Posts Made By: robert williams

Has anyone used the Giro-2 drive made by Tech-2000? I'm very interested in finding out how well it tracks, how easy it is to use, and how easy it is to install.

Thanks!

---Rob

I'm a somewhat new scope geek, and don't have an astronomy club anywhere within 100 plus miles of where I live. So here's the problem--I can't find a Pentax XW 5 to compare with my Tak Hi-Ortho 4mm. Anyone have experience with both? I love my Tak's ability to resolve detail on the planets, but would love to have a larger FOV since I have a 4" f7 refractor on an undriven mount. Resolution vs. Field, and I'm not sure I want to compromise resolution! Thanks for looking.

---Rob

Hi All,

More a modification than a making question. I have a SV-102D refractor, and some Tak orthos I love. The require much more in-focus than a Meade 4000 Plossl. I also have recently acqired a Borg eyepiece turret. The Plossls come to focus fine (with a .125 inches to spare) but the orthos just can't go in enough.

I'm toying with the idea of taking the tube in to the local machine schop and having them trim 2" off the back and re-thread it. Then I though about possilbly purchasing a Bino-viewer down the road.

So the questions: 1) Does anyone have any experience with "Tube shortening" I can learn from? Any "gotcha's" I need to watch for?

2) How much shorter would the tube need to be for use with a Bino-viewer w/o a barlow?

Thanks for looking!

---Rob

Since the discovery of "Planet X", with X being the obvious joke on the Roman numeral "Ten"...any ideas of what the IAU will use for it's name? The names for the planetesimals previously discovered by the same team used non-Roman, (dare I say "Politically Correct"?) deities.

Call me a traditionalist, but I think the "planets" should stick with the established naming convention.

If this convention had not been established earlier in history, we would've been stuck with King George III as a bloated gas giant in the outer solar system. Politically astute decision on the part of the discoverer to "immortalize" his benefactor, but it just wouldn't have fit in.

My two bits: Sedna and Quaoar (how do you pronounce that?) don't work for me either. But since they're not truly planets, it's ok with me if they hang out with the Mister Rogers asteroid!

Just got an e-mail responding to a "wanted" ad I posted. Generic content, no one with that first name, either of two different last names, or e-mail address is listed in Astromart user profiles. Person offered to "buy" my "wanted" item (not specifiying what it was), if I would accept a "cashiers check". Lots of red flags on this one! The e-mail response looked quite similar to the format from Astromart, however.

I don't want to post the guys name/e-mail addy just in case there is a glitch in the system. What's the best way to contact Herb to verify this? I don't want anyone to be taken in if this is a ruse.

Thanks!

---Rob

Hi,

While I'm not truly a "beginner" beginner, I'm still relatively new to a LOT of astronomy! I'm just getting involved with a local astro-society, and am wanting to document my outings--field trips to schools, objects observed, seeing conditions, number of kids at the scope, etc. So I'm hoping to glean some info from you more experienced guys.

Thanks,

---Rob

Thanks for the quick responses...you definitely got me pointed in the right direction! I really appreciated the printable observation records. I'll be looking at the software a little closer later today.

---Rob