Posts Made By: Jay Emirzian

Ditto.......I did the same thing. Thank goodness it was a cheap eyepiece.

When I was done observing, the first thing I did was remove the filter to break down the scope. Silly me....I should have moved the objective away from the sun!!! By the second snif I knew what the problem was. Needless to say I learned my lesson.

Jay

I want to thank you all for giving me such great, unbiased opinions. Having everyone here on astromart makes it that much easier to learn about the unknown. It's nice to know there is a place where questions can be answered by people who have experienced them first hand.

Jarad and Larry,
I'm going to continue to look at the TScopes. It sounds like Ed Taychert makes a pretty nice scope. More importantly it sounds he offers many options.

Floyd,
I have heard nothing but incredible things about Zambuto optics. It seems he is the standard when it comes to mirrors. Although the scopes are expensive, going the second hand route sounds like a great option. I am very willing to be patient. My only concern is the integrity of the coatings. Age and location has much to do with how well coatings have held up. Does Carl Zambuto offer to re-coat his optics? If so do you know how much he may charge and how long?

Derek,
You have a very valid point by saying is the quality difference worth 100's or 1000's of dollars. I have heard from many people about TScopes and how he builds some nice equipment. I need to think about how much more the difference is worth to me. Like Floyd said, I might be able to get a nice scope on astromart for a good price. We'll just have to wait and see. In the mean time I will be looking into my options. Besides I still have a lot of things to sell on astromart first to raise the money. Time is on my side and I am patient.

Chris,
Many people I have talked with have mentioned Royce optics. I think Ed at TScopes offers that option. Thanks for your input, I'm going to look into that route more too.

Kurt,
You have mentioned something that has really peaked my interest. Astrosky is a maker of Newtonians that I haven't been able to hear many things about. For the price, they sound like the best bang for the buck. The craftsmanship "looks" just as good if not better than some of the others. I do have to say, from what I have seen, I think Obsession scopes have the best woodwork. The only thing I am concerned with with the Astrosky is the optics. I really don't know much about the discovery mirrors except for a friends 8" that I have looked through. To be honest, his scope preforms incredible!! But making a 15" mirror is a different animal in comparison to an 8". Any other info you may have about these scopes would be great.

John,
I plan on saving up. It's worth it, your right. I just want to make sure I get a good buy for my money.



Again, thanks to everyone for the information. Keep them coming, I have much to learn!!!!


Clear skies,
Jay Emirzian

Great thread. Thanks guys this is really helping!!

Jay

There is an indepth review on this mount in the New July 2005 edition of Sky & Telescope.

Al Dyer wrote.....
"Fitted with a 20 lb. Celestron 9.25" SCT and a 10 lb. counterweight to balance the tube the Sphinx had a dampening time of 5 seconds, regardless of whether the tripod legs were extended. This is on the borderline of being too shaky in my opinion".

He put dampening pads under the trpod legs and it cut the dampening time to 1.5-2 seconds. For more info check out the S&T review.

Picture 2:

From rocker box to truss tubes

Picture 3
Another view of the output to the truss tube

I'll second that. I have a C9.25 on an Orion Atlas and it holds like a rock even with a Stellarvue Nighthawk piggybacked. But Paul, please tell us what you plan on doing with this mount. The Orion Atlas doesn't hold up to the CGE for astrophotography, although it can be done. Then again your talking about a huge difference in price. It all depends on what you would like to do with the mount and how much your budget will allow. I know I was on a budget when I purchased the Atlas.

Other mounts that would hold well are the Losmandy G-11, the new Synta EQ6 SkyScan and maybe the Takahashi EM-11 or Astrophysics 900.

Clear skies,
Jay Emirzian

Paul,
I think Tim is right on the mark. For what you would like to do and for the money, the CI-700 would be a good choice. Good suggestion Tim!!

Jay

Glenn,
It's funny you should post this question now. I have just finished an article for the "how-to" section of astromart. In the article I explained how to reduce mirror flop. I had done this to my SCT and pretty much eliminated the problem. It does require you to remove the corrector though. Check out the article, I think you'll find what your looking for.

http://www.astromart.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=271

Clear skies,
Jay

Eric,
Check these guys out........

http://www.speednetllc.com/dbaastronomyproducts/DBA%20Certified%20DSH's.htm

You may already know about them, but just in case.

Jay