Image of the day

Captured by
Philip Imbrogno

M 33

About Astromart

My Account

New to Astromart?

Register an account...

Need Help?

Posts Made By: Bob Polcyn

December 15, 2002 01:36 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Usefulness of H-alpha filters?

Posted By Bob Polcyn
Hi all --

Right now there are two 'H-alpha' filters for sale on Astromart which appear to be deep red but otherwise clear glass. Are these for use as pre filters or are they useful for viewing/imaging in their own right?
Thanks for any info.

Bob Polcyn

January 10, 2003 01:22 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Types of H-alpha filters

Posted By Bob Polcyn
There are quite a few beautiful DSO images taken with H-alpha filtration these days. I'm unclear about the variety of such filters. I own, for example, a deep red filter called H-alpha which is intended for B&W photography; its function is to eliminate non-red components coming thru optical systems. Then there's the H-alpha used so well by solar imagers -- expensive but wonderful for a specific task.
It's the third category which I never heard of until the more recent posts that I'd like to know more about. For the exquisite DSO images we're seeing the band pass is apparently wider than those required for solar imaging and I assume, less expensive. Who makes them and for what price are they available? Are they a new development?
Any info appreciated.

Bob Polcyn

February 9, 2003 02:01 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Longer term experience with the Dob Driver II?

Posted By Bob Polcyn
Hi all --
Tracking with a Dob would be great. Is the Tech 2000 system reliable enough to be taken seriously? Their website makes it sound easy. What has field experience been like?
Any help appreciated.

Bob Polcyn

June 4, 2003 04:15 AM Forum: Binoviewers

Re: 24mm,25mm ep's in bino

Posted By Bob Polcyn
Hi Jerry --

I just got a mate for my Meade 24.5mm SWA and am liking this pair a lot.

Bob Polcyn

August 15, 2003 12:19 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Mars maps

Posted By Bob Polcyn
Hi all --

Has anyone found a satisfactory set of Mars images with features labeled? I find that the Mercator (rectangular) maps
don't relate easily to what can be seen thru an eyepiece except for Syrtis Major and the polar caps.
Mars isn't 'deep space' but this seems to be the best place for my question. Thanks for any help.

Bob Polcyn

September 24, 2003 01:16 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Source for a reticle illuminator

Posted By Bob Polcyn
Hi all --

I want to convert a Meade 12 mm illuminated reticle eyepiece
(corded type) to cordless. Does anyone sell just the battery powered LED units? I'm not concerned with mating the LED unit to the eyepiece -- I'll jerry-rig something.
Thanks for any help.

Bob Polcyn

October 23, 2003 12:55 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Digital Setting Circles and Dob leveling

Posted By Bob Polcyn
Hi all --

My 18" Dob and DSC's have been a joy but DSC accuracy has varied some from viewing session to viewing session. I've assumed that the variations have been related to my two star alignments but I wonder about scope leveling as a factor.
Does anyone know how critical leveling is? And how do you level your scope? For those of us who don't have a permanent scope pad this could be an important issue.
Thanks for all help.

Bob Polcyn

January 21, 2004 03:10 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

A new supernova in M51?

Posted By Bob Polcyn
Hi all --

I was out last night with my 18" Dob -- mediocre to fair seeing and noticed a bright, star-like feature in M51 located toward the opposite side of NGC 5195. I haven't found corroboration on the web but haven't looked very hard yet.
If it's a supernova it wouldn't be the first. There was a beauty in 1994 (I found an image sequence via Google).
Has anyone else seen this? Maybe I was imagining things.

Bob Polcyn

September 11, 2004 02:00 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

The Stellacam II anyone?

Posted By Bob Polcyn
Hi all --

Has anyone had a chance to use one of these? If the hype is at all close to reality, the Stellcam II would be a huge benefit at star parties.
I'm particularly interested in choice of monitors for display -- would guess that a flat screen monitor would be the best choice. Would black and white be preferable to a color monitor?
And just how effective is the Stellcam II for real time group viewing? Are there equally good alternatives?

Bob Polcyn

September 24, 2004 12:40 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Real time video

Posted By Bob Polcyn
Hi all --

I was told by a staffer at Adirondack Video Astronomy that with non tracking scopes there would be signifacant image smear when looking at live video using their StellaCam products caused by an 8 second image integration time. Does anyone have experience with real time video to verify this?

Real time video would be very useful at public star parties but a tracking mount hasn't been practical for me. Is there a way to display good quality real time views with non tracking scopes?

Any help appreciated.

Bob Polcyn

Funding Member

Sponsors


View all sponsors

Search