Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

This month's issue from the auto club AAA magazine has feature articles on dark sky sites in our national parks along with images of the milky way and various scopes in the grand canyon and elsewhere. Check it out...

Awaiting confirmation:
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/infamous-wow-signal-space-may-be-comets-not-aliens-astronomer-n494381

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/11/health/light-pollution-atlas-milky-way-irpt/index.html

The organization has previously cautioned the public about the health risks associated with light pollution but this is one of the strongest ones I've seen to date:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/21/health/led-streetlights-ama/index.html

I don't believe you'll see an increase in contrast but along with an increase in the magnification of the eyepiece you're using in your fast OTA, you'll likely see a decrease in the comatic aberration at the edge of the field, similar in effect to a coma corrector.

I'm not a Mewlon 210 owner and while I enjoyed reading your review, I am a bit confused by it. At first it appears you purchased it from Anacortes and then it seems you got it from Texas Nautical wherein you have an issue apparently because they didn't issue a credit of some sort for a missing 1.25 diagonal. Looking at the TAK vendors, including TAK of America, it's evident none of them include a 1.25" diagonal as standard equipment. So, it's not clear to me where you purchased the scope and why you think the diagonal is an included accessory. Did you subsequently purchase a diagonal or observe straight thru?
I'm also not sure why you might think the scope doesn't have the snap in the contrast you think it should based upon one night. Seeing and transparency can be important factors here and one or both may have affected the larger scope more so than the smaller one. That seems to be the case when you say you could get the focus where you wanted it but then it would soften again. That sounds more like seeing and less like a fault in the scope. While I'd assume the collimation is where it should be, I'm not sure I see that from your report. But with a known 32% central obstruction, I'd expect some loss of contrast.  There's an interesting discussion on the collimation of the unit in this thread: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/350784-an-idiots-guide-to-the-takahashi-mewlon-210-and-250/

http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=103

For a newbie, an 8 is great!

Although I personally don't do imaging, but spent many nights observing near a semi-pro who did, I think Greg's advice is quite good and one would do well to follow it. 
Go with an apo refractor first. Check out Ed Ting's video on this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE18PBQRzDQ&t=2s

Originally Posted by Ernest Stone

I purchased a Kendrick 12/18vdc field power supply. It came with a cord specific for Meade. Said cord would supply 18vdc. Looking for seasoned advise... Will I regret plugging in my XL85? All specs read 12v and as always, I ask three people, I get three opposing opinions. 1,000 Thanks in Advance! 

I doubt that using such a power source would be a problem but have you tried calling Meade customer support?

https://www.meade.com/content/support