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Posts Made By: Martin Willes

January 15, 2006 02:32 PM Forum: APM

APM 406mm Cas. use Hubble image to sell scope ?

Posted By Martin Willes
I know this is a TMB forum but I have a question for the APM guys. Why is Markus Ludes using a Hubble image of Saturn to sell his 406mm Cassegrain on Astromart? When people place ad's with pictures of DSO's this means the photograph was taken with the said telescope. Very sad. Hubble image can be found at Space.com I attached image for comparison. Markus if this photograph was taken on Earth, what scope was used? Martin Willes

January 12, 2007 12:17 AM Forum: Telescope Making

Anodized Aluminum

Posted By Martin Willes
I'm having a tool and die maker construct some cells for my multiple H-alpha ERF glasses ranging from 80mm to 160mm and I'd like to protect my investment. I was wondering if anyone knows of a company or indivdual that will anodize a small order like this? Thanks for any help. Martin

October 1, 2008 12:46 PM Forum: Takahashi

Tak collimating scope 2" adapter

Posted By Martin Willes
Does anyone here have experience using a Tak collimation scope on a non-Tak instrument? I'm looking for a adapter that threads onto the front of the collimation scope and fits into a 2" standard opening. Thanks in advance for any help. Martin

December 3, 2008 03:23 AM Forum: Takahashi

Sky 90 II dew shield dimension ?

Posted By Martin Willes
Could somebody please tell me what the outer dimension of the new f/5.6 Sky 90II dew shield is. Is the dew shield easy to remove and if so what is the outside dimension of the OTA? Thank you in advance for any help. Martin

February 4, 2009 04:54 PM Forum: AstroMart FAQ

Re: 5 members, 5 ads, $32,000 Zero support

Posted By Martin Willes
I know a few members have become "support police" recently. I support Astromart and have done so 3-4 times in the past. My question is do you have to support Astromart to sell equipment? At what dollar value do we users chime in and feel a seller should support a site that doesn't require a fee to sell goods? As far as myself, I'll keep enjoying the stars and buy equipment from anyone that offers something I desire at a reasonable price as long as they follow the terms of agreement we all agreed to when we registered for Astromart. It's not a requirement to sponsor Astromart but I do because I enjoy the site. Maybe we should let Herb police his site?
Martin

February 7, 2009 03:38 AM Forum: Comets

Comet Lulin Thursday 2-6-09

Posted By Martin Willes
I think comet Lulin is best observed with binoculars but holds up well in a telescope too. The comet is real pretty against background star fields and the coma is very bright. I've watched it for a few nights now and this comet is really moving quickly. Does anyone know what the apparent magnitude is now? It's so bright in the binoculars I could swear I should be able to see it with the naked eye but when I drop the binoculars I can't see it. My guess it's close to mag 6 but sometimes even bright diffused objects are difficult to see with the naked eye. I wish I has my daughters eyes, she can pick out M33 naked eye. Here's a picture with a 12.5" Cassegrain Thursday morning before dawn. It's no Comet Holmes but any time these visitors from deep space come by they really are a thrill to observe. Martin

February 15, 2009 03:31 AM Forum: AstroMart FAQ

support must be up on Astromart

Posted By Martin Willes
I noticed the first page of Astromart today had about 50% of the non-featured ad's placed by supporters. In addition there were 15 featured ad's! 40 ads are listed on the first page and only 13 of the 40 are from people that aren't currently supporting but may have at one time. That means 27 of the 40 ads displayed are posted by paying sellers, [COLOR="Red"]almost 70%![/COLOR] I know a figure has been used that states 1% of users support but it sure seems to me that people that sell are supporting. It just struck me how few ads places were in non-bold blue font and the rest of the page looked like a Christmas tree. I had to stop and take a closer look.


February 21, 2009 09:31 AM Forum: Comets

Lulin is naked eye

Posted By Martin Willes
I haven't observed the comet for a week or so and tonight it was easily naked eye if you live in a dark location. The finder chart from S&T made it very easy to just form a line between Spica, Saturn and Regulus. Once you have that line look for a little green fuzz between Spica and Saturn. My 7X50 Pentax binoculars made it a very nice object to view. For those that are having difficulty locating Lulin, the night of the 24th should be easy because it will appear very close to Saturn. Martin

March 1, 2009 04:37 PM Forum: Comets

Lulin no longer naked eye?

Posted By Martin Willes
Has anyone been able to see Lulin with their naked eye? At magnitude 6.5 I was unable to see the comet last night even though it was 60 degrees above the horizon and I had a rare Pickering 7 sky. If you can see the comet now with no optical aid, my hats off to you! Martin

March 9, 2009 02:29 PM Forum: Eyepieces

The best 6mm eyepiece comparison to date

Posted By Martin Willes
I came across this eyepiece article last night after spending a few hours comparing some of the same eyepieces this author wrote about. I’ve been doing this comparison for a few weeks and have many hours of observing through a variety of instruments from a 4” f/5 refractor, 5” f/8 refractor and 12.5” classic Cassegrain. I don’t have experience with some of the eyepieces Paolini wrote about but his experience with the eyepieces I have are right on the money so I have to assume he’s very accurate describing his observations with others. I’m posting this article here as a lesson on how to do a very thorough unbiased eyepiece review. Some have written here that eyepieces have subtle differences because they read that in a book and I never found that to be the case in real life. Here’s a interesting review by a real life observer using his 40 years of experience observing with modern eyepieces.
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1935

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