Posts Made By: Mark Mittlesteadt

Any chance of setting up a "Best Planetary Scope" Forum, seperate from the Equipment Talk one?

It seems to be a long-winded, reoccuring theme, that could use it's own forum.

Just thought I'd share something I found with my fellow A-marters...

I stumbled across some Bushwacker Flashlight covers at a local hardware store recently. I bought one for my mini mag-lite. They work great for protecting your night vision and also for packing up afterwards.

They slip over most standard flashlights of various sizes and they have red/blue/green covers that flip up for white light, for packing up when you're done viewing.

You can see them online at...

http://www.quakeinc.com/add.cfm?itemID=50&CFID=1857879&CFTOKEN=45191745

A while back, I sold a Televue 32mm Plossl, which I regretted selling and now have replaced (or soon to be replaced anyway).

It was always my favorite EP. All other Plossl's I've tried, I never cared much for. Everytime I've tried to go up in magnification, I've never liked the view as much and end up going back to the 32mm. Despite not having much in the way of power (on my ETX 105), the view through the 32mm TV Plossl is so exceptional that is my preferred EP. My ETX 105 is just about as perfect optically as an ETX Mak is going to get and I'd like to find the right EP's to go up in magnification and still get that perfect Tele-view.

I've tried Orion Expanse EP's but the 9mm was horrible and the 15mm was alright...nothing to brag about, but pretty nice. The TV 32mm Plossl is just so much sharper (and obviously a wider FOV). I've tried a Meade 14mm Wide Angle too...just not very sharp, clean views as compared to the TV Plossl.

It's been recommended to me to get 12mm and 8mm Radians to complete my EP collection for my ETX 105, but funds are not available for Radians (even used) right now.

Does anyone have any suggestions for higher power EP's (12mm and 8mm, or thereabouts) that still have the eye relief of the TV 32mm Plossl as well as a similar FOV, without the price of the Radians?

Ideally I'd like to just save up for the Radians and be done with it...however, I'd like to have something decent I can sell later after I have enough for the Radians.

I've been checking reviews and searches, but nothing comes up that strikes me as a decent Radians replacement (not that there may even be one).

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I'm will be getting into using a planetarium program for observing and to control my telescope.

I haven't been outside with it yet, but since we all do something to control dew on the scope stuff, what does anyone do about preventing dew from getting on their laptops?

I'm thinking some kind of covering that still allows me to use the laptop, but keep it covered while at the scope.

Maybe I'm overlooking the obvious. Any suggestions?

I have tried to find reviews and as much info as I can on these three imagers, but there doesn't seem to be any good comparison reviews out there.

Both the Meade LPI and the Orion Starshooter use CMOS chips, whereas the Celestron NexImage uses a CCD chip. I'm just thinking about getting into simple imaging (yeah right, like anything about it is simple). I would probably start out with the moon and planets.

Anyone have any knowledge of these three options? Can anyone compare the three and which one is best suited to solar system imaging? Can any of these take photos of any brighter DSO's?

I've read all I can find about them, but there seem to be just as many pros and cons to all three, so it's hard to determine which really is the best of the lot for starting out.

Every time someone new asks for equipment advice, there is always someone recommending checking out their local astronomy club to check out various equipment and get advice directly.

I would agree. You can't do much better than hands-on experience and direct advice.

It appears that astronomy clubs are quite prevalent and it also seems most who post here belong to one. Perhaps it is just my location (upper Midwest around the Great Lakes) that makes it more unattractive to be involved in astronomy, even on a limited scale. There are no clubs where I live. There is one that is about a 3 hour drive away, and with my limited time, getting involved would be both time and cost prohibitive.

I have been thinking about getting a local astronomy club going. My wife and I might purchase a farm out in the country, where there are some great dark skies (at least for my given location in the midwest). If we do, I will be converting an old abandoned silo into an observatory, and that place would be an ideal star party location between two cities that are about twenty minutes from one another (with a combined population of approximately 120,000 people). Even if we don't buy that property, I'd still like to get something started.

One of my neighbors doesn't even own a telescope, but she writes an astronomy article in our local paper and she is very knowledgable. She is always fighting light pollution by getting involved with businesses and local government and such. She has come over and viewed through my scope a few times, but other than her and a friend that lives very far away, I don't know of anyone else actively into astronomy around here. I have used my scope to show people the night sky and I do know of a few people who have cheap department store scopes that might look at the moon occasionally...and they might be interested, but I really don't know how many people are actually into this hobby but, like me, are going it alone.

What would be the best way to start a club? It would be so much more fun to be able to have star parties with others. I'm lucky to be able to share it with my family from time to time, but usually I go it alone.

