Posts Made By: Nico Taelman

Here's how it looks; the highlighted part on the rear-end shows the cardboard mirror-protection to be removed so the circular opening can accommodate the fan..
Nico

Hi Jeff, first of all I would say if you're heart is with the MN66 then go for it. If I'm not mistaken, the aperture of the 603 is equal at 6" but the Tal is 8" so if you're main goal is to produce crystal clear photos the size may not be the issue. What needs to be considered and again, if I'm right, the MN66 has the shortest focal length so if you want to shoot dso's as well it may be your best choice. Transportation at 6" shouldn't be difficult unless you mean air-travel of course..Suppose prime-focus photography is not possible with the MN66 I think you could mount_as you say_a low-profile focuser and have an extension tube for projection-work on Moon and Planets, which will also solve backfocus issues in using an off-axis guider. In the end I think the MN's 'bussiness end' will be more easily adaptable for photography.
Hope this helps a little in further narrowing down your choices..
Nico

I had several nights on vacation in Greece that I could easily (without averted vision) see the Flame Nebula and the dark lane(s) crossing it. There was quite some detail. Seeing conditions were excellent. On some moments I thought I also got a glimpse of the IC 434 complex, B33 was invisible which is not surprising as I was viewing with an ETX-105. Yet I was very surprised to see the Nebulae surrounding it and I did had the feeling if I had my 8"f4 at hand I could have seen it.
Nico

I visited a site not long ago from a guy who retrofitted the EQ6 with Meade's Autostar hand controller goto. I will look it up and post the address asap.
Nico

Congratulations! Sounds like it's gonna be even more fun!
Nico

Hi there Emanuele, I'm sure you'll get plenty of ideas to come but you might wanna specify more; how are your skies, do they suffer from light pollution, will you travel to good skies if needed, do you want a compact, transportable scope, a visual, photographic or photo-visual combo or simply the biggest best optics for the bucks,..? Will it be your first scope, if not, what have you used so far, what are your expectations,...anyway, 1400 IMO is a nice budget, you could buy some decent equipment for that money. An SCT is a good all-purpose telescope being compact, versatile and visual-photographic. However if DSO is first on your list you might want to consider a shorter focal length telescope; most SCT are f10, requiring long exposure and thus a good and expensive mount. You could use a focal reducer though. I would go for an OTA with good optics of medium size (8-10")with a german equatorial mount, a good book on astrophotography,...How about an Atlas mount (which you can upgrade later) with an 8" OTA? Of course I am not saying the LX90 would be a bad choice but I would prefer something more 'adjustable'.
Good luck and feel free to ask!
Nico

Hi Bill, I'm working out a similar project. I have two 10" blanks and one 12". My goal is to grind a 10" f6-8 first and then using the used 10" tool for grinding the 12" to f6 or so. I payed (in Europe) about 625 for all three blanks which isn't that cheap but prices are somewhat different here. I hope to make two all-wood OTA's with baffles calculated by NEWT. In case the mirrors turn out to be of good quality I would purchase a high-quality secondary to match. I think my final cost will be around 650 for the 10" and 800 for the 12". Of course, US-prices for the raw materials are more reasonable.
Nico

Hi Antonios, very nice picture! I visited Greece; Kriti for the first time this year, I'm from Belgium and I was amazed by the skies up there! I'm even considering learning the language and moving up there. How many nights; over a year on average do you get in the northern parts of Greece?
Could you help me with some general info on amateur astronomy in Greece?
Thanks.
Nico

For planetary close-ups I use a Vixen LV 7mm with my 105 and I'm very pleased with it. If your conditions allow I think you could barlow the 6.4 but I think the small exit pupil will be very annoying. I don't use my 6.4 for that reason. I think the UWA 4.7 or 6.7 might be a good choice amongst Meade eyepieces.
Nico

see
http://www.meade.com/catalog/uhtc/index.html

I wouldn't bother BTW..
Nico