Posts Made By: Tom Hole

Jeff,

Seeing isn't too bad tonight, but it sure is cold. I had the Denks and TV's out again and I couldn't see a difference on Saturn. I took the Denks up to 545x to see if I could spy the enke during the moments of better seeing, but no luck. What an image, though. Saturn is very large in an ortho at 545x.

I went over to Luna to see if the Alpine Valley Rille was finally going to sucomb to my gazes, but no such luck. I felt there were a few moments of steady seeing where I should have been able to see it, but it wasn't there. I think the sun angle is wrong at this phase. I did get to go Plato plinking and easily split the double craters in Plato. Counted 6 craterlettes and then got too cold.

Maybe it will calm down for the GRS transit.

Clear skies,

Tom

I know how you feel, Eurvin. Vote with your wallet. Can you email me offline? tomhole at gmpexpress dot net I'd like to chat about the military. Or we can go to the off topic forum.

Clear skies,

Tom

I think an innocent bystander was just fragged. I must admit I had a shaky case going, but Eurvin has every right to be pissed and rant until he is satisfied. He did nothing to Don or Glen and never said a bad thing about HS. I can understand them going after me as I went after Harry. That's fair. At least we have Harry and his voice of reason to guide us through these hard times.

Clear skies,

Tom

Well, that was another wonderful (allbeit very cold) morning with Jupiter. During the moments of better seeing, the resolution was easily sub arcsec. Here are some quick observations:

The GRS is more red this year. Another fellow had mentioned this on another group and this was my first opportunity to check it out since he mentioned it. It is not salmon this year.

There is a tiny dot of some sort right over the GRS. I estimate it to be about .5 arcsec or so in diameter. It was not a shadow transit as there was not one going on and it was too small. Anyone seen this?

I found out something very peculiar. I put the Denk 2" OCS in 2.5x mode on the TV binovues and the TV 2x corrector on the Denks. I wanted to check this configuration before making a final determination on which to keep. Here's the peculiar part. Whichever binoviewer had the 2x corrector on it, the image of Jupiter was not as bright. I had noticed this earlier in the evening when the pieces parts were mated with their own brand. I wanted to see what happened when I swapped correctors. Sure enough, whichever binoviewr had the 2x corrector on it had a dimmer image. I checked for dew, frost, dirt, anything that might cause this. Found nothing. This doesn't seem right.

I can say that the best views were with whichever binoviewer had the 2" OCS in 2.5x mode on it. Seeing was 4-5 most of the time with moments of 8-9 (.5 arcsec). I was using my new observing chair so I spent a lot of time looking at detail inside the GRS and the bands. The best view of the morning was with the TV's and the 2.5x 2" OCS, but that may have just been the seeing at that moment. Regardless, they are both extraordinary binoviewers.

The seeing went to crap at about 0230, so I'm packing it in until morning for the transit of Io.

So, to answer Jeff's question about a direct comparison between the TV and Denk stds, my opinion is they are pert near equals. The 2x TV corrector is better than the 2" OCS in 1.4x mode on planets, but the 2" OCS in 2.5x mode is better than the 2x corrector on planets. Both binoviewers appear to put up very similar planetary images with the 2.5x 2" OCS. By similar, I mean similarly exquisite, with fine low contrast detail that will take your breath away.

Another thing I have figured out over the past few months with the Starmaster is that a Zambuto mirror is worth every penny you pay for it.

Clear skies,

Tom

I could find 2 in the current ads and archives where they sold an actual scope (folks delete ads, so this probably isn't complete):

http://www.astromart.com/viewad.asp?cid=241209

http://www.astromart.com/viewad.asp?cid=240565

Same last name, same home town, so probably related?

I sold mine after owning it for 2 weeks because I made the mistake of looking through a Zambuto mirrored dob. 2 days later I had sold all my telescopes (4) and bought an 11" Starmaster.

While I had it, I thought my particular 1278 was a good telescope. The 11" Starmaster is a lot better

Clear skies,

Tom

Mike,

Dec 2002: Orion XT4.5 dob, not cheap, inexpensive, but 4.5" nonetheless

Feb 2003: Orion XT10 dob, again, not cheap, affordable and a great value. I loved that scope.

May 2003: Celestron ST80, 80mm f/5 refractor, sitting on my workbench right now, thinking about selling it

Oct 2003: Burgess 5" refractor. Got the big refractor bug, lost it a week later when I bought...

Nov 2003: 11" Starmaster with a Zambuto mirror.

