Posts Made By: Gary Carter

Yes, Mexico....I just bought a Meade made Coronado Solarmax40. I've used everything from the PST through the 90mm pre-Meade. I don't see any material differences and the view through the scope is phenomenal. I'd love a larger scope, but this is what my budget allowed.

I imagine the ads are tugging at the same passions some have for "Circle NJ" Televue eyepieces complete with the green boxes....

If budget allows you'll love the view in the 21mm Ethos. I've put off buying "mine" because I have the 20mm T2. However, having acquired the 6mm and 8mm models, my ability to control my desire is weakening by the hour.....especially given the sale prices!!!

If you buy it, it will be used! 8)

Pelican cases are my preference. These are rugged cases with an o-ring seal. They are lined with "Pick and Pluck" foam that is easily cut with a serrated steak knife, or you can get them with re-configurable Velcro egg-crate-style liners.

Buy one large enough for the bino's, filters, red-dot finder, flashlite, etc. Add a couple desiccant bags when storing your gear for longer periods.

As I understand it Paypal, an EBay company, has taken issue with some of the products Herb sells at Anacortes, namely firearms. They apparently link the two businesses and have refused to allow Astromart to accept Paypal payments any longer.

Goto "Account Menu" found to the left of this screen under "My Account". Click on "Ratings I Have Given". Find the rating you wish to erase and delete it. If the person you are dealing with still has his/her ad posted you can respond to it again and leave a new rating.

William Biermann said:

I have not heard any reviews of TSP 2011......anyone have reports?

Thanks
Bill

I attended TSP2011. Sunday night was spent setting up, polar aligning, and familiarizing myself with the new software/hardware I was using to control our Losmandy Titan mount and manage our observing list(SkySafari Pro and SkyWire). Monday night I bagged the list of 25 objects on John Wagoner's "Lions & Tigers and Bears" challenge. Samantha, my observing buddy sacked out early having played hard all day with newfound friends. There were a lot of kids attending this year owing to the June schedule (School's out!!!)

Tuesday afternoon/evening we had a storm pass through nearby....a lot of wind, thunder, lightning, and even a bit of rain that mostly evaporated before it reached the ground. (They had not had rain in the area since September 2010!). The lightning ignited six separate fires in the immediate vicinity. Four of these were quickly put out. Two were in areas not accessible to the firefighting crews on the ground.

In spite of the forest service best efforts to put them out by helicopter, the fire burned throughout the remainder of the week. Our westerly view glowed like sunset throughout the night. As the wind blowing primarily from the east died down each night a blanket of clouds and smoke covered the night sky....we only had a few fleeting moments throughout the rest of the week where any observing could be done.

This set the tone for the remainder of our hot, dry Texas summer....very little rain throughout the region....and raging wildfires in many parts of the state. More than 500 homes burned in Bastrop county last night alone! We need a change of luck in the weather here.

For a feel of the TSP2011 excitement, have a look at a couple of our club member's photo galleries...

JOhn's links
"Still open for business"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neutronman/5806402022/

Fire and Milk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neutronman/5806402248/

Andy's link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/81068664@N00/5813619643/in/set-72157626919985838/ (Cut and paste this link - I think the ampersand is confusing AM's code)

A full report was included in our club's "Spectrum" newsletter available here: http://www.texasastro.org/spectrum/Spectrum_201107.pdf

Gary Barber said:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/nasa-cassini-orbiter-snaps-unbelievable-picture-saturn-144133480.html

Make sure you click on the hi-res photo ...

The two amazing points Carolyn speaks about in her talk "Fly me to the moons of Saturn" (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxXa9pxwzoY )
- This image is a total eclipse of the Sun by Saturn
- The star-like object just outside Saturn's main rings at the 9:30 position is Earth......

The 365s are designed for extreme outdoor duty. The standard covers are much lighter duty. The standard cover would not last long in inclement weather, especially in windy conditions.. I would not be comfortable leaving my equipment outdoors with the standard cover for an extended period of time. I would recommend the 365 if that is your intention. The best thing to do is wrap the cover firmly against the scope and mount with a bungee cord to keep it from flapping in the wind.

Be wary of sharp corners on your equipment - the wind will shred any cover in short order on sharp edges.

Mount a TeleVue Quick-Release Bracket (QRB-1002) to the clamshell. Mount a QRD-1006 dovetail to the base of the Telrad by drilling two holes to align with the tapped holes of the dovetail at the desired position. You might want to fabricate a base plate or a simple spacer out of suitable material (wood, plastic, aluminum, etc.) to fit between the dovetail and the telrad base to provide strength as well as to accommodate the required height above the clam-shell and the QRB or buy a couple nylon standoffs. You will need to buy two button-head screws of the correct length/thread pitch to secure the three parts together.

Mark Cote said:

On my current auction item I paid for the use of a reserve price. However, I do not see the heading “Reserve not met� in the current bid column. I am concerned that my listing somehow did not get set up with the reserved price that I paid for. How can I tell if my listing has a reserve?

I am concerned the current bidders are unaware of the fact that there is a reserve price. If there is no reserve on my item – and I want a reserve – should I delete the listing and start all over? I do not wish to disappoint the highest bidder should the final offer be less than the reserve I thought I had.

Any advice?

I was trying to figure out what happened to the auction. I was the individual Julio recently outbid....
I agree with Julio, it was probably your only option.