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Posts Made By: Jim Carpenter

June 15, 2004 01:52 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Calling all small refractor owners!

Posted By Jim Carpenter
Joe,

If you're interested in apo performance in the 3" range, also look at the Stellarvue/TMB 80S and 80L triplets or the Stellarvue SV85S doublet. Paired with a Bogen 075/Unistar Light mount combo they make an excellent quick look set up. Of the three scopes, the SV/TMB 80S is the most compact. The AT1010 (Nighthawk) is a good match for the same tripod and mount if you don't go the apo route.

For ultra portability, Universal Astronomics offers a shortened D&S tripod which is supposedly short enough to fit in an airline carry-on bag, but because of its shortened length requires viewing from a seated position.

Jim

July 7, 2004 02:37 PM Forum: Ham and Shortwave Radio

No Code

Posted By Jim Carpenter
A friend of mine came up with an interesting idea -- remove code as a basic requirement for any class of license, but make it an "endorsement" to the license. Only those with the endorsement would be allowed to use whatever segment of the bands ends up being assigned to A1 emissions.

Jim
WD5BKO

July 23, 2004 02:49 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

aluminum

Posted By Jim Carpenter
Mark,
Look in your yellow pages for scrap metal. You can usually buy assorted aluminum of various sizes, shapes, etc by the pound, although there may be a minimum purchase of $20 or so. $20 got me a wide variety of sheet, strip, and plate material, and I saw (but did not buy) numerous solid blocks of aluminum in various sizes.

Jim

August 30, 2004 03:33 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Things you'd like to see....

Posted By Jim Carpenter
Manufacturers stating true clear aperture in their specs, not just objective diameters (without reduction by the lens cell or infringement in the light cone by baffles or long drawtubes) in the case of refractors, or actual light-gathering mirror surface area after subtracting the central obstruction in Newts and cats.

Jim

September 3, 2004 08:35 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

airline compatible refractor setup?

Posted By Jim Carpenter
Stellarvue makes a number of high quality "airline portable" refractors, all but one being doublet or triplet apos in the 80mm to 105mm aperture range. All are built like tanks. Check them out at www.stellarvue.com. The "Telescope Specifications" page on that website gives all the dimensions. They also have hard and soft cases for the 80mm instruments that fall within airline carry-on guidelines, but the cases don't accommodate the mount. They have cases for the larger telescopes, but they are longer than 22". I'd be curious to see a photo of the inside of that Samsonite bag that Paul uses -- I've considered something like that myself.

Jim

September 10, 2004 02:54 PM Forum: Wildlife Photography

Texas Gecko

Posted By Jim Carpenter
"Cockroaches have all but disappeared since their arrival at our house."

Yeah, but have they tried to sell you any car insurance yet?

Jim wink

September 29, 2004 10:46 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Zoom!

Posted By Jim Carpenter
Vixen/Televue 8-24mm.

Jim

October 4, 2004 05:02 PM Forum: Mounts

UA Heavy Duty Deluxe Alt/Az with Wood Surveyor's T

Posted By Jim Carpenter
Hi Steve,

Nice review! I've been using Larry's mounts for quite a while now, having received one of the very first Unistar Lights. I now have the regular Unistar, the Unistar Light, and a Microstar. I use them all on Bogen tripods because I like having the ability to crank up the center post for viewing at or near zenith. I added encoders and a DSC to the Unistar and it's a real pleasure to use.

Jim

October 7, 2004 02:45 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Using a Handheld GPS Reciever for my LX200 10

Posted By Jim Carpenter
Joe,

If all you need is something to give latitude/longitude coordinates to punch into a computer, any of the current crop of Garmin, Magellin, etc. will do that, starting at about $90 for the least expensive of the Garmin Gecko series. For a few bucks more you can get units with the capability to connect electronically to the computer or to a guided goto mount. They all use pretty much the same protocol for the data interface, but I'd check that before you buy if that's a consideration. Most large outdoor stores such as Cabellas or REI carry multiple brands and models, but the sales people are not always knowledgeable about the nitty-gritty of GPS receivers. My favorites are those made by Garmin -- I currently have a Garmin Etrex Legend.

Jim

October 16, 2004 04:57 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Stellarvue 115

Posted By Jim Carpenter
Ken,
I have seen and briefly used the SV115 in both the standard version and the "Special Edition" version. The difference is in the tube diameter and the focuser (2" FT on the standard vs 3.5" FT on the special). Both are CNC machined throughout, built like tanks, and, as stated, use true TMB lenses (Vic Maris pays a royalty to Thomas Back on every SV/TMB scope). I have not seen a "real" TMB 115 so I can't offer a first-hand comparison, but they are optically the same and I suspect mechanically equal to the CNC tubes from APM and perhaps superior to the lightweight tubes from APM. The blue anodized finish available as an option on the Stellarvue scopes is, in a word, stunning when seen in the flesh. The complete run-down on the SV/TMB 115 and the other SV/TMB scopes can be found on the Stellarvue website.

Jim

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