Posts Made By: Dennis Freeman

I purchased my 10" XTi last Spring and have been disappointed that I've only been able to find the time to use it a few times. Winter is my "slow season" so I'm hoping to make good use of it and increase my viewing time.

I live in northern Ill. so I'll be dealing with freezing temps. I'd like to keep the scope and equip. in the garage, but I have several home improvement projects scheduled this winter. Since the garage doubles as my workshop, I'll have to keep it heated (@55-60 degrees). Because of the heating and the dirty environment, I plan on keeping all the astro equip. in the house until I get the projects done.

I'm guessing I'll run into condensation problems going from cold/dry to warm/humid environments. Is this an issue I need to address? What's the best way to handle this-fans, dessicants, slowing temperature acclimation?

Any comments, suggestions concerning other issues I may not even been thinking of is appreciated. For example, one posting I read while searching the forum for info. related an experience of the author freezing his face to the side of his refractor. Now there's an problem I would have never thought of .

BTW, I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their advice. The members of this forum have been helpful on other postings I've made and have shortened my learning curve considerably.

If it makes a difference, a small sct or refractor is in my near future besides the dob I already have.

I was reading in the Celestron forum that because the center baffle is 27mm on this scope, that purchasing 2" EP's would be a waste since this scope will never be a wide-field. I'm no expert, but I think the author was saying that the center baffle would have the same effect as a 27mm field stop.

I'm thinking of buying a C-6s for a quick grab & go scope. I already have a stable of 2" EP's for my 10" dob so that's not the issue. My question is would this size baffle have a similar effect on a SCT focal reducer so that in essence there is no way to get larger than the 1 deg. FOV?

This is important because I like galaxies & nebulas more than clusters. Consequently I would probably go with a 4" refractor, med-short FL. (I'm leaning toward the 6" SCT because of the aperture.)

Have a question for the more knowledgable. Frequently in scope reviews you read a comment that the optics are over or under corrected. Can someone educate me on what this means and the practical implications?

Thanks in advance.

Dennis

I can't believe I couldn't find any advise on this subject on the forums. Maybe I'm just not using the right keywords. I thought this is a great topic for the beginners forum so here I am.

If you discount the cardboard box I've been using, I want to build my first EP case. Rather than experiment and "reinvent the wheel", I thought I ask for advise from forum members who have, collectively, made hundreds, if not thousands, of these.

My strategy so far is this. I've got 2 scopes, a 6" SCT and a 10" XTi and each has a small case for the accessories (finder, batteries, controllers, etc.) specific to each. I want to have one case that holds all my EPs.I know eventually that I could outgrow one case, but I to keep as many EPs as possible in one case to minimize all the stuff I lug around. I've acquired 11 EPs so far with 2 barlows-mostly Naglers, Pans, and Hyperions with a few orthos and plossls thrown in for good measure. The 35mm Pan is the largest.

I've got a large Doskocil case with interior dimensions of 18 3/4 x 14 x 8 with the charcoal "pluck" foam. This should allow me to store everything vertically. I think I can figure out the best layout, keeping the high mass EPs in the middle. But I'd like advise as to the mechanics of making the cutouts.

Do you think I should I stick with the charcoal, low density foam, or get the higher density polyethylene foam. What's the best way to cut the foam? Do you undersize the width of the cutouts for a tight fit? What do feel is the minimum distance between cutouts (I'm thinking about 1"). Any other things I should consider?

I get the impression that most store EPs with caps on. What about no caps but in a bolt case? This appeals to me since you could keep the most frequently used on a given night in a fanny pack without worrying about damage from banging around. And offer dew protection if on a rack.

All opinions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Dennis

Can someone explain to me the practical difference(s) between a prism and a mirror diagonal?

I just got a NexStar C6 SE which comes with a prism diagonal and based on favorable comments was thinking on upgrading to a 99% dielectric. Are the 2 interchangable or are they mutually exclusive?

Dennis

Sometime this year I plan on replacing my 35mm Pan and 27mm Pan with a 26mm T6. Probably after tax time. I also have a 17mm T4.

Let's suppose that having gaining some experience with the 26mm, I feel that I want an EP bewteen the 26 and the 17. What would you recommend, a 20mm T5 or a 22mm T4? Why?

I have a 10" Xti (f/4.7) and a C6 SE (f/10.

Thanks for your opinions.

While I don't have my "dream set" of EPs yet, I am well on my way (OTOH, does anyone ever really finalize their EP collection? ). I've got what I consider 12 first-tier eyepieces spanning from 35mm to 5mm, 2 second-tier that fill a niche, and 9 public star party EPs. I also have a Shorty Plus barlow and a 2" 2x Powermate.

At this point, I can't help asking myself "Do I really need the barlow and powermate?". Living in the midwest, I can't use the really high powers that some people can in climates/locations more suitable to astronomy. With my 1200mm reflector and 1500mm SCT, I get all the magnification my seeing conditions allow with the EPs I have. And I don't see a relatively short focal length refractor in my future for some time.

Because I have some really nice glass, eye relief is not an issue at the shorter focal lengths. And not using a multiplier will help with rebalancing issues.

I'm thinking of selling the Powermate to either pocket some money or help fund a Paracorr. Any thoughts?

Greg,

I'm afraid I can't agree with you on the NexStar SE and "i" models. First, I don't think Celestron is selling a ton of the SE models. They've been discounted 2x in the last 6 months. They currently have a promotion of $200 off on the C8, $150 on the C6, and lesser amounts on the C5 and 4 models. If they were selling like hot cakes, Celestron wouldn't be discounting them.

Having had my C6 SE only since January, I can't give personal experience about its reliability over 4-5 years. However, I belong to several groups where these types of scope are covered and it's my belief that most of the member are quite happy with their scopes. Certainly most of the posts don't concern problems or failures. Like the forums here, members are interested in tweaking this or that or sharing images (yeah, even though these scopes aren't meant for imaging-hard to believe). Of course, there are those with problems but I don't feel the proportion is statistically greater than more advanced systems.

While my personal experience is limited (I've only been in the hobby for a little over a year), my personal experience has been that my C6 has performed well so far. No mechanical issues and the optics are quite good according to the people in my astro club.

FWIW, I do want more light so I eventually plan on upgrading to an 8" SCT. The 8" will still meet my portability requirements. Of course, this means I'm only 2" smaller than my 10" dob and I'll be forced to upgrade this as well to at least 14". But this is based on aperture fever and not blurry optics.

The GOTO function is OK by me although I suspect that a higher priced mount does have better performance. But this is just speculation since I don't have the personal experience.

Based on my observations in the various forums/boards, your comments may be accurate for the SLT mounts. They seem to be less reliable and stable that the SE and NexStar i models. But the price points for the SLTs are considerable less so it's not totally unexpected that the manufacturers cut corners on quality construction.

Picked up a 10 yr. old Celestron ST80 to test the water for a quick grab & go scope with no electronics. Looks the concept will work for me.

Now I want to upgrade and I've figured out most of distinctions (semi-apo vs. apo., ED, FPL-51 vs. FPl-53, etc.) but 2 have me stumped.

Can anyone explain what "SD" and "SF" mean. I think only WO uses these abbreviations.

Anyone have any experience in shipping to an APO address? Have a serviceman stationed overseas who wants to buy an item. Have never shipped out of the country nevermind an APO.

He's requested that I ship to a zip code and the Military handles it from there. Anything unusual I should be aware of-special packing, declarations, etc.?