Posts Made By: Paulo Mesquita

Tests with my xx12" Orion Truss Dobson


I have a brand new 13mm Ethos that I bought a week ago along with an 8mm Ethos and a x1.6 2" Antares Barlow.

I fitted the TV 2" rings on both Ethos and gave the a run for their money. Excellent EP's. Outstanding. But then I tried the famous x1.6 2" Antares Barlow with the 13mmE and compared it to the 8mmE. And compared...ad compared...and compared. And sold the 8mm Ethos for there was on difference in image quality between the 13mm + x1.6B combo and the 8mmE. Got the money and decided to give the 7mm Pentax XW a chance. Went out to a star meeting and started testing (double stars and Jupiter), and tested, and tested and tested. And arrived at the conclusion that there's nothing special about the 7mm XW that the 13mm + x1.6B combo doesn't have. There was no improvement. (I know I compared 8.1mm vs 7mm (100º AFOV vs 70º AFOV). So now I feel like selling this Pentax bought on Friday...(I think I'm going to trade it for a 2x Powermate and a Giro Alt/Az mount)

Conclusion: the 13mm Ethos is clearly the best from the Ethos range and probably the best EP on the Market. And so is the x1.6 Antares barlow.

What a team!!!

opinions please.

For my 12" f5 Dob and my 127mm and 180mm Maks which of these EP's is the best for planetary views? With ther most AFOV?

TMB Super Monocentric,
Zeiss or UO Abbe Orthoscopic,
Brandon Orthoscopic,
Clave or TeleVue Plossl,
Takahashi HI LE Ortho.

Expert opinions needed. Anticipated thanks for any tips.

Cheers

Can someone give me a few brands of 2" Dielectric diagonals that are a good match for my SW Pro 180mm/7" Maksutov?

I intend to use the diagonal with 2" filters, a 13mmEthos, a 22mm Nagler and a 31mm Nagler.

I'm willing to spend up to €200 on the diagonal.

I've seen some WO diagonals and some Denkmeyer but got a bit confused with the several Denkmeyer models and now I don't quite know which is the right one for my scope.

Thanks in advance for ant tips.

cheers

I'm thinking of buying a DenkII universal Package Binoviewer to use with my 12" Dobson and my 7" Maksutov. This means I might have to sell my 31mm Nagler and my 22mm Nagler since they are 2" EP's. Is this correct?
I've been reading the manuals of both the standard Dekk and the DenkII Binos and both seem to accept only 1.25 EP's.
I also think that maybe I need to sell my 13mm Ethos since the 100º AFOV seems to be just too much for for a Binoviewer. Is this correct?

If my line of thinking is correct, then what pairs of EP's should I get? I want to Keep to the widest AFOV's and to Televue since I've already purchased Dioptrx for my TV EP's.

I was thinking of the 24mm Pans, the 16 or 13mm Naglers and the 9 or 7mm Naglers too. TThe alternative to these last ones is to get another 7mm Pentax XW to match the one I have.

A shame I can't get 2 x 27mm 2" Pan if the Bonos don't accept 2" EP's

ONE LAST QUESTION: I HAVE 4 2" FILTERS (VERY GOOD h-BETA, OIII, UHC AND MOON & SKYGOW. DOES THE dENK 2" ACCEPT ANTD THREAD 2" FILTERS?

Thanks for any tip.

Help!!

I've just bought a SW Pro series (golden ota)180mm Mak. I also bought an adapter to set it up with my 2" diagonal. The adapter is a threaded ring that screws onto the OTA after unscrewing the 1.25". The adapter ring screws perfectly onto the Ota but seems a bit too narrow for the 2" diagonal. It's like something is missing between the ring and the diagonal to attach them together. Either that or the ring is not compatible with the diagonal. This diagonal was from a ED80 Apo refractor.
Also another strange thing happens: when I unthread the 1.25 ring, the hole into the ota is quite narrow (less than an inch in diameter). Is this normal? Unfortunately SW has sent me no Instruction manual (as usual) with the scope. And there is none online.

here is a link to the adapter at the store I bought it (excelent store, don't get me wrong):

http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=synta_SCT_adapter

can anyone help?

thanks

Hello,

I have a 12" Dobson f/5 + 1500mm FL.
I also have a 7" sw Pro Maksutov F/5+2700mm FL

I just bought a DenkII from a CN member. The Denk is newtonians and has a powerswitch
I Bought a 2" Denk Diagonal also with a powerswitch.

