Posts Made By: Tom Bourg

Thanks everyone!!!!

I've got a ton of information to work with on this!

Now I've got to decide what to do.

Thanks again.

Tom B.

Hello, I had a similar experience with a Pentax 10.5 eyepiece last week at the local observatory which I posted here and got some really great responses. You might want to check it out.

I'm not saying there aren't some terrific bargains in eyepieces, but the Naglers I've used and that Pentax lens are wonderful.

I own the 10mm Speers-Waler, which I bought used here on Astromart, and find it really good. I plan to compare it to the Pentax 10.5 the next good seeing night at the observatory. My money is on the Pentax, though but I could be surprised as to how close they might be.

The club owns a complete set of Pentax eyepieces and I can hardly wait to check them out. That 10.5mm Pentax was the sharpest, most comfortable eyepiece I have used, I believe, and the contrast was phenominal--better than I thought possible in the 10" CAT. I'm curious to see how the Speers compares contrastwise.

See you.

Tom Bourg

When I was 13 or 14, with my very young, sharp eyes and my mighty 4" F12 Dynascope reflector with its 167X achromatic ramsden eyepiece that cost the princely sum of $49 I saw the Encke division on a couple of occassions under Louisiana skies.

Now I was outside with the scope virtually every clear night for a couple of years so for any super steady night skies I was there. Do you believe I really saw it or was my young teenage imagination working overtime?

I have looked at Saturn since with 8", 10" 16", 18" and 20" scopes and not seen it. But the skies were never as pristine as I remember them when I was a kid living in a small, unpolluted town.

Jeeze, I miss those skies and my teenage vision.

See you.

Tom B.

Hello,

That is exactly what I am considering after talking to you and others on this site. I haven't used my Meade 10" in months because of the weight. It iws a shame to allow that beautiful scope to just sit there because it is too much of a hassle to take it to a site, or even the back yard for that matter.

A 14" truss dob would be a lot easier to move around and the fun factor for me would be a lot higher. A little 8" Celestron cat is another scope I am considering. If I decide to go cheap, a 10" or 8" Orion dob is another I am considering.

See you.

Tom B.

Hey guys,

Here in the South shoes hanging from telephone wires, trees, etc., means that it's a drug dealer's place of business. In other words, if you hang around the area, some guy will come up to you and offer you something you shouldn't be interested in buying.

I don't know this from personal experience, of course, just what the kids at the school where I teach told me so consider the source.

Seems like it would give the police a real "head's up". I guess nobody ever accused those low-lifes of being smart, though.

Hope that's not the case with this one.

Happy New Year and great picture taking.

Tom B.

My experience with Orion is that they bend over backwards to satisfy their customers (as does every astro dealer I've done business with on this site). If I were you I'd give them a call and see if they will exchange the scope, even if you have had it a long time.

BTW, I've owned two 127 Maks and both had great optics. The first one was stolen and I just got the replacement. The new one is just as good as the first one. No mirror shift, perfect collimation, and a very good optics. One of the members of our club who knows 1000 times more about optics than I do told me that star images can't get better than the little Mak's.

Anyway, I bet your mirror isn't typical and they will work with you on fixing the problem.

Tom B.

Hey Ron,

Why don't you convince your wife to let you keep the 10" and then you can buy the new Orion 6" Mak? If the 6" is too much $$, the 5" is great, IMO.

Heck, you'll use the Mak. 90% of the time and you can save the 10" for super good nights or when you go to a dark site.

As you know, that's what I do with 5" Mak. and 16" dob. But, I'm not married so I only had to justify my purchases to my three dogs.

I know exactly what you mean, though. My Meade 10" cat just sits in closet because it is such a pain to move. I'd trade it for an 8" in a munute!!

See you my friend.

Tom B.

Hello,

This may seem too simple, but did you tighten down the truss poles enough so they wouldn't shift. That happened to me once and sure enough, I hadn't tightened one of the poles.

This is sort of like checking to see if something electronic is plugged in before opening it up for repairs.

Hope you fix the problem easily.

If all else fails, contact the guy you bought it from and see if he had a problem with it.

Clear skies.

Tom B.

Ron,

Without saying anything negative about Celestron's customer service, with which I have no experience, my experience with Orion is that their customer service is great. This makes me confident that the scopes are good and/or Orion will make every attempt to correct problems.

One thing I like is that the goto features have been incorporated into established German mounts and they will be usable if the goto malfunctions. I just hope the goto feature is accurate.

The catalog also mentioned that a goto upgrade kit will soon be available for previously purchased mounts.

See you and clear skies.

Tom B.

Congrats!!!

I hope it outperforms your highest expectations.

Clear skies (so you can try out your new scope).

Tom B.