Posts Made By: Greg Nowell

Following up on my previous posts, I have a shot of a c8 which presumably has no coatings; or whatever coatings were used, when no sticker was applied.

This picture to me pretty much shows that just parking a flash camera at an angle to an optic is not going to give a good test of the presence of lack of coatings.

HOWEVER....

There are rubber feet for furniture at Lowe's and Home depot. You gotta think like a dob guy. Maybe put a big wad of RTV glue in a paper cup, let it set around the tripod leg. Experiment till something works. Duct tape a metal rod to the leg.

Other options include buying a REAL tripod or alternatively buying a used tripod here on astromart. They're around and don't cost much.

Also what happens if you just take the other two rubber footsies off? Take those off and put the lot of them on three Celestron vibration dampening pads for $40. Be careful not to leave the pads behind when you pack up that's real easy to do.

regards
greg N

Yeah well there's another thing. Next time you write: I received this item as a gift and I need the following part... and attach a picture. Don't go no "I bought it used" nonsense. Greg N

Well that's one pricey set. Makes the XWs look like the discount unit. I guess the Naglers aren't really designed as a set, too many options with overlaps, as several here pointed out. Sounds like TV wants to have a Nagler option vs any of the potential competitors.

thanks for pricing all that out, to all of you,

Greg

It's like putting ice in your wine or ice in your beer. Do it if you like it. I'd wager that a pre-barlowed eyepiece like the XW 5 or XW3.5 would be MUCH more satisfying all around. The TMB supermono is an exiguous 30 degrees, perhaps the smallest field currently on the market (if the supermonos may be said to be on the market).

Astro-Physics makes a barlow that I'm sure is as good as Zeiss. And it's not hard to get, either. I think it's their only optical surface that has no waiting. Well there may be others. But it comes to mind.

regards
Greg N

30mm Pentax XW. Greg N

...and the totally underestimated Edmund RKE 28 which is probably the most interesting of the RKE series; the "dissolving field" has to be experi3enced to be believed. Greg N

I wouldn't want to lock myself in a closet with a charging battery and stay there for 8 hours, but I've never had any problems charging batteries in the garage. Give the hydrogen space to dissipate.

As for operation, battery gas emission is notorious. Every year more than 2,632 people die as a result of exposure to batteries installed in their cars. Records indicate 14,000 people die annually from ill-considered use of their flashlights. Two years ago at the Texas Star Party, during the day, a coyote farted near a battery powered G11/C11 while an amateur astronomer was experimenting with an eyepiece to see if he could light a piece of paper on fire using a Nagler eyepiece (it worked). The resulting detonation of methane and hydrogen blew the entire rig sky high.

regards
Greg N

I met Daniel at NEAF. He's a smart, energetic, motivated guy who obviously loves astronomy equipment. I stared at his name badge for a long time and finally said--you're Daniel Mounsey! People are looking for you!

You can contact him at Woodland Hills Camera and Telescopes (one of the established astro vendors) and you can visit his web site here:

http://danielmounsey.com/

So please consider him "found."

Greg N

At f/6 the XL 14 is probably the finest choice reasonably available, given it is out of production but comes up on the 'mart farily often. And it is within your price range ($190 to $210 typically).

The new company Explore Astronomy (forget exact name) has a 100 degree 14mm eyepiece for $400 but that is 2x your desired expenditure; it is also a heavy eyepiece which can influence dob owners.

If you get impatient with waiting for an XL to come up, XWs can occasionally be had for $240 to $250 used. The XW 14 is despised by fast dob owners and deservedly so; mine works well at f/6.5, don't know what the trip point is at which the image starts to deteriorate markedly due to fast focal ratio of the scope. But f/4.5 is deinitely not where you want to be with an XW14. F6 I guess would be OK.

After Pentax you are left with muddy glass makers such as the Meades, Nagler 13s and the like, some of which are expensive and some of which don't do too well in many cases (beware the Radians). The Vixen LVW 13mm "super wide" is probably what I would choose to fit your specs. (don't confuse these with the 1.25 inch Vixens). At 65 degrees it fits your desired spec; prices list at $290 but used should be cheaper and you might do better if you call the vendor (such as Highpoint, Astronomics, or Woodland Hills). I am still of the disposition to prefer Japanese precision glass to Chinese budget glass.

I would suggest XL or XW 5 or 7mms in your arsenal for high power views, with a 12.5 inch dob you really want to get up into the 250-350x range for the occasions that require it. For reference I seldom bother doing Jupiter or Saturn viewing in my 14" if the seeing won't support 230x or higher, unless Joe public is around and really wants to catch a view no matter what. In my 4" I'm maxing out the exit pupil at 188x so that's as high as I go on that one.

Though of narrow field, the RKE 12 and 8mms would be nice to have as planet viewing eyepieces, but they're around 45 degrees.

Good hunting,
Greg N

The Paragon is a nice line that is not top end price-wise. I let the ordinary public including kids view through my Pentax XWs. So far no disasters. I guess the reason is that with the long eye relief and comfortable cup for centering it really makes it easier for novices to "find the image."

These are waterproof eyepieces and the coatings are pretty strong, so I have to think that barring sand abrasion or something they could be cleaned up from thumb prints etc.

The main vulnerability I've noticed at star parties is a tendency for novices to try to stabilize themselves by grabbing on to the scope or mount. My rigs do look pretty sturdy but that is a much more serious source of potential damage to OTA, mount, tripod, etc., if someone grabs it as they start to fall.

regards
greg n