Posts Made By: Jim Mahon

OK, GCSP is almost upon us, and the "plans" thread has info on several astromarter's plans. How about others? Nancy C, are you looking in yet? How about your brother? Who else is coming? As always in the last week or two before GCSP, I'm quivering like a bowstring and cannot wait to hit the road! Jim

Just a reminder - Dean will accept requests for complementary campsites beginning on March first. There are a limited number of sites allocated. Priority is normally given to those willing to spend the entire duration of the party working as volunteers.

Go to the GCSP web site for more info: http://www.tucsonastronomy.org/gcsp.html

As usual, I can't WAIT!

Jim

Well, it's two weeks to GCSP and I am getting revved up! Who is going? (Other than Thom, Linton, and I...)

Thom: I'll BMOB.

Linton: My turn to buy breakfast.

In jokes aside, folks, this is a truly special event. The combination of the spectacular setting and the gathering of visitors and astronomers from all over the map is unique. The skies are dark, but you do need to work through the public hours - this is not for astronomers who don't enjoy outreach. Ah, but then you have time for some quiet personal observing if you can beat the late night fatigue. After eleven the buses stop running, things quiet down, and some nights the seeing settles down around midnight. A stone's throw from the edge of the canyon, you hear the familiar low murmurs and sounds of slewing scopes and ladders being moved in the darkness. You are out with a few good friends (some of whom you only see here each June, but good friends nonetheless!) under dark skies, and life is good...

As usual, I can't WAIT!

Jim

You're going to love it! I actually talked myself into a Solarmax 60 when I found that the wait times were shorter. I ordered from Coronado in February and got it in late April.

It is hard to describe just how cool it is to have an H-alpha setup after wanting one for years. The simplicity of the Solarmax system is one of the finest features - no messing around with power supplies, telecentric lenses, or tuning onto the band. Just screw it on, install the blocking filter, insert eyepiece, and let your jaw drop when you see filaments, plage, and prominences!

I'm very happy with the mechanical robustness of the Solarmax 60/T-max/adapter plate on my Genesis Sdf, and recommend the T-max highly for tuning to compensate for doppler effect on things like filaments. This isn't the same as the tilt on a T-scanner - if you install the Solarmax without the T-max, it is on-band every time thus far, which has not been the experience of a friend of mine with a T-scanner setup. The T-max just allows you to improve disc detail by moving off-band to catch rapidly moving features which would be otherwise poorly seen or invisible because their velocity towards you dopplers them off the H-alpha line. It's also fascinating to watch the changes as you vary the tilt, but you do not have to do this to make the system work - it simply improves your flexibility. Leave the T-max untilted and your first view gives all of the features you expect.

Definitely an observing experience worth waiting for.

Jim

Boy, I thought about the 90 - it would screw right into my lens cell sans adapter plate - but I was afraid I'd wind up divorced. Not a concealable outlay.......


Jim

Really disturbing, especially the bits about possible Meade interest. Nothing against Meade, but I think having two viable manufacturers is good for all of us. I have no idea if Celestron is able to stand alone or not at this point.

Any business types who know the hobby care to chime in?

Jim

Kim, I consider myself priveledged to have been part of the North Rim Party, and our little Escalante escapade. You are a gentleman and a scholar and YOUR presence was a huge factor in making the party a success!

Everybody, it might sound almost too good to be true in the postings we're putting up. I can asure you it was every bit as good as we're describing, and the people I met during this trip were so special that I'm really still processing through a wealth of warm feelings for those involved. What a place, and what a fine group of people!

I can tell the folks here at Astromart that Kim was a tireless carrier of other people's equipment, a huge factor when setting up at the North Rim Lodge. It truly isn't the easiest spot to set up big scopes, although the public response and the general ambience of the sun porch make it worthwhile. I myself have a torn meniscus in my knee, and I put off corrective surgery until after the party. Kim's help in moving equipment made it possible for me to participate when I was actually pretty much done physically after a day of solar observing. In addition to that, he is just generally a great person to be around! All that and he was worried about using the scopes - it was indeed great fun to watch him enjoying the sky.

Kim summed up the comaraderie of the North Rim party superbly. I don't know if I can make it next year, but I'm certainly going to try - there are all these new friends I'm going to miss between now and then.

Clear Skies!

Jim

p.s. to Kim: I'll try to get the other pictures e-mailed to everybody by Monday night....

Looks like a CG-5 on a wooden tripod to me, but hard to see details. The reference to the later style with roller bearings also would seem to indicate CG-5. Maybe a Russian exporter is selling them on the wooden tripods.

Hey Jake - look at the TV 2" in the Filters/Finders section!

A buck and a quarter!

Jim

David, if you're in a REALLY dark place, and perhaps looking in a relatively star-poor region, sometimes the reticle, especially a fine one, can be a little tough to see. Illumination helps.

Jim Mahon