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Posts Made By: Joplin Motisher-Chittenden

December 14, 2005 09:48 AM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

What Barlows for PST?

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I've used my Orion Shorty Plus 3 element barlow for imaging with good results on my PST. I was using a Toucam 740K. In my case the focus was near but not at the limit.

Joplin

January 2, 2006 07:05 PM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Juvenile Ring-billed Gull (I think)

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Neat shot Cal - the gull appears to be on the lookout for food.

Joplin

January 6, 2006 10:35 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Eyepieces for Orion XT8

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I guess I'll chime in with some recommendations on eyepieces as well. My experience with 8" newtonians has been that the best views of planets are generally at magnifications no higher than 160x to 200x - ususually the atmospheric conditions don't allow for much more detail at higher powers and hand tracking with a dob becomes a pain at higher powers. I would suggest getting another plossl in the 13 to 15mm range along with the Orion Shorty Plus 2x barlow - a TeleVue 15mm plossl can be had in great condition for under 60 bucks on Astromart. For a wide field, low power eyepiece I would consider one of the 2" 30mm 80deg. eyepieces like this one:
http://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?t=&pid=8409&m=
It will give you that nice "spacewalk" effect for a reasonable price and provide much more field of view (about 50% more) than a 1.25" equivalent. The stars at the edge won't be perfectly sharp but who cares - it's still a lot of fun to look through one.

Joplin

January 12, 2006 04:14 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Printing at Kodak Photo Kiosk

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I set one of those machines up for use at the photo lab I used to work at - I wasn't exactly impressed. The contrast/ resolution isn't going to match what one of the larger laser based machines can do (with an experienced operator). The very best prints I have seen lately were from a $100 Epson inkjet - in some cases they can easily beat out the ones from a $200K machine. The Kodak photo kiosks do have a rudimentry adjustment for color - the machine prints out a sheet with gray patches and the store employee is supposed to decide which one looks closest to neutral. There is also an employee tutorial built into the machine that the employees can view :-)

Joplin

February 26, 2006 03:59 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Apochromatic - any difference in daylight?

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Yes, there will be a difference - the apo scope will give higher contrast images free of false color. This appears as a bit of purple colored haze over the image at high magnifications. An equal size apo will have slightly sharper images assuming it has well made optics. When comparing a Pronto to the TV-85 the TV-85 has a double advantage of better corrected optics and a bit more aperture. I haven't compared these two scopes but I would guess that you see a bunch of difference except in lower light (twilight) conditions and when using high maginification.

Joplin

April 8, 2006 12:24 AM Forum: AstroMart FAQ

My Classifieds question

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
You can click on the word "Posted" at the top, just above the time listed for the first classified. That will reverse the order, the most recent ones will be first again.

BTW, I received the 19mm Ultrascan eyepiece today - it looks good and I'll be posting a rating for you soon.

Joplin

April 16, 2006 07:55 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

How old are you???

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I'm 27 and have been interested in Astronomy for most of my life. Started out watching meteor showers from the Mojave desert and viewing the moon/ planets with a Tasco 4.5" newtonian when I was 8. I got lucky and found a Criterion RV-6 cheap locally which I used to view the amazing comet impacts on Jupiter. College left little time for Astronomy but I joined a local club 5 years ago and have been quite active since then.

Joplin

April 16, 2006 10:51 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Bino Mount

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I'd be interested in a mount like that. Can you post some pics of the prototype?

Joplin

May 6, 2006 11:31 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Dew Strips

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
My Dew-Not heater strips work great as well - the increased efficiency is great for running off of a smaller battery pack.

Joplin

May 7, 2006 08:50 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

"Saxon" Brand of Scopes in Australia

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I did a google search on Saxon, it looks like the scopes are all produced by Synta (China) The Celestron Starhopper dobs would be the closest equiavalent in the U.S. The equatorial mounted ones would be equivalent to Orion in the U.S.

Joplin

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