Posts Made By: Paul Shin

I’m thinking about purchasing a green laser pointer and was wondering how to select one. I’ve seen several with different output powers, wavelengths, classes and visible distances. I plan to use it to point out constellations mainly from our light polluted neighborhood. Also, are the ones listed on ebay any good? Any comments and / or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Paul

I was planning on getting a Telrad for my 10” dob, but came across Orion’s new EZ Finder Deluxe in a recent catalog. I’m not sure, but it looks just like Stellarvue’s Deluxe Multi Reticle Finder. Has anyone tried these new finders? Any comments and / or suggestion will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Paul

I’m planning to invite a few of my daughter’s friends over this weekend to view Saturn’s Opposition. I was also hoping to show them some other things as well. A few weeks ago, we viewed Orion Nebula and Pleiades. Since I live in a valley, I have sort of a southern view of the sky. I can see as low as Canis Major and as high a Pleiades at approximately 9:00pm from my light polluted driveway. We normally attend the monthly Star Parties but they are at the end of the month. Anyhow, I have a 10” dob and was wondering what other interesting / easy to find objects I can show the group. Any comments and / or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and Aloha from Hawaii. Paul

I have a 10” Orion Dob and was wondering where to mount a Telrad. I first thought about making a bracket to hold the Telrad and then mounting it in the factory dovetail base that is used to hold the stock 9x50 finder. However, now I’m thinking about mounting the Telrad (with the sticky tape) next to the factory dovetail base so that I can use both the Telrad and the finder. Does it make sense to have both? Alternatively, I could remove the factory dovetail base and mount the Telrad in its place (top center of the OTA). Finally, should I mount the Telrad as close as possible to the front of the OTA? Any comments and / or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and Aloha from Hawaii, Paul

I’m thinking about purchasing a used 10” Meade LX200 Classic (f/10). I currently have an Orion 10” dob (f/4.7) and was wondering if the view from the LX200 will be substantially better (planetary & DSO). I like the idea of the goto on the LX200, but will not ask for an opinion on it as I know this subject has been debated on numerous occasions. I should mention that I have not yet seen it, but plan to hopefully do so very shortly. Also, according to the current owner (second), the scope was dropped by the original owner and there is a small 1/8” dent on the OTA next to the fork mount. He mentioned that it was checkout by S&S Optika and the dent is only cosmetic. However, S&S Optika did mention that there may be a slight positioning error when slewing all the way across the sky, but did say that this error is no more than what would be expected when moving over such a long distance. Does this sound correct? Anyhow, aside from cosmetics, what else should I be looking for / asking? I apologize for the long thread, but I have never owned a scope with a motorized mount / goto and just want to make sure I’m checking the right things. Any comments and / or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Paul

Seeking advise on how to remove a telrad base for a 10” dob that is attached with sticky tape. Any comments and / or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Paul

Should I be using a 12v or 18v DC power source for my 10” LX200 Classic? I’m under the assumption that 12v is correct, but after searching the net, I found several postings stating that the LX200 Classic requires 18v. Any comments and / or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Paul

I just purchased a used 10” LX200 Classic and need advice on a few items:

Homemade Case for OTA / Fork
I have the original foam, but was hoping to make something a little smaller. I would prefer a hard case, but soft-sided would also be okay. I have seen several plastic tool boxes / totes, but not sure how well they’ll work.

Homemade Dew Shield
I was planning to purchase a FlexiShield, but to my surprise, the shipping to Hawaii cost more than the item.

Mounting Fork to Tripod
Is there a trick to mounting the fork to the tripod? The problem I’m having is trying to align the bolt with the threading under the base of the fork.

Any comments and / or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Paul

I just purchased a Wagan Power Dome (see below link) from Costco for $68 and was wondering if it would be sufficient to run my 10" LX200 Classic. I also like the idea that it has AC outlets. Any comments and / or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Paul

http://www.wagan.com/htmls/detail-2354.html

I was thinking about getting a Meade Skylight Filter to prevent further dust from entering my 10” LX200 and was wondering if this is a good solution. From my understanding, the filter fits between the rear cell and the visual back. Any comments and / or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Paul