Posts Made By: Herbert Kraus

Howard Nielsen said:

And finally, the Dob experience:
"* Bring out scope and base together.
* Set on ground."

And what do you do then? Go back into the house and read a good book because you don't have a clue where to point your scope to view interesting celestial objects (especially if you're in a light-polluted metropolitan area where nothing fainter than 2nd magnitude is naked-eye visible, with or without a telrad)?
Your posts are amusing, and probably reflect the opinions of many amateur astronomers. Some of us others find the use of computerized SCTs quite convenient, and are not particularly interested in spending long periods of precious observing time pushing a telescope around desperately trying to find some elusive DSO in light-polluted skies. (I realize the process can be improved with digital setting circles, but your correpondent seems unable to utilize such modern technology).
Chacun á son goût.

dan hilts said:
I noticed that Orion states that their shorty barlow has a barrel threaded for filters. It doesn't show in the photo on the website so I assume it is inside the barrel. Can any one confirm this?

I have an Orion Shorty-Plus 2x barlow and it does not take filters. But it accepts a 1¼-inch eyepiece that has a filter on it.

I understand that tonight, Friday, October 27, the comet will be within about 4º of M13. It should be possible to view both together with binoculars, and perhaps even with some telescopes (those that are equipped with eyepieces capable of producing so wide a true field of view).

James Tomkins said: I have a Celestron Nexstar 8i with 1.25" diagonal and eyepieces. Is it worth the investment to put a 2" diagonal on it and use 2" eyepieces?

I also use a NexStar 8i, and my understanding has been that installing a 2" diagonal would prevent the optical tube assembly so assembled from clearing the base of the scope for most targets that are more than a few degrees above the horizon. Keep this issue in mind before you allow yourself to be swayed by promises of wider fields of view available with a 2" diagonal and the eyepieces it can accommodate.

sebrin campbell said: I'd like to add crosshairs to a 25mm Kellner eyepiece, for use in an 80mm finder scope. What's a good way to do it?

Sebrin: A few years ago I purchased an adapter on Astromart that adds a cross reticle to any 1¼-inch eyepiece whose focal length is reasonably long -- like 25 mm -- and which simply screws into the base of the eyepiece like a filter. I believe the seller was Mike Spicer in Canada, but unfortunately his ad indicated that there were only a few left and perhaps he's no longer making them. I mention this in response to your inquiry in case you were interested in doing some research to find out if such an adapter is available anywhere.

Bill Byrd said:I seem to recall a map/drawing with star magnitudes shown for the stars in and aroundthe Trapezium. I can't find it on Google. Anyone have a link to such a thing?

I recall that Floyd Blue posted maps of the Trapezium area on several occasions in the Astromart forums. Check out his 4/26/06 posts Nos. 437688 and 437690 under "Deep Sky Observing."

Judson Mitchell said: Well, I will retire in a couple of weeks and was wondering if there is a support group for Retired Astronomers? So, I will be a beginner in the retirement category. Any advice?

I discovered that the retired amateur astronomer has one great advantage over the others: He can visit the local dark sky sites for leisurely observation of the deep-sky objects not accessible from his light-polluted home during the work-week; the others have to struggle for parking and viewing spaces on crowded weekends, especially near a new moon in the summertime. I am not familiar with your observing environment, but I speak from the experience of a Southern Californian who does dark sky observing at Mt.Pinos (in the summer) or a campground in Joshua Tree National Park, but who wouldn't dream of visiting those places on new moon weekends. I wish you a happy retirement with clear skies.

Thanks for the "heads up" about the lunar "X." I caught it tonight between 8:30 and 9:30 pm PDT (3:30 and 4:30 am UT on 3/26). It seemed to reach its full extent around 9:12 PDT (4:12 UT), and I took a few primitive pictures, of which one is attached. It's at the left of the image, with craters Playfair and Apianus prominent to the right of center.

Ulf: The hand controller that originally came with a NexStar 8i that I purchased in December 2002 is not being used, as I replaced it with Celestron's computerized controller a long time ago. Could the old controller I have possibly fit your scope? Perhaps you could post or send me a picture of the malfunctioning unit you have, and if mine is the same maybe we can make a deal. Herb Kraus.

Kevin: I'm going to try to answer your question with reference to the Instruction Manual for the SkyView Pro Intelliscope Upgrade Kit that I have; it is dated 12/05 on the lower right hand corner of its front page, and if yours is a different edition don't pay any attention to the following answer:
If I understand your question correctly, you are calibrating your mount in accordance with Orion's instructions under the heading "Making the Dec=0º Reference Mark" and you are asking whether the distant object mentioned in paragraph 2 of those instructions must be in the western sky. I believe the answer is no, because under paragraph 3 of those instructions you will lift the entire mount to bring the target object -- wherever it is -- into your field of view and to center it there without adjusting the right ascension or declination. This process ultimately serves to make the telescope tube parallel to the mount's polar axis when the declination circle is set to 90º after the reference mark that you will etch on the mount's casting (see paragraph 15 of those instructions) is aligned with the 0º mark on the declination circle. Later on, when you get ready to align the telescope for astronomical viewing, you will set it up so that it does in fact point toward the west when its setting circle is at this 0º declination position; see the instructions on the next page (page 8)under "Aligning the Intelliscope Object Locator."
I have been very pleased with the performance of this digital setting circle device, and I hope you will enjoy it too.