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Posts Made By: Tim Abbott

July 14, 2008 12:29 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

Homemade wooden tripod

Posted By Tim Abbott
I'm sure it's been mentioned many times before in the forums but I wanted to share some pics of a simple, inexpensive wood tripod that I just put together. For a few hours time and around $40 in materials - the results are amazing. Cut down 2X4 legs, a 12" disc for the spreader/eyepiece tray, and some small gate hinges plus various hardware was all I needed. Dampening times of one to two seconds and the whole thing is really lightweight. A vast improvement over the aluminum tripod I had before. If you've been thinking about doing the same - go for it. The results will be well worth the effort. wink

July 31, 2008 01:06 AM Forum: Reflectors

Edge blacken primary?

Posted By Tim Abbott
Is there any real advantage or disadvantage to edge blacken a primary mirror? Of course I've seen secondaries done, but can't recall seeing mention of anyone doing the primary.

August 9, 2008 01:05 PM Forum: After Dark

Perseids

Posted By Tim Abbott
Has anyone seen any predictions on what we can expect from the Perseid meteor showers this year? I had forgotten until my wife mentioned it last night. We sat out for an hour or so and saw a few from our light polluted driveway. How many per hour do you think we'll see on the 11,12,or 13th? I've really got to get to a dark, tree free site...

August 24, 2008 10:53 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Ball Scope Ideas

Posted By Tim Abbott
Hi All
I'm finally getting ready to start an 8" ball scope project that I've been thinking of doing for a while now. There's not a lot of info or ideas on design out there that I have found. The Trackball has some good ideas for building a tracking mount - and the Sphere-o-scope written up on CN has good ideas for design. There's also one dubbed the cookie jar scope that has some good ideas. I know I'm going to use an acrylic lighting diffuser globe for the ball to save time building a sphere. Anybody have any additional ideas or past experience to share on building a ball type scope? Tracking mount ideas? Tracking would be a huge plus.
I've seen MAG1 is back in business but I could never afford the price - it's gotta be home built to keep the cost down.
Thanks in advance and looking foward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.

September 26, 2008 11:19 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Ball scope construction started

Posted By Tim Abbott
I've got a pretty good start on my ball scope project. It's an 8 inch mirror in a 16 inch polycarbonate sphere. Finnish birch plywood and poplar make up the frame. I've got the secondary cage and truss poles almost done too. First light coming soon! grin

October 19, 2008 07:24 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Saturn's rings

Posted By Tim Abbott
I was up at 6 this morning getting an early season look at Saturn. The rings are edge on so no chance of any detail within the rings. Does anyone know is this what we can expect all winter/spring or will the view shift so we get a look at the rings this year? :S

January 20, 2009 12:01 AM Forum: Refractors

GPU refractors

Posted By Tim Abbott
Does anyone have any info, comments, or experience on GPU refractors?
I stumbled upon thier site the other day - looks like they make all oil spaced triplet apo's. There is alot of good reading on thier site about differences between air and oil spaced apo's , etc. From what I read they seem quite knowledgable.
There are a few positive reviews on CN, but not much to be found here. Any info will be greatly appreciated.
Tim

February 9, 2009 02:47 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Trapezium E&F

Posted By Tim Abbott
I was finally able to see the E and F stars in the trapezium tonight! 8O
After trying MANY times over the past few years I was wondering if it was possible at all (could these guys just be pulling my leg? - there's only 4 stars there...) But tonight it was just easy - the E and F stars were just there. I think I may have glimpsed the I star once or twice but can't be 100% sure of that. I was using my newly completed ballscope with an 8" f/5.75 Hubble Optics mirror and a 13mm Hyperion eyepiece w/2X barlow - for 180X magnafication. For comparison I tried my 3.6 CA reflector - the E star was visible most of the time and the F blinked occasionally - not bad for a 3.6" mirror - but the 8" did much better.
If you haven't seen it yet, don't give up - it really is possible!
Sign me a happy camper - Tim grin



February 22, 2009 01:44 AM Forum: Refractors

Skywatcher Pro SW 100ED Refractor

Posted By Tim Abbott
Anyone have any opinions to share on the Skywatcher Pro SW 100ED Refractor? The ota comes with a 2" dielectric diagonal, 50mm finder, rings, dovetail, 2 eyepieces, and an aluminum case for $795 - and there is a $50 rebate to sweeten the deal.
I've found one review on CN and the author was kind enough to answer some additional questions for me. The scope looks better appointed to me than the Orion - all those extras would really drive up the price on the Orion.
I am used to having no false color through my Orion 3.6 off axis newt - I wonder how this scope would compare by your experience. I'm only worried about in-focus color - out of focus doesn't bother me as I don't care to view out of focus wink
Does a minus violet filter help any with an ED lens?
Should I go for it or just stick with the 3.6CA? The aperture difference is not all that great.
Thanks - Tim

February 22, 2009 11:59 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Refractor baffle placement

Posted By Tim Abbott
Ok, I've tried two different methods of determining the size and placement of baffles for a refractor. Each method puts the baffle in a slighly different location, and of different diameters of course. Both like like they would work.
So what is the best method to determine baffle placement?
And should the rear baffle ever be any smaller than the focuser I.D? - Or should it be the diameter of the lens of my lowest power eyepiece? - and no smaller than that? (68mm Russell with 40mm lens) - Then I would think in a properly baffled refrator that the end of the focuser drawtube should not be visible from the objective end but rather hidden behind the rear baffle - right? :S
It is surprising to see that there is only two baffles needed - I was thinking it would be more.
I'm kinda hoping this will open up a can of worms - I'd like to see what methods you all would suggest. And try them out on paper to see the difference.
I've attached a pic of full scale drawing - don't know if you'll be able to make it out.
Thanks for your help
Tim

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