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Posts Made By: Tom Dove

March 7, 2005 05:50 PM Forum: Mounts

Vixen Alt-Az info?

Posted By Tom Dove
I bought a used, older-model Vixen Alt-Az mount here a while ago and am using it with a 100mm achromat. It works, but needs more tweaking (I've done a bit of that already) to make it smoother and have less slop, especially in altitude. I think there's something wrong with the sequence of washers as they are installed but I've not been able to work out the correct sequence. It takes too much tightening to hold the scope stable, making smooth tracking difficult. Perhaps some parts are missing.

Can somebody provide an exploded diagram of this mount or some expert help for me? It does not have the counterbalance arm, and appears to be much like the Orion Alt-Az mount, with worm-geared fine adjustments on both axes.

-- Tom

March 9, 2005 11:02 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Help with Vixen Alt-Az mount

Posted By Tom Dove
I bought a used, older-model Vixen Alt-Az mount here a while ago and am using it with a 100mm achromat. It works, but needs more tweaking (I've done a bit of that already) to make it smoother and have less slop, especially in altitude. I think there's something wrong with the sequence of washers as they are installed but I've not been able to work out the correct sequence. It takes too much tightening to hold the scope stable, making smooth tracking difficult. Perhaps some parts are missing.

Can somebody provide an exploded diagram of this mount or some expert help for me? It does not have the counterbalance arm, and appears to be much like the Orion Alt-Az mount, with worm-geared fine adjustments on both axes.

-- Tom

March 18, 2004 09:10 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Need advice. Low power eyepiece for f/4.8 dob

Posted By Tom Dove
I have an f/4 scope (a lowly StarBlast) which is a far cry from your top-quality Portaball but does have a fast mirror. I found the Expanse eyepieces, which worked very well with my f/15 Mak, were useless on this faster scope; I recommend against them for your scope because the outer 50% or more may be very unsharp.

The Panoptic (I have the 19mm) and Ultrascopic/Ultima (I have the 15mm and 10mm) eyepieces are excellent in my fast scope. They're sharp to the edge, unlike the Expanses. Check ScopeStuff, as they have these eyepieces under the Antares name for very reasonable prices. The 12mm Radian is also very sharp to the edge, but that's higher power than you're asking about.

Oh, yes. All of these Barlow very nicely to give high power with good eye relief, too.

-- Tom Dove

August 9, 2004 10:06 PM Forum: Binoviewers

Binomate?

Posted By Tom Dove
Based on reviews and some correspondence with Joe Castoro, who sells the Binomate, I ordered one today. I also ordered his 100mm f/6 achro, which has a slightly shortened tube to work with the Binomate without a Barlow. The price of the combo was just too good to pass up, and it will at least be an introduction to binoviewing; then I can decide whether to upgrade or not. I'd been thinking about getting a simple refractor like that for some time, anyway.

I'll play with the Binomate and report back here.

-- Tom

September 6, 2004 09:25 PM Forum: Binoviewers

Why are diopters extra....

Posted By Tom Dove
The diopter adjustment is handy on the Binomate. I find it necessary to tweak the focusing differences slightly with different pairs of eyepieces, and there's also a slight difference between the acuity in my two eyes, also. It's essential to me, just as it is on binoculars, but I'm very picky about sharpness.

-- Tom

September 29, 2004 12:29 PM Forum: Binoviewers

binomate w/ XT8 dob

Posted By Tom Dove
Jim,

I use the Binomate part #AC555, a $35 converter lens that gives a 3.3x magnification, to focus the Binomate on my 6" f/8 Dob. It should work equally well on your XT8, since it compensates for the necessary 3" additional in-focus. Joe Castoro of The Binomate Company recently recommended using the element from a Meade teleconverter. Contact him for details; he's very helpful.

I'm using 25mm Orion Sirius Plossls (160x) and 15mm Ultrascopics (267x) with the Binomate + AC555 on the 6" f/8 Dob, and these work quite well. The 10mm Antares Elites (400x) that are nice on my 100 mm f/6 shortened refractor have too much magnification with the AC555, so they won't work on the Dob. I balance the tube with an exercise wrist weight band, resting it on the mirror end of the scope.

-- Tom

October 1, 2004 03:59 AM Forum: Binoviewers

Things that make you go hmmm...

Posted By Tom Dove
That 102mm path length, individual diopter adjustments and low price make me wonder if it's a copy or re-labeling of the Binomate, which has those identical features. If the Binomate is English-made (does anybody know for sure about this?), could these be Chinese copies? Burgess imports Chinese optics.

Which brings up the question: does Burgess actually have these in stock, or is this another promised product that doesn't really exist? He has a history of that.

I'm really curious to hear what they are, too.

-- Tom

October 2, 2004 07:40 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Planetarium Program for Mac

Posted By Tom Dove
Steve,

I usually just use TheSky under Classic (it was bundled with an Orion scope). Sometimes I switch to MPJAstro (homepage.mac.com/microprojects), which has an unusually attractive interface. Under X-11, you can run XEphem, as somebody else has suggested. If you install the KDE desktop under X-11 (use the Fink package manager), there's a built-in planetarium program called KStars which is rather good.

The beauty of all of these is the price. They're free.

-- Tom

December 27, 2004 12:43 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Greatest Hits (or Luckiest Hits)

Posted By Tom Dove
OK, here's a Little Green Heron on a channel bulkhead near my house on the Chesapeake. Nikon 880 + 2x teleconverter, taken from my boat about 15 feet away.

It's not nearly as good as the stuff you all post; I generally shoot sailboats or portraits, and birds are a lot harder wink

-- Tom

February 2, 2005 05:39 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Common Objects converted to Astro Use

Posted By Tom Dove
A wraparound wrist weight, designed for exercise sessions, makes a perfect balance addition for the mirror end of my 6" Dob when a heavy eyepiece or binoviewer is mounted on it.

-- Tom Dove

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