Image of the day

Captured by
Ralph Ford

M31 with Redcat 51

About Astromart

My Account

New to Astromart?

Register an account...

Need Help?

Posts Made By: Joplin Motisher-Chittenden

May 10, 2006 09:35 PM Forum: Meade

Meade focuser LXD55 8" SN telescope

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
One of the best and probably the easiest replacements would be a Moonlite focuser. They offer a kit with spacers that makes putting the new focuser on easy. The moonlite focusers are nice lightweight and made in the U.S. I have two of their focusers and while the two speed option ( CR2 model ) is nice, the CR1 is a great focuser if you have a smaller budget. Here is the link:
http://www.focuser.com/cgi-bin/dman.cgi?page=category&plugin=dstore.cgi&category=2

May 27, 2006 01:47 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

What magnification is my scope and camera at?

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
When you are using a camera at prime focus with a telescope there is no specific "magnification". Comparing the size of the chip in the 20D camera with the field stop of a plossl eyepieces gives a result of about 20x to 30x equivalent though. Not sure what the issue with the powermate is but would guess that an extension tube before the powermate would solve the problem. You will probably find that the image when using the powermate is too dim (like using a camera lens at F 17.5) too focus easily. For longer distance shots a scope like a C5 would be easier to use.

Joplin

June 20, 2006 01:28 AM Forum: Bad to the Bone Autos

cool vintage cars for astronomers

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Jupiter -

http://www.jowettjupiter.co.uk/

Joplin

July 31, 2006 08:29 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Astrosky dob kits?

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Eddie,

Are you asking about Astrosky kits or Astrosystems dob kits ?

Joplin

September 9, 2006 08:27 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Clutch Material for a GEM Polar Axis Drive

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I've used automotive gasket cork which is about 1/16" thick for a couple of similar applications and it has worked well. The important part is getting decent quality stuff that doesn't compress much and doesn't crumble like bulletin board type cork would.

Joplin

November 11, 2006 06:16 PM Forum: Eyepieces

if you can only have one?

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I've used the 16mm T5 a few times and I've always found that the eye relief is too tight, I have to press my eye against the eyepiece to get a good view. I only own one Nagler and it's a 13mm T6. It is deffinitely my most used eyepiece and I don't have to get uncomfortably close to it to get a nice view. Unless the 13mm would yield too much power I would deffinitely pick it over the 16mm T5.

Joplin

November 25, 2006 07:02 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Agena Astro Products

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I bought a pair of eyepieces from Agena Astro a couple weeks ago and have been very pleased. Shipping was really quick and I got fast confirmation by email. Easily the best service I have gotten from any of the small astronomy equipment dealers I've used.

Joplin

November 26, 2006 06:44 PM Forum: Film Astrophotography - Imaging and Processing

Best E-6 processing labs in Atlanta?...

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I moved out of Atlanta about six years ago but I always liked Color Genesis. I see from their website that they have moved out of the downtown area, they do still provide E-6 processing. Whatever lab you use, I would suggest getting process only/ unmounted since most labs use automated slide mounters. It is quite likely that they will miss the frame lines on astrophoto images. I used to mount the good shots myself using Polaroid slide mounts.

http://www.colorgenesis.com

Joplin

November 30, 2006 10:31 PM Forum: Celestron

Celestron 9.25"

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I agree that the double cluster is much nicer to look at when you can see both clusters. When I had a C9.25 I used a Lumicon Rich Field adapter (focal reducer) along with a TeleVue 2" diagonal and 27mm Panoptic eyepiece which gave a nice widefield view that framed the Double Cluster nicely. A focal reducer along with a 2" widefield eyepiece is really about the only way to do it with a scope that has that long of a focal length.

Joplin

December 15, 2006 10:49 PM Forum: Mounts

Vixen Porta Dovetail compatibility

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
The Vixen Porta mount only works with Vixen type dovetails, which are smaller than the G-11 or G-8 type dovetails. The vixen type dovetail has been copied by many other manufacturers so generally, a dovetail for a GP / GP-DX , CG-5, ASGT, LXD55, LXD75 mount will work. The maximum width of the dovetail I use with my Porta mount is 44mm (not quite 1.75 inches).

Joplin

Funding Member

Sponsors


View all sponsors

Search