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Lawrence Parchman

Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

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Posts Made By: Lorne Johnson

November 18, 2003 12:13 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Vixen v. Celestron Motor Drive

Posted By Lorne Johnson
I did this with a Super Polaris that I used to own. The correct drive would be the CG 5 or the Orion Skyview Pro. The CG 3/4 won't work. I would recommend the Orion version because it is considerably less expensive than the Celestron version.

Assessment: In terms of acting as a clock drive for visual use, it's just fine. Centering is slow because 4x sidereal is the "high" speed, but it does work. Mounting the RA is not the same as the Vixen drives, but is certainly doable with a little perseverance. My biggest objection to the set up is that the phone jack connections are hanging out in space and exposed to accidents. (The Orion/Celestron clutch system is neater than the Vixen, by the way.) If I were doing it again I would stay with single drive. What i ended up with is the Vixen single drive version. i'm happy with that, but it really not worth the amount of money in comparsion.

There is also a JMI option reviewed on Cloudy Nights.

November 25, 2003 12:03 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Advise: New telescope for Dad

Posted By Lorne Johnson
Personally, I am a great fan of the 8" f/6 dob (especially with a 2" focuser). A 10" will certainly show more, though, but pay attention to the weight of the two sizes whatever supplier you choose. 10" production dobs are generally substantially heavier than 8" ones (in the case of Discovery it's more than double). Cost is pretty much the same. The nature of your Dad's moving and set up environment, will likely make the choice easy.

November 25, 2003 04:08 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Best power for DSO's

Posted By Lorne Johnson
In my 8" f/5.7 dob is use:

M31: 36 mm Siebert for about 35x or panoptic 55x (widest field counts)

M33: 20 mm plossl 58x, or 13 mm Nagler T6, 90x

M42: 22mm panoptic or 13 mm Nagler often with UHC filter. 145x for the trapezium.

Veil: usually the 36 mm Siebert with a UHC or 20mm Plossl (UHC)for detail of the filament structure.

M57: 145x with the 8 mm Monocentric has been my favorite thanks to Albert Bellq's review.

M13: 130 with the 9mm Nagler T6 is my personal favorite, it's fairly 3 dimensional quite well resolved in a nebulous cloud (so it not completely resolved). At 260 it is fully resolved with many more stars, but it's more a two-dimensional diagram of itself. The best view I've had of M13 was at 70x in a 16 inch dob.

(I do not claim expertise at deep-sky or anything else astronomic.)

December 5, 2003 06:26 PM Forum: Refractors

SkyWatcher 102/500 Or Wo Megrez II 80mm

Posted By Lorne Johnson
For deep sky apeture is just about everything. Not so for planetary.

December 15, 2003 06:32 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

6" f/8 reflector...which one is the best?

Posted By Lorne Johnson
I think that review is a little dated. I personally like the Discovery's, and their mirrors are very good,indeed.

However, I think the new Orions have a two inch focuser, and are set up so that adding digital setting circles (with a catalogue of objetcsm making it push-to) is a $150 plug-in (which implies that they come standard with the encoders installed). Lots of people on this forum speak highly of Orion's mirros. Price went up also.

You wouldn't go wrong with either one, but Orion is clearly a better deal if you are considering DSC or push-to.

December 17, 2003 01:42 PM Forum: APM

Horns of Dilemma: TMB 80/600 or Sky 90

Posted By Lorne Johnson
The price difference is pretty substantial! If they were equal in cost, I would go TMB.

January 1, 2004 10:09 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Chuck Does it Again!

Posted By Lorne Johnson
I don't know how you did it, new scope and good conditions!I wasn't out on 12/25 but on both Sat and Sunday after that we had really fine conditions in Southern Vermont. My dob is probably quite similar optically (Michael Spooner) and more mundane mechanically, I was getting very much the views that you describe Trapezium a-f very comfprtably, and Saturn at up to 230 and 300 (briefly) with the best quality views I've ever had.

Congratualtions on what I am sure is a very special instrument.

January 6, 2004 02:34 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Seeing Encke

Posted By Lorne Johnson
What's missing from this discussion is the impact of Saturn being at its nearest right now. Obviously, that should make a difference, but how much?

Whatever I saw was far more than I have ever seen before. I was very lucky indeed to get very good seeing, and very good transparency four and three nights before Saturn's closest approach.

January 8, 2004 10:06 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Coronado CEMAX

Posted By Lorne Johnson
My school has some of these. I'll try to get info on them.

January 12, 2004 02:30 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Omega Centauri from 90 / 30

Posted By Lorne Johnson
Was that 30 degrees above or below Zero? It was merely minus 12 for me last night (good transparency, poor seeing).

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