Posts Made By: Dan Lamoreaux

Not in my wildest imagination would I have envisioned this as the process for cleaning a huge mirror. I guess I'll start stopping at the car wash to clean my dob on the way to the observing field. Probably should spring for the extra spot-not rinse option. 8O

DanL

Not to dampen the excitement over these new offerings but... the type of glass does not a good scope make. I believe someone like Roland could build a scope out of window glass better than some Far Eastern optical houses could using fluorite elements. (Maybe a slight exaggeration) There are so many processes involved in making a quality refractor besides just what type of glass is used. Even the quality control of the fpl-53 melt can vary wildly from different suppliers and some manufacturers have a somewhat shady reputation about letting almost any blank pass through QC. Going from a 132 mm to a 158 mm at F7 increased the difficulty of making a proper lens group by a magnitude at least. I am not saying these W.O. offerings will be anything less that first rate quality, I hope they are excellent. I just find the advertising hype over glass types to be a bit of a straw dog when discussing top notch refractors.

DanL

David,

I am I am going to have to agree with Floyd on this. Even Naglers require a little help from a paracorr below F/5. You will have to make a choice between narrower fov like with a plossl, or live with degraded edge performance from lower priced wide fields. If you find something that performs like a Nagler for <$200, buy two and I'll take one off your hands.

DanL

GSO is one of if not the largest optical house in China. They manufacture and rebrand several different lines of eyepieces as well as their own named line. I suppose there would be some differences depending on the specs. the reseller submits on their order. I have a GSO dob that came with a set of eyepieces, but have never bothered to take them out of the box. I already had a bucketfull of eyepieces and saw no reason bother with them.

Are GSO quality eyepieces? Probably not. Are they a good value? If that is the best you can afford, then the answer is probably yes. I enjoy the views through my dob on low power wide field viewing, but it is no Zambuto. GSO eyepieces will not perform along side Televues, but they will show you some pretty decent views if you just don't try to push them too far. I would try to find used UO konigs or similar older Japanese manufactured eyepieces if it were me.

DanL

For those of us geographically challenged for this event, there will be some compensation as the Moon will pass through M44, the Beehive Cluster, the same night occulting several stars of this rich field. It begins just before dark here in the Midwest with greatest contact between 9-10 p.m. CDT. It should make a nice show, but nothing compared to watching Mars slip behind the Moon.

DanL

Being from Tulsa, we have our share of light pollution as any metropolitan area. We do have access to some very dark skies within reasonable driving distance. Areas along the Kansas Oklahoma border 2-3 hrs. drive time are very dark. The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is a great place to observe. There are areas flat as a pancake with no trees from horizon to horizon. It's very breathtaking and you might even get to drive through a heard of bison on your way in. Oklahoma hosts the Okie-Tex Star Party in the very distant corner of the panhandle at Kenton Ok. These are some of the darkest skies left in the US. I attend it each year. Our greatest nemesis here is the wind. It is nearly a constant companion except in the dead of Summer when the slightest breeze is greatly appreciated.

DanL

I frequently binoview through both refractors and scts. I find binoviewing very beneficial for lunar and planetary observing where the slight light loss is inconsequential. I find that if I use the same eyepiece in mono mode then switch to a pair in the binoviewer, the object, to my brain anyway, appears larger. I always binoview when doing high power planetary viewing. There is also the issue of eye fatigue. I can sit and stare through a binoviewer for an hour observing a planet searching out slight details with little or no breaks. When in Cyclops mode I frequently have to stop and rest my eyes. For DSOs you do give up noticeably more light and resulting detail, so for serious study I usually go mono. But for just some relaxed casual scanning about the heavens I find a pair of 24mm panoptics in my 14” LX200 to be a wonderful experience. I have had a number of people at star parties stop by to look through my scope with the bver in place and one of the first comments they make is the 3D effect they perceive. Check out Saturn sometime through one and you will know what they are talking about. I would recommend you start with one of the less expensive binoviewers that DO have the self centering eyepiece holders. Getting you eyes accustomed to merging the dual images can be very easy for some and very difficult for others and if the eyepieces are slightly out of alignment, it can make it much worse. Even if you get them to merge, you eyes will fatigue quickly trying to hold them together.

Maybe some of the golf courses will be those par 3 courses with lighted fairways so people can play at night. Those are nice.

DanL

I just discovered this as well and was getting ready to start a new thread on it when I saw yours. It's very nice indeed. Fantastic for the beginner and entertaining for the seasoned veteran as well.

Herb has made it clear that feedback ratings are only to be left after a completed transaction has taken place. If someone leaves feedback for reasons like you have mentioned here, the recipient of that negative feedback has the right to lodge a complaint with Herb who will likely take some punitive action toward the offender.

People disappearing after you thought a deal had been reached just happens from time to time. I prefer they just come forward and let me know they have changed their mind for whatever reason rather than just letting it hang, but people behave differently. It's just one of those little irritations in life we all have to learn to live with. Astromart is still one of the best places on the internet for these types of dealings and we just have to be willing to take the bad with the good.

Maybe we can get Herb to start a forum called "Astromarters I'd like to complain about" >

DanL