Looking back, there is no way I should have started with the Starmaster. I learned a lot with the first scopes. I learned how to collimate and how to observe. I gained experience with viewing objects and gleaning fine details. I bought binoviewers and ep's galore. I built an eq platform and an observing chair. I learned how to relax and enjoy just looking at the moon one evening, or just M42 for an hour. I spent an entire evening in dark skies at my parents house just looking at the stars with my eyes. I learned the night sky. I figured out what M meant. I joined a club and found out how wonderful astronomers are. I learned about other types of telescopes, and aperture and the value of dark skies. I learned about seeing and how even the most expensive telescope can be made to look bad by mother nature.

Had I not gained all of that experience before I bought the Starmaster, I think the added capability that such a masterful instrument brings would have been lost on me. My inexperience, and in some cases ineptness, would have hidden what a great mirror has to offer.

To answer your question, 11 wonderful months.

Clear skies,

Tom

Don,

Now that's a good idea. I don't image, but I do sometimes throw a 32mm plossl in one ep holder as a finder for the 7mm UO ortho that's on the other side. Saves me having to swap both ep's.

I also use one filter on one ep and another on the other or some other combo. When Mars was closest, I would use a Baader contrast booster on the front of the binoviewer, an orange #21 on one ep and a straight thru on the other ep (sometimes a blue or ND25). That made picking up the mare very easy. Best views were with no filter, or a 25% neutral density, but mixing filters was cool.

I also have had good luck with using a UHC filter on one ep and leaving the other one unfiltered. That works great on nebula as you can retain the stars in one ep and get the enhanced nebula from the ep with the UHC filter. My brain still manages to merge everything back together.

Clear skies,

TOm

Of the ones in the current ads, the TV's are offered at 59% and 66% of new retail value. The 3 Denk stds are offered at 70%, 70% and 74% of retail. Haven't gone through the archives to check those. That's good for the seller and the buyer. Picking up a nice set of TV's or Denk stds for $400-$500 is a nice option. Espescially with the customer support that you get from either company. I bought my Denk stds used and sent them to Russ for a checkup. He returned them with new ep holders and had cleaned and collimated them. Cost me shipping. Takes the risk out of buying used.

Not sure what data you are using to determine how many we are gaining. Based on the number of folks on the Cloudy Nights Forum that have given first light reports recently, I'd say binoviewing is alive and well. I have at least 5 people I know of personally that are seriously considering a purchase.

I think it's a stretch to go into these folks minds and assume why they sold their equipment. I can say for certain that the guy I bought my Denks from did not like binoviewing. Another nice fellow I loaned my Denks stds to liked binoviewing, but did not care for the cost or the logistics that the extra weight caused. The guy I bought my TV's from had bought the Denk II's. Can't speak for anyone else. They are more than a few folks that are buying binoviewers after using mine or reading about them here on the groups.

I don't think there is excessive hype, just honest assessments of a wonderful new way to look at stuff. The package can get quite expensive. They may cause you to feel like barfing. But when they work, they are better than any $600 uber ep out there.

Clear skies,

TOm

Updated list:

EP: mag, TFOV, exit pupil, weight, price

41mm Pan: 37x, 1.74 deg, 7.5mm, 2.1 lbs, $495
40mm Pentax XW: 38x, 1.75 deg, 7.3 mm, 1.4 lbs, $549
40mm Pentax XL: 38x, 1.63 deg, 7.3mm, ???, $210 (used)
35mm Pan: 44x, 1.5deg, 6.4mm, 1.6 lbs, $365
31mm Nagler: 49x, 1.6 deg, 5.7mm, 2.2 lbs, $620
32mm UO MK80: 48x, 1.6 deg, 5.9mm, 1.2lbs ish, $295
30mm Pentax XW: 51x, 1.3 deg, 5.5 mm, 1.6 lbs, $549

That 40mm Pentax XL looks like a nice option. The 7.3mm exit pupil isn't too bad and if I can find one, the price is right.

Tom

Thanks to everyone so far.

I do feel kinda silly in that I already have a pretty good widefield ep that can fill in on the tougher targets and provide a 1 deg TFOV. Actually, I have 2 of them, the 24 Pan. That will work very well if I run into a dim target that a 30mm+ ep can't handle. That brings me back to a single ep choice for max TFOV. That simplifies things. I'm leaning towards the 31 Nagler, 32 UO MK80 and 35 Pan. I think the 40mm series are out because of my mag 4 skies. Luckily, I can try all of these out in my club. Life is good.

Clear skies,

TOm