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Posts Made By: Gary Carter

August 17, 2010 06:08 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Cases...Inexpensive (but good) options?

Posted By Gary Carter
For the scope I'd look to Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xgg/R-100672734/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

For the eyepiece case the small plastic toolboxes make for decent, weather resistant cases for carrying eyepieces. The toolboxes are probably the best option as they will typically have a tray/organizer to hold filters, a flashlight, extra batteries and any other items you might bring along. Those small lunch-pail sized coolers sold a Wal-Mart and many Sporting Goods stores and the small Sterilite plastic boxes are also good inexpensive solutions.

I have purchased individual bolt cases to protect the EP's when they are traveling and in storage. These eliminate the need to mess with foam cutouts and do a better job keeping dust & debris off the eyepieces. I just toss them in the case I'm carrying at the time.

August 17, 2010 06:42 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Going wide

Posted By Gary Carter
The 31mm Nagler is another great choice. If you've got friends with these at your local club I'd recommend trying them out. All three of these eyepieces are winners.

And I second Tom Simmons recommendation on the Televue Dioptrx - I suffer from slight astigmatism (1.5 diopters). I [U]hate[/U] wearing glasses when I observe. The Dioptrx is simply a wonderful device. It makes my visual observation endeavors much more enjoyable!

August 19, 2010 02:19 AM Forum: Eyepieces

Televue Plossl

Posted By Gary Carter
Give TeleVue a call. I'll bet Al will be more than willing to tell you exactly how they differ 8)

August 26, 2010 07:18 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Re: Eyepieces recommended for a Meade LX90 10" SCT

Posted By Gary Carter
1.25 are ok for anything in the mid to high power (24mm - 2.5mm), however, the field stop will limit your true FOV for the lower powers. You will want to select at least one wide-field eyepiece in the 27mm - 40mm range that is in a 2 inch format to enjoy the views of extended deep-sky objects (nebulae, open star clusters, galaxy fields, etc.). This will also serve you well for finding the objects and centering them before you switch to the higher power eyepieces.

August 28, 2010 06:22 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Condition and Grading Standards

Posted By Gary Carter
Blake,

I've had similar experiences, *very* rare here on AM, and it is usually with Lumicon brand filters and solar filters. Sometimes people simply miss things. Your first step should be to ask the seller to allow you to return the item and refund your money. Most of the time this is honored.

On the surface the ability for someone to rate the condition of an item seems pretty simple...but the reality is this is subjective and the rating one chooses may vary widely based the individual's experience level. In the rarest of cases I to have to "wonder" what the seller was thinking - the obvious modification or damage that goes undisclosed. I rate them accordingly as is the tradition here on AM.

I think it would be valuable to have a set of guidelines for rating used gear. It would be a pretty broad set of material given the variety of Astro gear available. I'd be willing to collaborate on drafting an article on the subject.


September 2, 2010 01:29 AM Forum: Eyepieces

Recommendations for 22-28mm EP for for f/4-5 dobs

Posted By Gary Carter
You say you've done the Televue thang.....did this include the 24mm Panoptic? (or its predecessor the 24mm Widefield?)

September 2, 2010 01:48 AM Forum: Prayer Line

My Mother-In Law

Posted By Gary Carter
My heart and prayers are with her. I wish her a speedy recovery.

September 8, 2010 03:20 AM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

1970's 1980's Celestron Fork Mount

Posted By Gary Carter
If by computerized you mean "Can I add digital setting circles" for a "Push-To" arrangement, Yes. Jim's Mobile sells aftermarket kits for every model ever made. You can acquire encoders with the mounting hardware and choose either a stand-alone "MAX-Computer" for a simple setup or the Software Guided Telescope (SGT) kit with "B-Box" that interfaced to a computer via a serial interface and use any number of star chart programs (The Sky, Megastar, Stellarium, etc.

Go-To is another matter altogether...a science project to be sure.

September 8, 2010 03:35 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

ngc max pinout

Posted By Gary Carter
http://www.jimsmobile.com/pdf_docs/sgt_documentation.pdf

September 16, 2010 08:35 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Specs for Discontinued Tele Vue Eyepieces?

Posted By Gary Carter
If you were to call Televue they would probably be more than willing to help you. There are several spreadsheets out there with information but I can't speak to the accuracy of the data contained in them.

Here's an example:

http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/reports-epsuggestions.htm

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