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Posts Made By: Joplin Motisher-Chittenden

December 28, 2006 09:22 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Mounting a 70mm and a 102mm Refractor

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
If like slow motion controls and aren't concerned about having goto then the Vixen Porta Mount is one to consider. I recently posted a review of it in the Astromart Reviews. As long as the scope weight is around 10lbs or less it works well. Vixen North America is clearing them out for $295.00 which puts it close to your budget. It would be a bit over once you paid shipping and got a dovetail or two for it.

Joplin

January 5, 2007 02:00 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Focuser for Orion ED100?

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I have a couple of Moonlite focusers that I like very much. Those are a very popular replacement focuser for the ED80/ ED100. For CCD I would definitely consider the high resolution stepper motor option which offers a stated load capacity of 10lbs. Also the people at moonlite are great to deal with. See:
http://www.focuser.com/cgi-bin/dman.cgi?page=motorfocus

(scroll about halfway down the page)

Joplin

January 6, 2007 01:38 AM Forum: Digital SLR AstroPhotography

Canon 200mm lens

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I've seen some nice astrophotography done with the Canon EF 200mm F2.8 L II
Here's a link to a website with some nice work in the Gallery section:
http://www.danielmccauley.com/equip_lenses.html

Joplin

January 13, 2007 01:28 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

High Res. Alphonsus-Arzachel-Ptolemaeus-Mosaic

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Wow! Very cool mosiac - makes me feel like I'm in a lunar orbiter. I have family in OKC and I hope the ice doesn't mess things up too much.

Joplin

January 14, 2007 10:16 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Pentax 30XW Versus 27 Panoptic

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I have a 10" F6 AstroSky as well and I've used a 27mm panoptic quite a few times (owned one for a couple years then sold it to buy other stuff). The only reason I don't have one right now is that I mostly observe at higher powers with the dob and I've been using binoviewers a lot with it. Right now I just use one of those ubquitous 30mm 80 deg. eyepieces from china. The 27 pan is a pretty darn good eyepiece and it's also 1/2 pound lighter than the 30mm XW. You would probably need to add counterweight to the back of the dob for the 30mm XW to balance. I know my Astro Sky 10" has a full thickness mirror and still needs cooling fans, a 3.5 AH battery and several pounds of weights in the back just to get it balance with a 1lb eyepiece, Telrad, and Orion 9x50 RA finder.

Joplin

January 18, 2007 04:29 AM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Question about Mcnaught...

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Comet McNaught has an orbit that is highly tilted compared to the earth's orbit. Once it passed far enough south of the earth's orbit it moved into a better position for viewing from the southern hemisphere. Here is link that shows the orbit, scroll down the page a bit and check out the quicktime animation that shows the comet orbit compared to the rest of the solar system.

http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~rmn/C2006P1.htm

Joplin

January 24, 2007 04:33 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Astrophotography Equipment List and Prices

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
This is my widefield astrophotography on a budget system that I've used for quite a few nice images. See attached image for an example of a great Comet from the last century (Hyakutake)

1: No Telescope
2: Vixen Polaris Mount w/ drive (paid $225 used)
3: Mechanical 35mm SLR camera w/ fast 50mm lens (under $100 used)
4: No Guidescope
5: Ball Head, homemade adapter fitted to mount, cable release, lens hood (about $50 used)
6: Film ($2 - $10/ roll depending on type)

January 24, 2007 09:45 PM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

Old school but still Good

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Very nice scope and mount. Our local science center has a 12.5" F7 cave that has great optics. Unfortunately it's mounted on a flimsy particle board dob mount rather than a nice equatorial. It's nice to see one on a sturdy equatorial mount.

Joplin

January 27, 2007 05:44 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Advice Needed Regarding Barlows

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I have an Orion shorty plus 2x barlow (as far as I know it is the same as the Ultima 2x) and it vignettes a bit with wider field eyepieces. I tried it with my 19 pan. and never liked the combination much. I much prefer a dedicated 9 or 10mm. I can pretty much guarantee that the vignetting with the 32mm would be very noticeable due to the large field stop on the 32mm. A 2.5x powermate wouldn't vignette and would give better spread of powers although it may yield too much magnification. What telescope are you using ?

Joplin

January 27, 2007 05:53 PM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

Vixen FL80S and one cold observer

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Another view.

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