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Posts Made By: Joplin Motisher-Chittenden

March 30, 2008 06:26 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Mount & Tripod Revisited/As Promised

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Looks like a sweet setup. I had a Burgess 1278 that I enjoyed using for several years. The build quality is pretty nice on these and the optics are generally good as well. Speaking from experience with this scope the first thing I would do is get a right angle correct image 50mm finder to replace the stock one. The stock finder is a piece of junk. A telrad or rigel quickfinder works well in combination with a right angle finder. Trust me - your neck will thank you. I've attached a picture showing the Antares 50mm finder I had on mine.

Joplin

April 8, 2008 03:55 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

Ready for a night of observing with my 8"

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Here's a another picture of the scope and mount. Note that the telephone pole has disappeared wink This setup took quite a while to put together. I ground and polished mirror myself a few years back. Tube is Parks fiberglass, rings are homemade (plywood), focuser is a moonlite with accufocus motor/ controller. I just aquired a Novak spider for it and installed a 1/20 wave Antares secondary as well. The mount is a Celestron CI-700 on a Quickset Gibraltar tripod. Including the weight at the front of the tube the OTA weighs about 30lbs. Damping times are about a second - the monster tripod really helps 8)

April 8, 2008 02:39 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Eyepieces for 10"Dob

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
A used 19mm panoptic or 27mm panoptic would be my choice. The 19's can be had for around $185 and 27's for as little as $250 used. The 27mm would be my preferred choice since it is more comfortable to use. Another possiblity would be a 30mm paragon (around $200 used). I use a William Optics 28mm UWAN that I picked up for $275 used. It gives 95% of the performance of a Nagler for half the price. I mostly use it in a 16" F4.5 dob. I do use a Badder coma corrector with it. At F 4.5 a coma corrector is a requirement for any widefield eyepiece 20mm or longer - even naglers.

Joplin

April 15, 2008 04:19 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Other Ethos question

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
It should focus just fine. If you use the 13mm Ethos without a 1.25" adapter it should actually require just a bit of outfocus travel compared to your Radians and 19mm panoptic.

Joplin

April 22, 2008 01:05 AM Forum: Astro Binoculars

New version of old Vixen 20x and 30x-125 astrobinoculars!!??

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Quite a few Vixen optics dealers in the U.S. have these listed on their websites. Probably a special order item since they are expensive at $3000 without the mount. Not sure about interchangeable eyepieces, I know some of the 80mm models offered that feature. I did see both the 20x125 and 30x125's on the Vixen Europe site as well.

Joplin

April 25, 2008 12:39 AM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

STUCK

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
A strap wrench (or better yet, a pair of them) like this one should do the trick:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200306401_200306401?cm_ven=Aggregates&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=Hand%20Tools%2C%20Wrenches&cm_ite=1501539&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=1501539

They are generally available at hardware stores and any place that carries a wide variety of tools.

Joplin

May 14, 2008 10:38 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Off-Axis Images of Colimnation

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Yes, the shadow from the secondary mirror will move off center if you adjust the collimation screws or re-aim the scope. Every time you adjust the secondary collimation screws the out-of-focus star image should be re-centered by re-aiming the scope. I find a crosshair or circle reticle eyepiece helps a lot to judge the star image and position.

Joplin

June 4, 2008 02:21 AM Forum: Eyepieces

xo 2.5 and xo 5.0

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
Pentax prices tend to vary a bit with exchange rate, which is of course not very favorable for the U.S. right now. When I bought my first XW eyepiece a couple years ago I paid about 15% less than the going rate these days.

Joplin

June 21, 2008 03:48 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Northern Flicker

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
I'm pretty sure it's a female Northern Flicker.

Joplin

June 21, 2008 11:05 PM Forum: Insects - Flowers and Other Small Stuff - Photos

Damselflies

Posted By Joplin Motisher-Chittenden
This one was particularly patient, I followed him to several different perches.

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