Posts Made By: John Cronin

I was going to recommend Oberwerk 8x56 or 9x60 binoculars, but they have gone up a little, and are now around $100-$110. They also might be a little heavy for a 12 year old to hold (over two pounds). I do think binoculars are a good idea.

I was considering the Meade 32 SWA but after reading a bunch of reviews and then looking through the 13.8 SWA, I decided against it. New the Siebert 36 Observatory eyepiece costs the same as the sale prices I am currently seeing on the 32mm SWA and I think the Siebert is the better value here. Harry Siebert offers a 30 day return guarantee on his eyepieces so if you don't like it, send it back. Meade won't do that for you.

One thing to consider, particularly if you observe alone in remote places: using your car battery to power your astro toys might result in your car not starting if you are not very careful.

I personally prefer to just use one of the jumpstart battery deals. If you go to Walmart or something like that, these can be had very cheaply, probably close to $30. I found one online using google on "jumpstart battery" for $29.95 on the first link shown (though shipping charges will probably be substantial). To be sure the quality might not be the absolute highest, but the one I got at Walmart powered my C-8 with Dec and RA motors and a flock of dew heaters for several hours, and if it runs down, I can still drive away. If I didn't need the dew heaters (but alas, I dew) I am sure the battery could run the scope drives all night and have plenty of charge left.

Also, be advised that car batteries (and jumpstarter batteries) are NOT deep cycle, and don't like to be fully discharged frequently, so frequent charging is preferred. I believe some jumpstart battery packs can be charged from a car cigarette lighter (mine can't, but I never tried it with my inverter - that might work).

I looked at the Astromart terms of service and I didn't see anything prohibiting listing items at eBay too. Did I miss something? I am not defending the practice, though I must note it is common in the "real" world to list items for sale in multiple places. Still, I would like to know what the specific prohibition is so I can avoid violating it. I have never listed a classified on eBay or Astromart, but someday I might.

That mount is awesome. I can't add much to what others have said - excellent job.

No kidding. It's not a Canadian web site or business, right? Why would you know the Canadian rules, it's hard enough to keep up with US rules.

My Meade 8.8 UWA is fine with my Siebert 2 inch 2X Barlow. I have heard the GSO/Astrola/whatever (all made by Guang Sheng in Taiwan, I believe) 2 inch 2X Barlow is pretty good, for about $60. I have one, but I have almost never used it as I soon acquired the Siebert Barlow in a deal I couldn't refuse, and I like it a lot. If I get a chance over the next few nights I will try the 8.8 UWA in the GSO Barlow, and I will compare the GSO to the Siebert.

As somebody else mentioned, putting the 32mm SWA in a Barlow gives you a long 16mm UWA with a lot of glass in the path, and you will still want a low power eyepiece of some kind. I use a Siebert 36mm, which at $200 new is about $165 less than a new Panoptic 35mm. If that is too much for you, I like the Celestron Ultima 30mm for about $100 (but the AFOV is only 50 degrees) - the Orion Ultrascopic or Parks Golds are similar.

At F4.7, many/most of the cheap widefield eyepieces have serious distortions for a significant portion of the field (the outer edges, all the way around). This bothers some people more than others (it bothers me).

I have a Meade SP4000 32mm that isn't bad, but I like the Celestron Ultima 30mm better (the Parks Gold and Orion Ultrascopics are often alleged to be the same as the Celestron Ultimas). These are 1.25 inch eyepieces but they have a relatively narrow field of view (50-52 degrees) and are not limited visually in any way by not being 2 inch eyepieces.

I would personally get one of these rather than a mediocre 2 inch wide field, but others will disagree with me, and the best way to tell what is right for you is to look through one, if possible. If you can't find someone else's to look through for free, I suggest buying used on AstroMart, and if you don't like it, sell it to somebody else the same way.

For a laser collimator you will want one of the new ones that allows you to see a grid from outside the tube - it is much easier to collimate this way. You still need a cheshire and I like to have a sight tube also. Lots of people get by with these and don't use a laser. I find a laser helpful but I use the caveman tools (cheshire/sight-tube) to get things close first.

For barlows, the GSO 2-inch 2X barlow seems well liked. You may not really need a 2 inch barlow, in which case the Celestron Ultima Barlow or Orion Shorty Plus are well regarded (I have the latter). The University Optics Klee barlow is also liked by many.

My comments about buying used on AstroMart apply to all of the above, by the way.

Overall I think it works well. I do wish you had not recanted. If somebody is supposed to send a money order, but sends a check instead, that isn't 5 stars. If he gives you a negative rating, put comments about your rating and his retaliation, and lower his rating. I think if he had done this to me he would have dropped to 1 star (with the comment he's a jerk but at least the check cleared). I would also make the guy wait until five business days after the check cleared, just in case - maybe ten days. Some scams have used checks that apparently clear but then are found to be fraudulent.

That depends - are they APO pencils?