Now, I'm aiming at a pair of 24mm Pans. But I don't know what other 1.25 EP's to buy for my DenkII and my 2 scopes.
I know that I should keep to 68/70º of AFOV - I love big AFOV's) but I don't know how to do the math on the calculations of both powerswitches and both scopes.

Besides the Pans I'm considering the Baader 31mm Aspheric EP's, and some shorter focal range EP's for planetary these last ones could have a narrower AFOV so that I could gain detail on the planets.

Please can anyone give me sound advice on what to buy? Brands and Series of EP's.

Thanks

Hello all.

I have a XX12" Orion Truss Dobson with Inteliscope. Since I'm starting to know my way around in the sky (and bought

Skyscout just in case) I've been considering upgrading. On a lighter Scope (the scope's huge wooden base kills me

when carrying it and placing it into my pickup). I't doesn't necessarily need to be bigger. It can be another 12" or

up to 16". Now, we all know the the ultra light/ultra compact Obssessions are wonderful... but I don't have the

money to go there.

These are some ideas limitations that I have:

1 - I live in Portugal so it must be a scope that's sold in Europe.

2 - I use DenkmeyerII and a heavy 31mm Nagler (1kg-2pounds) So structure strength ans stability matters.

3 - I can't spend over €3000

4 - I've seen this Italian Brand Dobson, RPAstro (anyone knows about it?): http://www.tecnosky.it/rp_dobson.htm

5 - I was remotely considering the GSO/Meade 16". But once again wheight will be a problem.

6 - Is there any other Brand, selling in Europe, that has an ultra compact/ultra light Dob up to 16" and €3000?

7 - I know these 2 other European brands but they're a bit too much for my pockets:

- http://www.dobsonians.co.uk/index.html
- http://laclefdesetoiles.com/browse.php?cat=32&brand=34

8 - I'm a bit concerned about the primary mirror quality on the italian brand one (16" F4,5 in BK7 glass with a

correction superior to 1/5 lamda (PTV), 91% reflectiveness with protective treatment (SiO2). 41mm thickness)


Anyone with ideas and good solutions?

Thanks.

Paulo Mesquita

Just got my 2nd hand SS today and went out to test it. Seemed quite accurate. Had a little trouble initially getting the Satellites on the GPS but then did OK. Now 2 things intrigued me:

1-the LCD info panel said something about the left magnet being affected by metal ( I was in the middle of the garden and no metal around)

2 - When looking through the visor besides the little orientation arrows there seem to be 2 red lights on the left side of the inner circle.

Is this connected with the left magnet info? Do these 2 issues have anything to do do with the battery influence everyone talks about here?

Thanks for any help.

cheers

Paulo Mesquita

Hello all,

for long I have been an agressive fan of the highly recommended NPB filter as a UHC for nebulas. A fe days ago a 2nd NPB filter landed on my hand with slightly different markinks on the rim: instead of jus saying NPB...it says NPB CS...

I was curious and went out to immeditely compare it with my 2Normal" NPB. It was daytime and since the weather is terrible over here I don't have a chance to test them at night.

I noticed, with the comparison that the CS version seems a bit more aggressive that the normal NPB. It seems to enhance the reds a bit more and neutralize the greens a bit more.

Does anyone know what this NPB CS is? is it a different verion or did i just stumble on a slightly different filter?

Is it better for observing nebulas than my older "normal" NPB? I tried to get David Knisely's contact but alas, I was unssuccesfull.

Any help will be great since I have to choose fast between the two and don't know what to do?

thanks for reading,

kind regards
Paulo

This thread has been great.
I now Know what I'm going to get... when I have all the cash..lol

1 - Now (I've got the cash for these: N31mm + E13mm
2 - E8mm
3 - 2" 2x TV Powermate
4 - 2" 1.6x Antares Barlow
5 - DGM Optics NPB 2" UHC Filter $150 (2nd choice the Orion 2" Ultrablock Narrowband filter - €90)
6 - Lumicon 2" Oxigen III filter - €240 (2nd choice the Thousand Oaks 2" LP3 Oxigen III filter - $179
7 - TV 2" Paracorr
8 - Baader Neodymium "moonglow" 2" filter
9 - Baader 2" H-Beta Filter
10 - Ethos 2" 22/24mm EP... when it comes out.


You guys have been incredibly helpful. Thanks to all