Posts Made By: Jerry Mason

Tonight I was surprised to see a shot I took of a brand spanking new Meade UHTC diagonal being used by another Astromarter to describe his used "Mint" diagonal. In his ad (#441106) he states that his is just like the one in my photo except his is for a SCT.

I suppose the old adage that imitation is one of the highest forms of flattery can applied here but would it have been more appropriate of him to ask before using the image? And perhaps more importantly -- is his “Mint” diagonal really well represented by my never used and brand new one?

Clear skies all,

Jerry

Dave deleted the original ad and created a new one this morning. The new ad number is #441207.

It's obvious that the regulars of this and many other forums, with their vast personal experience with visual alt AZ astronomy have the only valid opinions here. As they continue to post, post and post their points of view until they deem the topic over and swarm out any alternative concepts I must concede that because it's said louder and longer then it must be true.

If I want to suggest that, while rewarding, using a telescope only visually really takes advantage of less than half of what it is capable of showing you (photographically) and that, perhaps, future upgradeability to basic tracking or, god forbid, a blasphemous German equatorial mount then someone will negate all that with "well, photography is not my thing. So let me tell you what your thing is...". Then follow up with how important it is to hike to the top of a 14,000 foot mountain with your scope for a nightly observing session and how you could never do that with anything else but a simple wooden telescope. No, I'm not suggesting that astrophotography is something every new astronomer will rush into but to those who are disappointed by not seeing Hubble views then it does give them the opportunity to grow into and squeeze every bit out of their scope purchase. And don't tell me that every new astronomers will not like to try hooking up their camera to their telescope. I remember being 12 with a crappy 60mm department store refractor and going through a ton of 110 film, toilet paper tubes and black electrical tape and being thrilled with the stack of really bad fuzzy moon shots I made.

Because there is only one real telescope to buy (an undriven, DSC less, Dobsonian) and because any other option is a non-option due to personal taste and/or limited experience or interest I can see I should step out.

Thanks in advance but please don't bother sending me a PM with instructions on how to block forums. I can figure that out on my own but, I think, I'll simply do my best not to stick my head in here again. And I'll do my best to ignore the spill over into the other forums (as I do with the Politics and Religion forums).

Good luck everyone! Especially you beginners.

Jerry

Hi Judson,

Starry Night shows satellite SL-16 R/B very close to your zenith moving south to north at 10:10pm September 26 for ZIP 29610. At 10:13pm IRIDIUM 54 passed in the opposite direction.

Maybe one of those?

Jerry

I just spent my first two hours out with a new PST and am very impressed.

I need some advice however as I found that I did not have enough in-focus for my Nagler 5mm T6 and Radian 3mm. My BO 4mm Planetary, Meade 4k 8.8 UWA and a 3x barlow/15mm Plossl combination all focused without a problem.

Should Nagler Type 6 and Radian eyepieces be able to focus in this device or am I stuck using other eyepieces? I sure hope they work as I have been on a rampage replacing my old eyepieces and planned on adding 7 and 11mm T6's to my collection soon. Is there an adjustment I am missing or should know about that would give me a few more "right" turns on the focuser knob?

On another note, I noticed that the image through a Meade 4K 6.4mm Plossl simply kicked butt on the more complex BO and 8.8 UWA. Do simpler eyepieces work best?

Any insight is appreciated!

Jerry

p.s. My first feeble attempt at imaging through this nifty scope is attached.

This shot was taken last Saturday morning (October 21, 2006) and was the start of a beautiful 96º day.

This big fella stood up to give us a better view as we hiked up his stream to Borrego Palm Canyon. Taken last weekend (Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006).

Hello everyone!

I need some other opinions and couldn't think of a better place to post this.

I just sent an Orion Deluxe LaserMate to another Astromarter and he's concerned about the shape of the emitted dot. Below is his letter and under that is my response. Anyone else have a take on this?

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Hi Jery,

Okay, I got the laser yesterday. It looks to be in great condition. But when I shine it at the wall from 5-6 ft away, I see 3-4 points of light making a tight circle instead of one point. I don't think that's good. I tried doing it at the approximate distance of my secondary from the holder (7") and it then appears as a short line instead of a point. I think something may be out of whack. I'll try to talk to Orion today and get back to you.

Paul

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Hey Paul,

All of the consumer lasers I've had access to show a less than perfect dot (laser pointers, both of my collimators, laser sites for handguns). The important factor is: does the dot fit back into it's originating hole when you collimate your Newtonian (my EZ collimator shows a little fuzzy corona when it goes back inside its hole... almost like a total solar eclipse). That and: is the dot centered within the axis of its housing (I'm very confident that the unit I sent you is tack on).

All that being said, if you are not happy, then let me know. Go ahead and send it back to me and I will re-PayPal ya.

Call if you feel it would be easier (949) 858-xxxx. Another thing you might do is to post this question on the Astromart forums and let everyone else chime in. As a matter of fact, I think I will post this in the Equipment Forum now. Take a look when you can.

Thank you!

Jerry

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Hi All!

It was a beautiful and toasty 90º Presidents Day weekend in Death Valley. Attached is the stereotypical "Dunes at Sunset" shot.

J

We spent a few days in Sequoia NP two weeks ago over spring break and I thought it would be fun to post a few pictures of the beautiful place.

The weather hadn't quite decided if it wanted to let go of winter at this point. We drove up into dense fog and clouds, visibility less than 10 feet. Each morning there would be some clearing with blue sky but by midday the clouds would come scraping back in. With the last day of our trip the clouds brought a good deal of snow. I must say it was very interesting seeing the forest with so much atmosphere intermixed between the branches. Made for some ethereal pictures.

Here's a shot taken along a trail in the Giant Forest. There aren't any remarkably large Sequoia in this image, I just liked the lighting.

J

Was a good night for an eclipse!

Now off to bed I go.

J