Posts Made By: William Rose

FYI, I just received an official looking request from "PayPal" asking me to Confirm my PayPal information including password, bank account number, etc.
What does this have to do with Astromart? It was sent to my email address that is Only used for Astromart. The only communications, etc. to this email address, come via Astromart. An add I ran on Astromart said I preferred PayPal. Hence " [email protected] " is trying to rip people off by stealing their account information.

Please be careful! As all legitimate services state, "We do not ask for passwords, account numbers, or sensity information, Every."

Just curious what method anyone uses to cut round holes in foam to hole EP's. I have a Doskocil case I'm thinking about using to carry various size EP's from small to huge. In the past I've used an electric knife to "carve" holes with some success but I'm curious to know if anyone has a better DIY method. Thanks in advance!

After reading about the Siebert modified binoculars I decide to order a pair & try them. I called to place the order as I'm leaving on a business trip to Kwajalein Atoll for 2 weeks on Monday. I decided to order both the 6x50s & the prototype 11x70s.
I've used them 2 nights now and the 6x50s are probably the best hand held binoculars in their price class. If you feel you can Hand Hold a 10x70 and are looking for a $300.00 price range binocular, the Siebert modified 11x70s will also out perform any I've seen in this price class. Since these are prototypes I have no doubt Mr. Siebert will 'tweak' them to a point that they'll be as good as the 6x50s. (The 11x70s are great now but I think Mr. Seibert will be able to slightly improve them)
Sorry I don't have time to expound but I want to wait until I have a chance to use them on Kwajalein Atoll. The Atoll has extremely dark skies and you can see both the North Star and Southern Cross. I'll be interested to see how these binoculars work on the MC & SMC as their color rendition appears excellent from Colorado.
I won’t replace my Leica 7x50s or Fujinon 10x70's with these, but for the $300.00 price you probably won't find a better pair of Hand Helds. Both pair are light and have excellent optics. You can buy better optics for more $$$ but not much better and these are certainly the lightest binoculars of this size and quality I’ve seen. Clear Skies

Hi Alberio,
Not sure which sponsor it is but one of them makes 6" to 12" wide "U" Brackets and mounts kind of like the TV Telepod head for their Gensis through NP-127. At least the pictures I've seen look very much like my Gibraltar with head.
It sounds like these can be mounted on a standard tripod. I'd assume you can find a metric bolt that'd hold the Vixens to the bracket.
Hope this helps. Personally I have a pair of 125HFT which I Love. Hope you can get yours mounted so they work for you.
Clear Skies, Bill

In the past I've seen advertisements for Observing Blinds. Basically just a set of 2 or 3 portable 'walls' really. Looked like rip-stop material & fiberglass tent poles but anything along those lines would work. Basically just trying to cut the wind and block out some ground clutter lights I believe. An aquaintance would like to find somethig like that since the Kendick Observatory Tent isn't large enough. Anybody know where they might find such a product?
Thanks in advance, appreciate it!
Clear Skies, Bill

I have several Clave eyepieces with 27mm barrels and a couple with 50mm barrels. I have one of each size adapter: 27mm to 1.25" and 50mm to 2".
Anyone know where I can find a few more of these adapters?

Thanks in advance for any information or assistance.

Clear Skies, Bill

I happen to run across this advertisement on Stew Squires site:
“Pentax SMC ED eyepieces are Super Multi-Coated (SMC) and made of ED optical glass for exceptional quality.”

Since I have a very nice set of Pentax SMC eyepieces and have been using Takumar SMC lenses on my Spotmatic since about 1970, this intrigues me. I haven’t been able to find out anything more or if these eyepieces actually exist. The advertising picture on the website is so poor you can’t tell if they really are something different or just a set of the regular Pentax SMC Ortho’s. Mr. Squires hasn’t responded to an email yet but in fairness I only sent it a yesterday.

Just curious if anyone knows anything about these New, Rare, or Mythical eyepieces.

Have a great weekend all!

Clear Skies, Bill

Hi Nils,
I have both a 20mm T2 and 20mm T5 Nagler which I have used with a TV Big Barlow and 2" PowerMate. The quality of image, especially with the PowerMate, is excellent in an NP-127, C9.25, and 12.5" ZOC.
Unfortunately I've never used an AP Barcon with either of these eyepieces. I can only tell you that the PowerMate works well with both these eyepieces. I doubt you'll notice any degree of degradation unless you're using very high quality optics on a great night of seeing.

Clear Skies, Bill

Nils Schoultz said:

Has anyone ever tried this combination? I'm trying to decide between the barcon and a 2x powermate. The powermate will work, of course, but the lighter weight and lesser magnification of the barcon is appealing. Anyone have any experience here?
thanks,
Nils

I can’t believe I’m the only person who’s run across this issue so I thought I’d post and see if anyone knows of an adapter or way around the problem.

I have an original Zeiss Telementor (63/840) with helical focuser that has the standard Female M44 thread. I do have a couple of the typical Male M44 to 0.965” adapters. The issue is getting the typical adapter to hold a diagonal and eyepiece tight. I’ve played with bending the small ‘tab’ in to create more friction and it still doesn’t really hold the diagonal tight enough to keep it from rotating with the slightest bump.
While I’ve thought of creating a “clamp” to tighten around the outside of the typical adapter I’m wondering if there’s an already made adapter out there I just have not run across. Also while we’re at it, how about one that would hold 1.25” eyepieces?

Thoughts, Ideas, Comments? Thanks in advance.
(FYI: I do have a good set of 0.965" EPs and a Vixen & Takahashi 0.965" diagonal.)

Clear Skies, Bill

Just to throw out an opinion and start some discussion, who does anyone think is/are the best overall eyepiece manufactures today?
I'd vote for University Optics and TeleVue. Both have been producing excellent eyepieces for decades and have great customer service. I won't argue that some people don’t like a specific line such as the TV Radian, but IMHO overall, both companies generally make excellent eyepieces for the price and bend over backwards to ensure customer satisfaction. I've called both and spoken directly with the owner who's been more than willing to spend a lot of time discussing optics and optical principals. I've had rare occasions where issues with a particular eyepiece were correct immediately without question, by both companies. (and I’m not saying you should “Love” TeleVue just because everyone else seems to either.)
To a lesser extent I've had similar experience with Gary Russell (lower end EPs) and Harry Seibert both of whom seem to have found a nitch. I have a couple Russell EPs that are great fun and some of Harry Seibert’s custom & Observatory Grade EPs are as good as anyone’s in their price range. Both companies provided me with excellent customer service & product but neither have the decades of multiple eyepiece lines that a U.O. or TeleVue has.
What do the rest of you think? Sounds like there are mixed reviews regarding TMB/Burgess at present, but what about any others? The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly comments welcome.

Clear Skies, Bill