How does one get organized and get a new club off the ground? Any ideas or suggestions?

After many months of inactivity with my telescope, I will finally be able to do some observing. But instead of from my light polluted back yard, I will get to use my ETX105 under some truly dark skies for almost three weeks!

I'm an artist, but I've been a network admin for too many years and have only painted part time (after decades of being a full time artist). My wife and I have been trying to find a way to get me back into painting full time. Part of making that happen is that we are buying a farm out in the country (where a 3 car garage will be converted into my studio until we renovate the barn into a studio and gallery). It's high on a hill and way out in the country and far from city lights. There are three silos, one of which will be converted into my observatory (a lifelong dream come true). Whenever that is done it's going to house a much larger, permanently mounted scope, so I'll be posting for some input on what kind of scope to get then.

But what has made it possible for me to be a full time artist again (I get to leave my computer job permanently starting in July) was a commission that will be taking me out to Montana for three weeks! It's an enormous art project (all expenses paid) that is for enough money to replace six months salary of my current job. When I get back, I can finally return to painting full time as I have more commissions awaiting me on my return.

But in regards to astronomy and observing, I will get to use my telescope every night (clear skies of course) that I'm out there, over the course of three weeks.

I already have the longitude and latitude figured out, but I was curious, anyone have any favorite deep sky subjects that I should look for when I'm out in western Montana? It will be from July 9th until at least the 24th, and probably longer.

I have Starry Night Pro 5, and I will certainly look into that for some guidance, but I was curious as to what some of you find to be your favorite subjects in July. Especially those who use smaller scopes (like my ETX105).

Even under my light polluted skies at my current home, I've observed the Ring Nebula with quite a bit of detail given my aperture and city skies. I can't even remember the last time I had the chance to observe under truly dark skies, so bring on the suggestions!

Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone. Sometime later this summer or fall I will be starting a renovation project on two silos and turning one into an observatory, and the other an outdoor observation deck.

We are buying a farm and it is located way out in the country and far away from city lights. The farm sits atop one of the highest hills in the area, and I have two identical concrete silos. They are 12 foot in diameter (inside). On top of one will be just an open air observation deck, and the other will house my future scope in the domed observatory, with a skywalk between the two.

Now I've always been a big fan of Cats, but I'm also interested in possibly a refractor. I want to give tours (as this will be the only observatory around my area). I want a scope that gives exceptional views of both planets and deep sky, and it will also be used for imaging.

I'd like some advice as to what any one of you would do if you could house a scope in a professional type observatory, but don't want to spend more than $5000 on scope and mount (at least for the time being...upgrades are a part of my life...LOL). The observatory and observation platform with skywalk will take some cash and time, so $5000 is my budget for now.

I have no preferences as to brands, nor types. Throw any ideas my way. Someday I'm going to want to host star parties as well (utilizing the observatory, the outdoor observation platform and other parts of my land). I have lots of time to consider all options, but I'd like to start making a list of scopes to consider and research.

I own an 8" LX50 which is essentially the same scope as the LX90 except for the electronics basically.

Unfortunatley, because of a bad back all too often and almost no time to observe, I seldom use it because it is still a bit of a pain to setup just to view for a few minutes.

But, because I now also have a smaller 120mm wide field refractor on a lightweight mount, I am out every night it is clear, even if it's just for a few minutes.

The best scope is one you will use the most. There is nothing more true than that. Still, the LX90 has almost double the aperture and four times the light grasp of the ETX125. There are times when I'm out with my 120mm refractor and I can't make something out and I wish I had the time or the inclination to drag out my LX50. It's nice knowing I have the 8" LX50 when I do want to use it.

I do have my LX50 with it's mount and tripod on wheels (see the other thread about "Making larger SCTs more portable" and my reply... http://www.astromart.com/messages.asp?message_id=36040&page=3).

It has made my 8" LX50 far easier to take out. But I only roll it out on my driveway and right now the winter constellations I view are on the other side of my house when I observe, so I don't use it as much in the winter.

If it were only a matter of aperture, I'd say go with the LX90. You can make it easier to setup. Still, if you plan on going anywhere with it or want a more "grab'n'go" type of scope that you may use more often, then the ETX125 is the way to go.

Have I "muddied" up your decision enough for you?

I too have a cheap (read as inexpensive) "chinese" refractor. It is of very high quality and from what I've heard from others qualtiy from chinese manufacturers is getting better.

Let's face it, if no one buys a product because of poor quality, how long will they stay in business? With today's market flooded with options, compaines are going to have to offer quality products or go out of business.