Posts Made By: Roger Hinson

Hi everyone. I have a C-8 I bought about 3 years ago. I love the scope, but the drive base is giving me some problems. First, I notice a lot of flexing going on in the bottom of the base, right where the shaft is attached. I was thinking of attaching a 1/4 inch steel plate with bolts and epoxy, but haven't done it yet. Next. In cold weather the batt. powered drive quits when using the 9 volt batt. I tried using a new warm batt. from the house, but it doesn't work, altho it will work with my 12 volt field batt with no problem. I know the perfect fix would be to mount the ota to a new E.Q. mount, but my land lady seems to think her rent is more important than my scope! One other thing. When using the hand controller in fast slew speed, the drive some times wants to run backwards after releasing the buttons, but works fine in the slow speed. This is the standered C-8, not the Deluxe C-8 and I'm using the Celestron supplied 4 button hand controller.
Thanks guy's, And thanks herb for the forum!
Roger

I took a roll of film in a while back and when I went to pick it up, I was told the film contained no frames. Any body have a trick for this? I was thinking flashing a light every other shot or so. This was color film, Kodak 200 max, Black and White I do my self, but I'm not setup to do color.
And it's getting hard to find a shop that will hand devolop any more.
Thanks
Roger

I would like to replace the standered wedge pod that came with my C-8 and was looking at a few used CG-5 mounts on the mart. Would a CG-5 be strong enough? Or would it be shakey like the wedge pod. My setup includes a newer black C-8 with a 9x50 ra finder, piggy back OM1, Telrad, and a Moto Focus. Not really into long exposure photo shoots, just a few pics once in a while of the moon or the planets.
Thanks
Roger

looking to replace the wedge pod that came with the c-8 and was wondering if the cg-5 would be strong enough. my setup includes a newer black c-8, with a 9x50 ra finder, telrad, motofocus, and a piggy back om1. Any one used a setup like this? did it work out or was it as shakey as the wedge pod.
Thanks
Roger

I just picked up an old om1 that I want to try and make a knife edge focuser out of. Does any body have any web sites that tells how to make one?
Thanks
Roger

Any body see or use the new binos with the built in digital camera from Meade? Radio Shack has them for $99.99 right now. I was thinking about checking them out. I doubt if they would be any good for night time use, but they would be great for concerts or sporting events.
Roger

I picked up a newt/dob at a yard sale today, but don't know how to figure out the F-ratio and need some help. Here's what I know about the scope. It's a 6 inch mirror from orion, with a 2 inch rack and pinion focuser. the distance between the face of the mirror and center of the foucser is 21.5 inches. I'm thinking it's around F.5, but I'm not sure. Tube diameter is 8.5 inches. It's a home made setup, but a lot of care and work went into it. I felt bad about paying what the woman wanted for it ($50.00) Fit and finish are very nice, it has a home made wooden push/pull cell that looks like it's made from oak. Rubberized end rings. A celestron 6x30 LER finder in a 6 point holder, and what looks like a U.O. spider holding a diag around 1.5 or so. I gave it a quick collmation using a 35 mm film tube and took it out for a short while tonight. It had pretty good views. Still needs fine tuning, but very useable. So how do I figure out the F-ratio?.
Thanks
Roger

Just wondering if any body knows what happened to Pocono Mountian Optics. I bought a lot of things from them a few years back and the other day I
thought I'd visit there web site, but I can't seen to find them. Did they go out of biz?

Roger

Here's a pic of a mount I built for my 10 inch oddsey scope. As with most things I do, I went way over board! It was rock steady and moved smooth as glass, but by the time I was done with it it weighed over 80 lbs. and I needed a moving dolly to take it from place to place in my yard. 3/4 inch ply covered with black formica (never work with large sheets of laminate outside on a windy day!), ebony star on the base and berrings and tefflon. 2 inch sealed roller bearings on the base piviot. One thing I didn't take into account was setting up on damp, wet ground. After about a year, the base warped so bad, I wound up stripping it down and tossing the wood.

While looking thru a box of old astro things the other day, I found a package of ronchi gradings from orion. It contains 3 screens with a diffrent number of lines on each screen (I forget the number of lines at the moment). What I was wondering is just how do you use them? Do you hold them in front of the eye piece, or the secondary, or where? I seen many web sites that show what you are seeing mean, but none that tell you how to use them. Also, I have several dobs, a mak, and a C-8, would the method of use be the same for all three? Can they be used on a refractor?
Thanks
Roger