Posts Made By: Kwang Lee

That's fantastic, Ron. I like the seeing
the 'uncommonly photographed' galaxies.
This one has nice tight, concentric
sprials, almost hypnotic.

Are you gonna have time to add color?

K

I just received a 42" x 9" alum tube from Hastings. It's
rolled on one end, and it feels heavier than I had hoped.
It "feels" about 15 lbs. I think an equivalent fiberglass
tube would be about 5 lbs.

I just had recent contact with Wave Group Astronomy,
who can fabricate fiberglass tubes. A bit pricey,
but they were very helpful and quick in response to
my initial inquiries about their tubes:

http://www.pacific-works.com/wavegroup/

Here's a pic of the alum tube that arrived from Hastings
today...

Andrew, you might check out the QCUIAG yahoo group. I don't believe there's a commercially available webcam that has much more resolution than 640x480. I've been lurking there and one the latest mods is to replace the stock ccd on a toucam pro (or other similar cam) with a larger ICX414AL ccd, which is about 30-35% larger (by area) and considerably more sensitive than the stock chip.

If you can't do the work yourself, you might ask on the QCUIAG group. Or if you have a friend handy with a soldering needle, that's a route to go as well.

my 2 cents,
Kwang

Vin,
I constructed my own with a Royce 8" F/5 last summer. I was routinely pushing past 400x last fall on Mars
with wonderful views. (Using an Antares 1/20 diagonal). A couple nights I pushed up to 625x
on Saturn and the image held.

My mirror suffered a minor tragedy when the diag
came loose and impacted on the edge of the mirror.
I thought all was lost, but after I carefully cleaned it up and replaced the diagonal, I was
getting very close to the same views. I had a
chance to do a comparison with an Orion 8" on Saturn, and I was consistently getting a better
view. The Orion would get "mushy" beyond 250x while I was able to get steady views to 400x. I think it was only partly optics, however, since I
had a fan on my OTA blowing across the mirror and
the Orion was just the plain model with no mods.

Ilford HP5+ and TMax400 films have some sensitivity in the HA range. Both are nice films for regular daylight B&W work, too, if you don't want to burn a whole roll on astro work.

I may pick up a 2" HA filter and try this after Xmas.

Anthony - I recently tried to email him. Got no response from three different emails. (Work, home, school.) I finally called and left a message.
He called back two days later and left a message on my answering machine.

I purchased a finished mirror from him two years ago, and I found that he can be 'sketchy' on email, but he seems to respond to phone messsages.

Alexis and Dave's suggestions are sound.

It seems like you're still figuring out your viewing interests.

There are lots of variables to consider. I had a 8" SCT for years...which served me well. I had a chance to look through
some decent refractors (6" D&G, and AP) at star parties, and though I liked the contrasty views and impressive magnification on the planets, I realized I preferred to spend my time looking at DSO's. I also realized that I needed to plan more regular trips out to dark sites. I think this is one of the most under-rated aspects of viewing... getting to dark skies on a regular basis. I know some people can't, but I think many people don't put enough time and research into it.

Also, check out one of your local astronomy clubs to see if there are any star parties coming up. I'll bet there's at least a couple of folks who own a larger dob and a decent APO in your area.

Just for the record...

After a wait of 4 years and 5 months, I received my 14 inch mirror last week.


Kwang 8O

6 inch F/10 doublet APO - yes, I'd be interested.

7 inch F/10 - maybe.

7 inch F/12 - maybe...might make a decent folded refractor.

Kwang

I just spent 3 hours sending a mirror to Canada. Why 3 hours? I went to the post office and stood in line for 20 minutes; then learned I can only ship Priority Mail or Express Mail to Canada. No tracking with Priority and it's $49. Express with insurance starts at $102. What?!?!?! So, I drive to the local UPS store and they are cheaper (around $35 for ground), but I need the phone number
of the recipient. Sure, I'll just pull out my smart phone -- nope, I don't have a smart phone. Plus I'm not going to wait hours for an email reply from the buyer.

I drive back to the post office and there's 20-25 people in front of me. I get to the counter and the postal employee sighs when I walk up. "Where's you customs form?" He directs me to fill it out and come straight back. The next person who walks up to the counter has over a dozen items. Another 10 min. wait. I'm not sure what the buyer is willing to pay for shipping. So, I decide on Priority Mail -- guess what? They can only insure the mirror for $110. What?!?!?!

I love shipping to Canada.