go to around f/4.5 with the f/6.3 reducer.
Personally I would and did go with the f/10 unit.

Wayne

October 30, 2004 06:01 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Telescope Appears to have Died?!

Posted By Wayne Gay
Derrick,
Not sure if this will help, but I had a similar situation a few months ago, except my Lx200 (8" version) wouldn't fire at all. Turned out to be a fuse inside the power supply. I replaced the 'solder in' fuse with a fuse block and a replaceable fuse. Works like a champ.
Again, this may not be your problem, as you have power to the telescope, however do you have a full 12 volts? If not, there may be a similar problem with the power supply.
Have you tried another power supply?
Perhaps a 12v connector and a battery?
Worth a try..
Hope this helps,

Wayne

November 5, 2004 06:32 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Venus and Jupiter!

Posted By Wayne Gay
Hello,

Yes I was just leaving my house for work, when I noticed the pair. It was a wonderful Site. Wished I would have had time to take out my scope...

Wayne

November 21, 2004 05:29 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

idealastronomy.com

Posted By Wayne Gay
Pierre,

I did a deal with Ideal Astronomy back in June, without a hitch. Don't have a number for them though...

Wish I could be of more help here.

Wayne

January 22, 2005 07:18 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Reticle Led's Where???

Posted By Wayne Gay
Update,

I found some led's with a friend who got them out of an led flashlight. Added a 950 ohm resister and it works perfectly. It even varies in brightness with the small voltage change.

Hope this helps someone else...

Wayne

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