Posts Made By: Ralph Skogen

I have had several SCT's over the years-M and C- 8" to 12" and the 9.25 gave the best images-sharpness/contrast. If you didn't have the 8" I'd say get the 9.25 for sure, I think the images are much more pleasing to the eye. Is it worth it to upgrade? That's up to you. You may want to find a star party and check one out first. Ralph

Floyd, Welcome to the SM club. I'm sure you'll enjoy yours as much as I do mine. With all of your experience and with so many scopes, your informed opinion of this scope, will be of great interest to us all. Be sure to call Rick and let him know you are the new owner. In case you were not aware of it, you have something else in common . . . Motorcycles! 8) Enjoy, Ralph http://www.starmastertelescopes.com/html/2ndpassion.htm

Gregg,

You'd be crazy not to!!! I have had several SCTs (8"-12"), looking for the "best" image. Decided to try a TV102, images great but dim. Begin quest for quality and bigger: Read reviews and notice how often Zambuto comes up in "best lists" (Todd Gross) along with APOs. Order up 11" Starmaster for "experiment" to see if better than SCTs.
Several months later; first light and at a dark site, play with 102 & SCT until very dark and temperature/mirror cool. Insert parracor and Nagler, point towards Milky Way, focus... priceless.... (not really, sellers are always able to come up with a price). That was the image I had been looking for; crisp/clean image (MUCH better than ANY SCT) and bright. Know then, the rest of scopes will be sold when I get around to it.
This is good but need more. Order up 24" SM w/CZ. While waiting for delivery, a 16" becomes available and I decide it would be nice to have large dob that I didn't need a ladder for. Did I make a mistake going to a large dob? NOPE. Only mistake was taking so long to get there. After this, my friend buys a used 18" Obsession at great price (also gives up on other types of/smaller scopes) to "try" Obsession and we both agree that it would be difficult to justify trading-up to anything else. If buying new, I think he would get the SM for the small price difference...CZ mirror and removable mirror cell the biggest reasons, also the SM seems much less likely to slide out of the rocker box when using the transport handles.
I would stick with the standard coatings, Carl's and Rick's reasoning makes sense to me; better contrast, smoother surface. Enhanced coatings on flats only.
Planetary/deep sky...with a quality big dob you get both!! Read Todd Gross' review SM 14.5.
In short, get the biggest you can handle, I'm sticking with mine because if I drive 2-3 hours to a dark site I want it to be worth it. I want to SEE something!! Having a small scope because you observe mostly from the city doesn't make sense to me because 1) It's always brighter and more resolution in a big scope (isn't that why we use scopes to begin with?). Conditions limit magnification, not mirror size. M42 is much bigger/brighter @100x in a 16" than 100x in a 4"? Yes? 2) You don't buy a car that only does 30mph because you drive mostly in slow traffic do you? No. This is a hobby, a luxury, something we do for pleasure, so go get one now and be ready to go WOW...and bring your family and friends out so they can go WOW too. Life is to short to go through without at least one "big" scope.
Ralph Skogen

Gregg,

Just a thought on the Argo Navis, unless it has changed recently, there is no USA repair station. The Sky Commander is US made and serviced.

Rick's/SM Sky Tracker could not be easier to use. I figured it out in a couple of minutes without reading the instructions.

Be sure to call Starmaster before you buy. Let us know what you get, and a first light report. Also, get the Feathertouch focuser, it's a "must have" on any scope. Ralph

Gregg,

You're going to like that scope! The only problem will be that the night is going to go by very fast. Enjoy, Ralph

Floyd,

Thanks for the update. Glad to see you enjoyed the views. Overall, are you glad you made the move to a SM/CZ? Don't forget to let us know what you think of it on the planets.

Ralph Skogen

Bill,

Just use USPS. I believe UPS/FedEx/etc cannot deliever to APOs; it will be returned to you.

Ralph

Floyd Blue said:

I found a 16" flexible, translucent plastic serving dish that was just a little too big...

Floyd,

I was wanting to make a similar cover for my mine. Where did you find this dish?

Thanks, Ralph Skogen

STAR INSTRUMENTS continues to be concerned with the false advertising claims being made by amateur optical suppliers who claim 1/10 to 1/20 wave optics

joseph,

I read that as just being a poorly written sentence. I think it should have read "...made by optical suppliers who claim 1/10 to 1/20 wave optics to amateurs ..." or "...made to amateurs by optical suppliers who claim 1/10 to 1/20 wave optics." Or something like that. I don't think the concern was with 'amateur mirror makers' but with 'optical suppliers' to amateurs that make claims of '1/10 to 1/20 wave optics' (at low cost of course). When you consider the large number of consumer grade scopes out there, the number of 1/10+ wave optics is very small (and not at a low cost). Also, I think most people think of 'amateur' as someone that does it for the love of the game or activity (not paid) and 'PRO' as someone that does it for money. As anyone that has 'bought' a CZ or Royce mirror can tell you they are not in the 'amateur' ranks ($). I suppose if someone was concerned enough, they could call STAR INSTRUMENTS and ask what they meant by this, but that wouldn't be as much fun as guessing!! That's my take. But what do I know? I drive a truck for a living. Feel free to disagree.
Dark skies to all, Ralph

Erik,
Consider this...
-Make an observing chair or get a mechanics stool from Home Depot, etc. I have a Starbound, but find it slow to adjust, will be making one soon.
-Sky commander, very accurate, you won't need 'finder ep' or 9x50 finder.
-Consider a Feathertouch focuser.
-Get Nagler EPs. You probably won't need a Paracorr then. And when you change scopes you won't need to change EPs,you'll already have the best. I would rather have a few Naglers/Pans than several lesser EPs. Scopes come and go, but good eyepieces are forever.
-Filter slide, make sure the EPs you use don't bring the focuser tube too far into the tube to hit the slide or just skip and get the tracking platform.
Have fun, Ralph S.