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Posts Made By: Ron Bee

February 8, 2005 12:08 AM Forum: Refractors

Super Light Cup vs Light Cup

Posted By Ron Bee
Michael Sutherland said:

Ron,

Really enjoyed your post. It seems we are/will be following many of the same courses. The TMB 130 is most likely going to be the successor to my FS102 and I also have the TMB 5mm and 6mm SuperMono's. The FS102 will always hold a special place in my heart, but one of these days, I'll just HAVE to spring for a 5".

Yes, please continue to post more observations/comparisons. My FS102 is in dry dock while I wait for some mount repairs, (not too good at holding it steady by hand I'm afraid ;-)

Cheers
Mike S

Thanks Mike.

Regarding your plan, great eyes sure see alike ;-). Once I get another mount and another diagonal (and the new TMB "invisible" diagonal is intriguing ;-), I'll be in much better position to do more comparison side-by-side - please stay tuned.

Ron the 5-inch Tall Evangelist B[ee]

February 17, 2005 05:41 PM Forum: APM

TMB 115 Images

Posted By Ron Bee
That's awesome, Markus! So much intricate details. If I inverted, it looks like something is burning and throwing up smoke in the central region ;-).

Ron B[ee]

March 8, 2005 02:51 PM Forum: TeleVue

Ranger to TV-85

Posted By Ron Bee
Scott Anderson said:

Well what do you think?

Is the upgrade to a TV-85 from a Ranger worth the money?

Scott

Well Scott, it's greatly dependent on your portability, travel requirement. It's also greatly dependent on what other scope(s) you already have or will this be your only telescope.

Ron B[ee]

March 9, 2005 03:43 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Question about Aperature and Focal Length

Posted By Ron Bee
Well Don, the focal ratio is defined as focal length / objective diameter. Thus.

400mm/80mm = f/5
400mm/40mm = f/10

thereby, by stopping down the objective, you have increase the focal ratio.

Ron B[ee]

March 9, 2005 03:50 PM Forum: TeleVue

emery paper in the TV 85?

Posted By Ron Bee
Hannes Hase-Bergen said:

Hi "TeleVue´s"

A friend of me has bought a new TV 85 apo. As he looked into the tube, he saw that emery paper was used inside the tube for reducing the reflections :S
This is my question: Has you inside your TV´s also emery paper inside the tubes? I think, this is not good. Because, the TV refractor´s are not truly cheap and moreover there will be the risk af scratches in the optic, if the emery paper will fall to pieces.

Here in Germany some people won´t buy TV-Apos because of this kind of production ...

regards hannes

Hello there Hannes,

I wonder how your friend conclude that it was Emery paper. Did he see the word "Emery" written on it ;-)?

More seriously, Tele Vue uses different baffle design, and look sort of like sand material. Here's a review of the TV-102, same baffle and glass as the TV-85 only larger, and you'll see how well the baffle works.
http://www.teleskop-service.de/televue/TV102Test/102Test.htm

Ron B[ee]

March 16, 2005 02:58 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

No more small TMBs

Posted By Ron Bee
ken pfeiffer said:

It looks like Tom Back will no longer be producing any smaller APOs, at least for a while. I had enquired a while ago about a new TMB 105, but I was just informed that he will be concentrating on 7" and larger. Nice, but certainly not within my budget, or the limits of my increasingly frail body.

Fortunately, Stellarvue is still making smaller scopes with lenses from the same supplier as TMB, and I see they just added a 130mm to their line up. Hopefully ATWB will start stocking these, too!

Dear Ken,

I think we (i.e. existing TMB customers & potential TMB customers) would appreciate it very much if you do not provide such errorneous information without confirming your information first at the source ;-). Thank you for your assistance.

TMB Optical will continue to make and sell small TMB APO refractors. In fact, some more new exciting things will be happening in this arena. To get reliable information ;-), anyone can simply check out the info at the source:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tmboptical

Ron B[ee]

March 18, 2005 07:37 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

The perfect scope?

Posted By Ron Bee
Floyd Blue said:

There is only one perfect scope, the one you use all the time! 8)
For some that is a refractor and some it takes a reflector. But in the end it is only perfect if it fits your needs and your car. wink

I couldn't agree with you more Floyd. This is why there's no "single" perfect scope that suits everyone like a one-size-fit-all sock wink

Ron B[ee]

March 18, 2005 09:56 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Campbell's Hydrogen Star

Posted By Ron Bee
Hello there Kim,

According to the RASC Deep Sky Challenge Object list, the Campbell Hydrogen Star (also known as PK 64+5.1) needs an 8" aperture. Well, I saw it with my 4-inch TV-102 Light Cup at my old dark sky home. It's really teeny and need lots of magnification. I too wished I had an H-Beta filter sad at the time. Suggestion: a good detailed star chart is vital to success.
http://www.cloudynights.com/observe/ronbee/DSO/080502.html

Ron B[ee]

March 31, 2005 06:58 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

A little frustrated

Posted By Ron Bee
Rick Wiseman said:
I moved to CVn again and searched at 40X for M51 quite a while, but no joy. Is that thing really there, or are you guys making it up? Actually the bright skies and poor transparency smoked it.
Rick Wiseman
90mm refractor

Hello there Rick,

To utilize the small aperture to the fullest on DSOs, one should try under good condition (i.e. por transparency would make the task more difficult). Also, a good star chart will go a long way in helping you nail the location precisely when you might not even be able to see the object. Please have a look at this finder chart for M51 (scroll down to M51).
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=808&pr=3x74

Best of luck in nailing M51, one of the finest galaxies of all.

Ron the 4-inch Tall Evangelist B[ee]

April 1, 2005 03:07 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Sirius B split with an ETX90 and Binoviewer!

Posted By Ron Bee
You reeled me in real good there Randy-san until I read the last sentence grin.

Ron B[ee]

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