Posts Made By: David Williams

Direct from Area 51 my little alien friend is guarding the cooling fan on my 16" F5. First light occured last saturday night. Typical NC weather this time of year haze and light polution so bad the sky was still blue at 10:30.

What is the best way to clean a Newtonian mirror.

Does anyone know if there is a resonably priced way to add goto to a nice CG-5? Seems I saw a Vixen unit but it was around $1200.00. I know Celestron offers the the whole thing for $750.00. I can't see paying more for a add on unless its something super special.I would hope someone offers a decent kit in the $200.00 to $300.00 range.

Just a quick first test on a Meade AR6 at prime focus. Did pretty good considering the light cloud cover that I had to shoot through. Gave me hope for better nights. 8O

I think that NC is now short for North CaroHaze or North Cloudolina. I think the conditions is this state have been aweful this year. Any way blame me. I have a new 16" newt. that has yet to leave the house. New scopes seem to cause bad weather. You clear the sky I'll bring the scope.

I no more want to jump into the "Dob Debate" than I want to discuss the election. They both may just raise your blood pressure and distract from your real reason you got interested to start with. Its not about the design or the mirror its about the "WoW". A dark clear sky and that sense of wonder you should never forget. Ok, I must admit I am a "gearhead" too. Scope design like everything else is a trade off. So far I have built 3 for myself. None were perfect. If I started another tomorrow it would begin with the lessons I have learned to get the next one just a little closer to what I "think" I want. I can only guess at the trade offs that go into a production scope for the multitude of reasons. At some point the guy has to pay the bills and sell scopes. Sometimes 10% better costs twice as much. Build one for yourself and see who's design and optics are your starting point. When it's all done you will have a better scope or understanding of what is on the market. Then go find a dark sky and get back to "WoW".

I hope nobody thinks this is for real......the plan was to put Palomar on a trailer. Couldn't find a suitable photo, this will have to do.

If $200.00 is the magic number you might want to pick up a set of Celestron 25x100 at $199.99. I have a set riding around on a UPS truck now that should be here 05/08. Celestron seems to be dumping product right now with the buy out going on. I never wanted a pair bad enough at $300.00 plus but $200.00 got me off the fence. As for the Nikon Action Zooms, I have a pair of 10-22x50 that I use. They are ok for daytime use but have a alignment problem that shows up at focus on stars. When I first got them the right side wouldn't focus on infinity! Somehow I tweaked them and got that corrected. I probably should have returned them. I am a long time Nikon fan but have never thought these deserved the Nikon name.

Hi,
I have a chance to get a new 4" Meade APO on the LXD 650 at about half the original price. I've never had a APO so is this a good place to start?

My Celestron 25X100's got here a few days before I finished the mount. No doubt it was needed! 10 pounders aren't much fun hand held! I know there are better Bino's out but for $199.99 these are a lot of fun.