Posts Made By: Ron Bee

Indeed Jake. I'd like to hear more from those with a 4" Celestron C102-HD (now rechristened CR-4 or its Synta equivalent), 4" Orion Astroview, 4" Orion Starmax, Orion 4.5" Dobs, etc., sort of the "fantastic 4 posts" ;-)?

Ron the 4-inch Tall Evangelist B[ee]

Wow Doug, that was a very mighty fine sketch! The f/8 of the 8-incher must be awesome!

Ron B[ee]

... or get thee a Vixen GP mount with at least an RA drive ;-). You'll see how much more pleasurable viewing Mars at high power the TV-102 will be and will reach its full potential. Also, the Focus Lever (such as the Tele Vue) when properly used will cause very minor or *no* vibration at high power!

Ron B[ee]

Wow Scott sounds like you have pretty bad seeing where you are, as I have a TV-102 as well and have been seeing plenty.
http://members.cox.net/ronby/Solar-System/index.htm

Have you tried some color filters? Waiting until Mars is at the highest point (right now around 1-2am in North America)?

Ron the 4-inch Tall Evangelist B[ee]

Well Ron, you know, "happy with it" is a state of mind and the the only answer in my humblest opinion is the zen of self-satisfication ;-).

Although I enjoy the finer, more detail view through my 8" Discovery PDHQ Dob, I've found I seem to be viewing more through the old trusty "well-worn" ;-) 4" TV-102 Light Cup since I got the 8-incher. Perhaps, like Ed Ting (thank Jim for the link), I find my 4-incher Light Cup to be the default scope (used to be the only ;-). I've been and still am very happy with the view through the 4-incher, especially of Mars this apparition and if someone were to rob me blind on some lonely dark road, I would let him take my Dob (adding to him that bigger is better and "more valuable" ;-).

The Light Cup's morale is: the external search for telescope satisfaction and the external search for telescope perfection is the internal search for balance ;-).

Ron B[ee]
PS - the TEC-140 is looking mighty tempting ;-).
PS - ask me again during the gas giant season and who knows then ;-).

Hello there Vince,

Here's the link to the couple of observations I did.
http://members.cox.net/ronby/Solar-System/Mars-081003-TV102.htm
http://members.cox.net/ronby/Solar-System/Mars-081703-TV102.htm

I was out looking for Olympus Mons (or Nix Olympus) on Sun. morning with my 4" TV-102. I used to reach for my Radian automatically but found to my surprise I would reach for the TMBs EP. When I got it, I wasn't sure if I'd like the teeny AFOV and short ER. But surprisingly, the 4mm ER is still quite workable so long as I don't look at the entire FOV. The 30d AFOV is eminently serviceable on planets. I plan to get the 6mm TMB as well and this should complete my planetary eyepieces.

So you think you'd see my 6mm, 5mm and 4mm Radian on Astromart ;-)? Not a chance! While the TMB SuperMonos works great on the Moon (I could see a slightly whiter color, slightly more contrast and brightness), I finally figure out why I don't like the SuperMonos so much on the Moon. I lost the "space walk", "from orbit" feeling the Radians impart! The area of the moon that can be seen with a 4mm Radian for example is just whoppingly much more than can be seen in the SuperMonos.

Oh, I had my 8-inch Discovery Dob out as well. I wanted to see how well it works on the Dob. After almost constantly nudging for about 5 minutes, I gave it. It was toooooooo *painful* with the SuperMono. I really think these superb TMB eyepieces really need a driven mount in order for an observer to stay focused and deliver that "last mile" of details. Otherwise, I found it way too distracting and actually not seeing any more than I should :-(. Oh, BTW, forget about sketching while nudging the 30d AFOV :-(.

Alas, I found that I really need both ;-). Lastly, you should join the TMB eGroup; there are many more reports there.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tmboptical/


Ron B[ee]
PS - Nope, I failed to see Olympus Mon :-(.

I have a Baader solar filter I bought from Kendrick. Custom fit to go over the TV-102 dew shield with 3 plastic screws to keep it tight. The contrast and brightness is stunning, providing the seeing supports it.

Ron B[ee]

Hello there Angel,

Very nice picture!

I was out last night around 05:00-06:00UT having Mars party with my wife and kids and have both my 4" TV-102 and my 8" Discovery Dob out. I had forgotten about my Baader Moon and Skyglow filter I bought for Mars in at the end of the 2001 apparition. I used it the first time last night and viola my wife notice the large blue "cloud" in and around the NPH (this was her first look at Mars this year). I quickly scrutinized it and indeed it was a beautiful light hazy blue color. The #80A and my new #38A brought it out as well but not as intense as the Baader filter. Though I've been seeing the blue NPH before opposition, last night was quite intense and large. Here are two links I found showing the blue whatever as well.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/~cmomk/2003/030827/DPk27Aug03.jpg
http://homepage3.nifty.com/~cmomk/2003/030829/CSr29Aug03.jpg

Ron B[ee]

I second Anarcortes Telescopes and WildBird (and not because they own Astromart ;-). I bought my TV-102 from them, Tele Vue eyepieces, filters, stuff.

Ron B[ee]

Hello there Mike,

A most interesting question indeed. I don't know what is the minimum, but I repeated Huygens' discovery of Syrtis Major back in Nov. 28, 1659. He used a "home made" ;-) telescope of 51mm aperture (before the time of the achromat) and his "home made" Huygens eyepiece yielding 50x. Mars was 17" in apparent size at the time. I followed his historic discovery (granted with far superior optics ;-).
http://members.cox.net/ronby/Solar-System/Mars-070203.htm

If anyone is interesting in trying out the "Huygens' Challenge" (as my Light Cup called it ;-), Mars will be 17" in size again in mid Oct.

Ron B[ee]