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Posts Made By: Charles Hakes

May 30, 2004 12:57 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

ETX's - Alt-Az or Polar?

Posted By Charles Hakes
I think another question is how well you want it to track and how long you are planning to observe. I often use "approximate" alignment with scopes set up in polar mode. The reason I set it up like this is usually to show people planets when it isn't really dark enough to see any alignment stars. I find this works just fine for visual quick looks. I just sort of approximate where north is, agree with the computer when it asks to center alignment stars, and then let the scope do its RA tracking. In this mode I find objects by "point and shoot", which is fine for me most of the time. I don't think this quick set up method would track in AltAz. My guess is with that ETX much of my viewing would be moon, planets, and other bright things. Is that your viewing plan?

Charlie

June 7, 2004 01:54 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Alum vs Stainless mirror cell triangles

Posted By Charles Hakes
I think the thermal properies comment is the key here. I would hate to have to try to get that stainless into thermal equilibrium. My experience, and one of the big complaints I have heard about the Meade dobs is that it uses an iron plate behind the mirror as a counterweight. The mirror ends up never getting into thermal equilibrium.

Charlie

June 8, 2004 12:40 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Correct Image Newtonian

Posted By Charles Hakes
I am afraid it will be more complicated than just adding a porro or 45 to your newt. Those would work on the direct image, but you have already added a mirror (the diagonal) into your light path. If you added a 90 degree diagonal, however, I think you could get an image that was right side up, but switched left-right. Try it and see if it works any better for you.

Charlie

BTW, I am also curious about your alt bearing.

June 11, 2004 02:23 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

2'' eyepiece adapter?

Posted By Charles Hakes
What kind of adapter is that? Is this not a 2" focuser?

Charlie

June 23, 2004 12:13 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

First Scope-Will this be too frustrating?

Posted By Charles Hakes
A 6" dob is a great first scope. The only thing I would recommend is a telrad or red dot finder to go with it. I find them way easier than the little 6x30 finder that is advertised with that scope. There are many choices available. A Telrad brand is probably the best, but may be big enough to throw your scope out of ballance if you put it up near the eyepiece. I have used a Daisy red-dot finder from Walmart (~$11) with much success.

I also wouldn't worry about GOTO or setting circles or any other attachments at this point. Just a star chart or field guild and some practice. A pair of binoculars also helps find many of the "really cool" things to see in the sky.

Enjoy,
Charlie

June 23, 2004 12:27 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Help with Mount - Binocular Adapter

Posted By Charles Hakes
That is an EQ mount, yes? I think the trick would be to orient the binoculars so they were always right side "up". A camera tripod head might do that, but it may not ballance they way it wold need to for smooth EQ motion. I think an Alt Az mount sure would be easier in this case, but Eq tracking would be a cool extra.

Charlie

July 19, 2004 08:44 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Bigger reflector VS smaller MAK - Planetary Views

Posted By Charles Hakes
The rule of thumb that I remember was that a good MAK will hold up well against a refractor that is 80% of it's diameter. (probably some formula like aperture minus central obstruction) So the 5" MAK will perform like your 4" refractor. My experience is that neither of those will get close to my (or your) 10" reflector.

As for the "more light" issue, I think there really is a lot to that. The one thing I recall from a view of Jupiter through a 30" scope was the color. I don't think the resolution was all that much better than my 10", but the image had LOTS of color - just like some photographs. That made it much more interesting to look at, and I'm sure I could have gotten lots more detail because of the more light. Would have been fun to do a side by side.

Charlie

August 11, 2004 07:15 PM Forum: Telescope Making

how to make a sunspotter telescope?

Posted By Charles Hakes
If the digital camera was working right now I could show you a picture of mine. I used 2 1/4-20 threaded rods and mounted a clipboard about 10" away from the eyepiece on an Orion 60mm f15 EQ scope. I use a 12.5mm Plossl, for 72x, which seems to be about right. I did velcro 5 large (4oz) nails to the objective end for ballance. This one tracks. The local college has one of those nifty triangular sun-spotter scopes. They are pretty slick, but don't track, so you are always shifting it. Since I got the scope as a "second", the whole project, with eyepiece and drive was only ~$150. Hope this helps.

Charlie

August 17, 2004 04:08 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Tech2000 Dob Drive

Posted By Charles Hakes
I would be lost on the planets without one. If you are observing regularly at 150x+, then get one. I does take some practice, because the reason it can track anything is that you "train" it for 45 seconds or so, and then it keeps doing whatever you were doing. After that, as you keep re-centering the object, it "learns" your corrections and gets even better at tracking.

Charlie

August 18, 2004 06:52 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

in need of an advice for a small mount and trackin

Posted By Charles Hakes
I believe this is the EQ-1 on a mini tripod. I have used my EQ-1 for wide field (50mm - 19mm) with success. My guess, however, is that it won't be sturdy enough for 300mm+ lenses. I have tried (not too hard) with my ST-80, but didn't have much success. If you have something in the 80-100mm range it might be worth a try. The big deal will be your apperture and how long you have to leave the shutter open.

Charlie

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