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Posts Made By: Mike Gibson

March 20, 2003 04:11 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

LXD55 mounting hardware?

Posted By Mike Gibson
You can mount the Parallax rings to a Meade LXD55 dovetail bar, Vixen GP/GPDX plate, or Celestron/Synta CG5/EQ4 plate. The Celestron extruded aluminum bar also works. The rings can be drilled and tapped per your request, but 1/4-20 thread is most common.

April 7, 2003 03:57 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Recommendations for Barlows / Powermate

Posted By Mike Gibson
The Powermates will better preserve focus position because they are positive amplifiers, not really Barlows. There is a new 2X x 2" Powermate, but the 2" format is much more expensive than 1.25".

I use the Tele Vue 5X Powermate, 3X Barlow, 2X Ultima, and the 2" AP 2X BARCON to good effect. All perform very well. Avoid variable Barlows or those with a simple plano-concave (negative) lens.

TAL makes a 4x Barlow in the 1.25" format:

http://www.talscopes.com/order/index.cfm#BARLOWS

May 11, 2003 03:27 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

ULS quartz secondary upgrade

Posted By Mike Gibson
I upgraded to one of Protostar's premium quartz diagonals but only noticed the wave front improvement on nights of excellent seeing. There does seem to be less scatter as well. Sure can't hurt!

May 18, 2003 02:55 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

LXD 55 mount question

Posted By Mike Gibson
Let's see...mine measures 49mm (1.93") at the base and 44mm (1.77") at the top. The saddle has two sides, one is flat (set screw side), and one is a tapered/wedge shape to lock in the dovetail plate. See attached photo, which I credit to its unknown creator (thanks).

May 23, 2003 04:37 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Is it just me or is Al sucking us dry($)....

Posted By Mike Gibson
Shucks...those are some mighty fine legs. Better than my wife's....uh, mount! I've seen some massive legs on the Tak EM-200 to die for; made from Luan Mahogany.

May 24, 2003 04:34 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

LXD55 RA Gear Problem

Posted By Mike Gibson
No, there should not be radial play between the gear and shaft. Many units have needed their set screws tightened up and secured with threadlocker (e.g. Loctite). Check both gears, and the Dec unit too. Yes, you must retrain after adjustments.

Lots of info available at the LXD55 Yahoo group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LXD55telescopes/

May 30, 2003 06:37 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Re: The best catadioptric telescope

Posted By Mike Gibson
Yes...the C9.25 has made my wonderful MN61 a hangar queen.

May 31, 2003 04:00 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

C9.25 fine focus issues

Posted By Mike Gibson
You can replace the little nubbin' with a larger focus knob from focusknobs.com which will give you finer control for about $16. It is a direct friction fit over the stock knob and completely reversible. There is a photo of one on the scope over at the C9.25 Yahoo Group.

June 9, 2003 06:04 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Upgrading to a SCT questions

Posted By Mike Gibson
Have you used the 10" LX50? Are you ready to collimate often and wait hours for cooldown? Does image shift irritate you? How about dew control (shield, heater, battery, etc.) Also much longer to setup and teardown.

The SCT has less efficient light transmission (corrector, secondary, diagonal mirror) plus a larger central obstruction. Resolution will be better, but don't expect wow factor for brightness compared to the 8" f/6 Discovery.

If you want portable 10" aperture, get another Dob, like the XT10.

June 9, 2003 06:25 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Broken front Glass on 8" LX10 SCT

Posted By Mike Gibson
Yes, it is very hard. You have three choices near as I can tell:

1) Buy a complete replacment optics set from Meade + installation for about $500

2) Buy a used Meade 8" OTA and swap it out; watch out for old mirror coatings

3) Contact Al Misiuk at Sirius Optics to see if he can make you a new corrector plate to match your primary.

http://www.siriusoptics.com/index.html

Good luck!

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