Posts Made By: mike selz

i hooked it up to an outlet for more power since my batteries supposedly werent doing the job 100%...and it went fine unil i went to center an object...every time i tryed to move the telescope with the remote...it went right back to "initializing" and back to the menu screen...anyone ever have this happen? i cant even use my scope now...oye...

i tried it with the batteries and it wouldnt even turn on now...only seems to with the outlet hooked up...very weird...

i hooked it up to an outlet for more power since my batteries
supposedly werent doing the job 100%...and it went fine unil i went to
center an object...every time i tryed to move the telescope with the
remote...it went right back to "initializing" and back to the menu
screen...anyone ever have this happen? i cant even use my scope
now...oye...

i tried it with the batteries and it wouldnt even turn on now, did before...only
seems to with the outlet hooked up...very weird...any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks!

Looking to maximize my eyepieces to see the deeest dark sky objects possible through an 8" Hardon Dob...i noticed where i live i could see more with my 20mm 300 series plossl...fainter stars...than with my 30mm agena astro SUperview EP, big wide view but background is a bit lighter (i was looking closer to down...5:40am)...the 20mm has a 3 exit pupil...the 30mm a 5 exit pupil about...where i live i doubt it's of use to go higher than a 2 or 3 light pupil, due to all the light polution (ivan would know about this 1..lol), wouldnt u say? i live in coconut creek...near boca raton in south florida.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!

I live in the suburbs...light pollution here is moderate but not bad. I was wondering...overall bang for the buck what's a better all around eyepiece for use a 12 or 16mm nagler? (or a UWA eyepiece in general). Use it with an 8" hardin dobsonian. I just have a cheap 17mm WA no name eyepiece now but i'd like a better one with better edge and field sharpness. I'd like it to be 1.25" as well so i can use a barlow on it when needed. Any input appreciated =)

Im looking for a push to system (object locator) for my 8" hardin dob...using sky charts is a bit annoying for those deep space objects..especially here where i live in the burbs (south florida). is the orion intelliscope locator only for the orion scopes? Can anyone recommend a cheap push to locator? looking to spend under $150 bucks =)
Thanks!!

I love this beast...it has JMI rolley wheels for eaay transport to the backyard with a wood ramp i made to go down , and up it. Easy as pie, even for a 128lb beast like this. Anywhoo...the smoothness of the movements is a little annoying, but i can get used to it. The bottom black tape around the bottom of the mount started coming off after i used it, the JMI wheel kept knocking into and rubbing up against it when i made stee turnes...gotta be more careful..i just glued them back with gorilla glue...any suggestions on black tape to put there that wont come off next time? lol

besides that, everything looks GREAT! Got a telegizmos cover, homeade light shroud, homeade dew fan, laser collimator, and a manual one, and a goniometer ty[e thing. Still got alot of reading to do. it seems reasonably well collimated already.

Anyways, i was thinking of upgrading it...turn it into the Blue Whale...or Blue Battleship....black truss rods and blue bottom and top base . Any special kind of spray paint i should use? Any other suggestions for mods? I use a metal cord attached to a weight that i attach to the back fan , when i load on heavy 2" eye[ieces and it seems to do the job for now...any other suggestions?
thank!!
-Mike

I recently traded in my 16" lightbridge for a Nexstar 11 GPS carbon fiber...alot more suitable for my suburban area and astrophotography i wanna get into in the future. When i recieved the scope and tried it out, it was a little flurry on stars (they looked ellipital, like an infinity sign...you know..with a tail like a comet)...i tried collimating it by turning the 3 screws at the front of the OTA...BAD idea...became even blurrier =(

Im having trouble getting it back into focus...ive never really collimated before and would prefer an easier way to do it then the complicated prodedure i found on google.

I DID see they DO have a collimating laser eyepiece for SCT's availble now..here is the link...(kendrick has one too i believe)
http://www.agenaastro.com/HoTech-2-1-25-SCA-Laser-Collimator-p/palc-ht-sca-2.htm

What is everyones opinion? id prefer having a quick handy tool where i can quickly align the optics often since i want to get into astrophotography within the next 6-12 months as well..
thanks!

Hey guys...I bought a C11 Nexstar GPS from a member on astromart for my 16" Lightbridge and i noticed it has a little piece of foreign plastic INSIDE the tube...and a loose metal screw...i dont want to use the GPS because i dont want these foreign objects to domage the optics..does anyone know the procedure for removing the front of the OTA so i can get the foreign objects out? My OTA is positioned parellel so the 2 objects stay at the front and dont move anywhere. Or if anyone knows a link to the procedure..that would be alot of help...i cannot send this in to Celestron because the objects would damage the optics during shipping. Thanks!

Hey guys...im looking for a real fine focuser for my Nexstar 11...but want to keep using my WO 45 degree diagonol as well for ease of positioning my head while viewing. Can the WO 10:1 crayford microfocuser be used with an adapter for the diagonol? If so, where can I find 1?
thanks!

Ive had a Nexstar11 for now 6 months..and have done visual observing up until now and plan on getting into AP, starting out with planetary webcam imaging first to test the waters. I live near boca raton, florida..so the light pollution is pretty crappy, but better than the cities..

Having a Nexstar 8se in the past (and a 90mm Meade ETX prior)..ive steadily went up in aperture over the years and think im afflicted with the aperture fever thing...i love searching for those faint fuzzies and especially the really faint ones..when I find em I just feel accomplished..hell, I might want to do some comet/asteroid/NEO/supernova research in the future since I'm still pretty young (in my 20s) . Is it possible to use a large dob for AP work, with the servocat/argo navis attached? (id assume you'd also need a field de-rotator since you cant put it on an EQ mount, unless you use an eq platform).

Or...is the big dob a thing mostly just for visual work for guys who live in the countryside...or have a trailer where they can transport it? Im not experienced AP wise..so forgive my language barrier..but am eager to learn...

Thanks