Posts Made By: mary hofer

I have dust on the inside of the corrector plate on my NX11. There's quite a bit, and tho it makes me a little nervous removing the corrector to clean it, I need to do it before putting Nexie up for sale (she's been a good scope, but I just bought a big dob, and something needs to go to restore my finances...).

I've done the search on this forum about removing the corrector for cleaning, but I wonder: is it possible to just remove the screws on the outside of the tube, remove the whole corrector assembly, and clean it inside and out without actually removing the glass plate from its housing? Seems a lot less risky handling as well as easier to get the plate back into its original position.

What do you think?

Mary

I'm no Van Gogh with a sketchpad (don't have a scanner, so I don't post my sketches), but I started drawing Jupiter this year, only at the eyepiece. At this point I must have 25 sketches. I started drawing not for any great artistic reason or even to have a record of what I saw, but because I wanted to accentuate my observational skills. When drawing, I just find that I spend longer looking and searching for detail, and so I just see more. So I'd say, go for it, and don't worry about whether it's "good enough"!
Astronomy mag had an article recently on sketching planets- Jan. '03. Good luck!
Mary

If warranty is very important to you, get a new one. Celestron won't transfer the warranty if you buy a newish one that would otherwise still be covered. I bought a barely used one, and I've been extremely happy with it. I just had to spring for a new AC adaptor when mine mysteriously stopped working...

Mary

Hey y'all-

I'm surprised by the "don't do it!" responses after finding threads about how easy it is to take the corrector off in order to flock, etc etc. Is there anyone out there who would advise me to go ahead and try cleaning???

Mary

ps. Not so keen on shipping it out to the factory for cleaning...

I had LASIK about 2 years ago, when I was 34. Age seems to make a difference; a friend of mine in his mid 40's had it done around the same time and experienced longer residual side effects and not quite 20/20 vision. He's not an observer tho.

For a few weeks after the procedure, I was far-sighted, very dry-eyed (bothersomely so) and saw the halos around lights at night that the eye doctors warn you about.

All of that did pass. I now have 20/15 vision, no problems whatsoever observing, no halos, no farsightedness. I love the freedom in daily life, and also in not having to get long eye relief eyepieces. I consider it money well spent, and wouldn't hesitate to make the same choice again.

That being said, depending on your age, it would be wise to talk to the eye doctor about how long the halos could potentially last. I was just starting to get into observing when I decided to go for it: the risk of the halos wasn't a big concern at the time.

Mary