Posts Made By: Guy Earle

Hi, Greg!

I thought I'd see you posting here soon. To those on the outside, Greg bought my Siebert binoviewer. It is kind'a funny seeing you post a piece of equipment I was using last week! I'm glad you are enjoying it. As for myself, I'm still waiting on my Denk II and a pair of 16 T5 Naglers, which I'm hoping show up tomorrow. ;-)

Greg, a word of advice if I may. I mentioned to you in a private email concerning...things. Be warned that this group can sometimes (more often than it should) get into Harry debates. Don't be surprised that by posting a favorable response some people might think you are Harry, posting for I mean...

There are a great many helpful and wonderful people here, in other forums, and in astronomy in general. I've been in this hobby ten years now and have loved every minute of it. As for binoviewing, looking with two eyes will become very, very addictive. The only thing I use monocular is my 35 Pan, while everything else is done in a binoviewer.

If you ever get to the Chiefland starparty or down to Tampa, let me know.

Clear Skies,

guy
Tampa, Fl
DenkII, 12.5 f/6 Dob

Hi, Jeff!

Glad to chat with you again. I've seen a great many people on the Yahoo binoviewer group say that the StarSweeper is fantastic, although I've never used it (dob man).

I've also gone through my pains figuring out what eyepiece sets to get. I own a set of 24.5 Meade SWA's that work great. I have a set of 14 Epics that I've traded to go towards a set of 16 1 1/4 T5 Nags I'm still waiting for. Jim Gutman and so many others have raved over them so much that I got sucked in. I've never looked through Nags in a bino, so I've bought them on reputation alone. I know how good 67 degree field eyepieces look in a bino, let alone 82! My other set is a pair of 9.5 Epics, which work great as well. Stick with three sets, and use the 2.5X to vary the powers of each. If I used the 2X instead of the 2.5X in the Denk II, two of my three sets would have the same magnification, so chose wisely. Did that make sense to you? ;-)

Point is, have three sets, four max. Use the barlow, multiplier, whatever you want to call it, to double your sets.

I'll post my views of the 16 Nags in the Denk II as soon as the UPS fairy comes.

Hope you had a happy new year.

guy
Tampa,Fl
DenkII, 12.5 f/6 Dob

Hi, Jim:

I can't help you on the TV85, as I own a 12.5 dob, but if you're looking for the best Oxy III 2", the Astronomik is the way to go. It is roughly the same price as all the others, and on Cloudy Nights and in other forums it has outperformed all others, especially in smaller scopes.

Hope this helps,

guy
tampa,fl

Doug,

A friend of mine has a Denk Std, and I will be getting my DenkII tomorrow...yay!!!!! I plan on performing a field test to see what differences, if any, show.

If you're ever in Chiefland or Tampa, let me know.

guy
tampa,fl

Here is the Protostar stuff.

The tube is short, as my 12.5 f/6 is a split-sonotube design I made.

A neat way to see the difference is to open a new Internet Explorer window and go to my older message. Then Alt-Tab back and forth. Notice how much reflected light comes off the tube and strikes the secondary and focuser in the original photo.

guy

Joe,

I notice you're wearing a Hill t-shirt, however it isn't the Hill. You live locally? I'm going up next weekend, so maybe I'll see you there.

guy
tampa,fl

Tom,

You will never, ever, ever regret buying the 16 T5's. Many people raved or drooled over owning a pair, and that made me finally purchase a pair for my new DenkII.

They have a 10mm eye relief, which requires getting in kind'a close. I don't mind that, and in fact I believe it helps frame the objects with the aperature stop. Resting your cheek bone ever so lightly on the eyepiece cup helps a great deal. Then relax and "fall" into the core of many a deep sky object.

Best,

guy
tampa,fl

Howdy, Matt!

A light shroud, for me as well, makes a dramatic difference when I view in my bino. I have a pair of 24.5 Meade SWA's that don't have any cups (that says how old they are). If I cup my hands on the left and right side of the eyepieces, objects really stand out much better. It works to a small degree in mono mode (which I don't do anymore), but it is almost necessary in a bino. The 16 Nags I have nearly require French kissing at 10mm eye relief. The eyecups tend to block out most light, but not all; the 24.5's block none.

I can't emphasize enough how much a shroud or something similar makes an object stand out in a bino. Galaxies and planetary nebular are really affected by the stray light. Many people looking through my scope have noticed the same thing as you and I. It also adds to that "falling in" feeling I get with my 16 Nags!

I'm heading up to Chiefland this Friday and Saturday, plus in April for the picnic. Perhaps I'll see you there.

And tell your Dad, "hi" for me.

guy
tampa,fl

Nils,

I've adjusted this post, which I put up a few minutes ago. You are correct, in that Chris was not attacking me, but making a tongue-in-cheek joke. Thanks for the clarity. I'll adjust the other post as well.

Clear Skies,

guy

Chas,

For what it's worth, I use the three pieces that Tom Clark made: the cheshire, the sight tube, and autocollimator. I've found that I get better images using these three than the laser (I've borrowed a couple over the years).

Clear Skies,

guy
12.5" f/6 dob