Posts Made By: Sean Cunneen

Great! Thanks for everyone's input, I appreciate it!
Sean

I agree with the previous posters, you have the right equipment for the job already, you have to go very slow with the drill speed and use very light pressure. Avoid the temptation to rotate the bit around and lube the blade with 3-in-1 oil or mineral oil. The slow and light pressure is the key, patience, Grasshopper!

As the owner of an 8"f/8 Eq Newt, I can state with much certainty that finding objects is much easier in a fast scope. Once I've found something, my scope is wonderful, but my scope pointed straight up with the mount working against me and my neck hurting from contorting to get my eye to the finderscope, forget it! That is why my next scope is a 12" f/6 dob (under construction)! The benefits come with planets, It would take a very expensive refractor to equal my views, and I get to use my 12mm where as the other guys are stabbing themselves with their 3 or 4mm eyepieces. Oh yes, Collimation is a breeze as well.
Sean

The worst part is, at the end of an observing session, all the ugly stars start to look prettier and prettier, soon, you'll look at ANYTHING that crosses your path. You wake up the next morning and in your Go-to controller is some elliptical galaxy when you coulda sworn last night it was a barred spiral! Not to mention having to pee every 15 minutes. I'll stick to pyrex, thank you. I'd hate to get an OUI (Observing under the influence).

Don't assume that because an eyepiece is expensive, that it will be your cup of tea. There is nothing wrong with working your way up the ladder. Read reviews. Among the expensive eyepieces, there are focal lengths in Naglers and Panoptics that I would argue are better than others. My first expensive eyepiece was a 22Pan which I still have. I read about eyepieces for months before I decided on it. My next one was a 12T4, again, after a ton of reading. My line up is now a 35Pan(ok) 22Pan(great) 12t4(Great) 6 and 5mm Radians(okay). The Radians are proof that you can spend too much on an eyepiece for it's performance. I have been through maybe 60 different eyepieces(thanks Herb!) and the ones I have now are very good, but I see the Radians going away soon to be replaced by a Pentax XO($300) OR 6,5,4, Orthos($50ea). In my experience, I don't care what an eyepiece costs so long as the experience is worth it. I no longer have a 16t5 or 16t2, 9t1 or 9t6, TMB planetaries, star-splitters, other orthos, TV plossls and some more all for one reason or another, mostly comfort. For your scope I would advise you to look into the 17mm-12mm range, you'll get the most use there, DSO-ville. Good Luck!

Only a few Brandt 12" objectives were made. Originally Brandt was selling a 12" folded refractor in ads in Sky and Telescope. There was a 12" lens in cell listed on Ebay for a very long time in the early 2000's, I think it was listed for $5000 and sat forever. At one point the price dropped to $1000 and someone jumped on it and I haven't seen one since. If the one you have is a completed scope you should post a pic or two. Is the scope still available?