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Posts Made By: John Moore

January 22, 2004 07:44 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

A TV76 and Pronto on the Same Mount?

Posted By John Moore
Don: I've got a CG-5 mount that I have a MaxScope 40 and a TV-76 on. I use a dual saddle that I got from Ken's Rings. It works great.

John in NEOhio

January 25, 2004 08:07 PM Forum: Eyepieces

EPs in general.

Posted By John Moore
Well put. I'm pretty much a novice, but I think you hit the nail on the head. Complicate the variation in scopes and manufacturer's quality by the variation in budget available to spend and you have a real mess. I cannot afford to plunck down between $200 and $300 a piece for Panoptics to use in my binoviewer - so I take a look at the Antares W70's. I don't expect that I will get performance equivalent to the TV's, but I somehow need to know whether the performance I'll get out of the W70's will keep me happy until I can afford the Panoptics. The only way I can make anything other than a wag about which EP's to buy is to take the majority opinion from these forums into consideration. A meet like what you suggest would make the decision a lot easier.

January 31, 2004 03:40 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Any experience with Antares W70 Ultrawides?

Posted By John Moore
Mike:

Do a search in this forum and the binoviewer forum. There have been many posts regarding these EP's. The buzz seems to be that they are pretty good considering the price. They are definitely not Panoptics, but you can get a bunch of them for the same price.

I've just purchased the 25mm and 19mm but haven't had a chance to test them out yet - too cold and too cloudy!!

John in NEOhio

February 10, 2004 03:41 AM Forum: Binoviewers

Denk standards with Maxscope 40

Posted By John Moore
Garry: As John has said, BV use with the MaxScope 40 is apparently fine. I had the same question and communicated with Bill Dean at Coronado. I had concerns about whether the focuser could handle the weight of the BV and EP's. Bill said no problem. The OCS is definitely required to reach focus with the BV unless you want to cut the tube length down a little. Bill also said that the BF10 blocking filter will provide more pleasing views than the BF5 with a BV due to the increased FOV.

John in NEOhio

February 11, 2004 01:49 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

Why, oh why...

Posted By John Moore
Malcolm: the blocking filter is an integral part of the total filter system. From the Coronado website:

BLOCKING FILTERS: The SOLARMAX series filters come in two parts, the front narrowband element as listed above and a secondary interference filter which mounts at the eyepiece end of the telescope. You cannot use the individual units separately. Choose the secondary blocking filter based on the focal length of your telescope.

At the very least, you would not get optimal performance without the blocking filter. On the other end, it may be unsafe to view without it. The guys from Coronado can probably answer whether that's an issue or not.

John in NEOhio

February 11, 2004 01:56 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

Here's what I did all afternoon. . .

Posted By John Moore
Here's mine! Unfortunately, when I took this pic the Sun had gone into hiding. I use a Baader filter on the TV-76 that's not on it in the photo. You might be able to see the Sol-Searcher finder on the TV-76. I love that thing!!

John in NEOhio

February 11, 2004 07:48 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

Here's what I did all afternoon. . .

Posted By John Moore
Here's my afternoon - finally got a break in the clouds. Not a great effort, but passable. A composite of two exposures - one for the proms and one for the surface. Man, I wish I could afford to double-stack RIGHT NOW!!

John in NEOhio

February 14, 2004 06:09 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Best EPs for Digi-T Astrophotos

Posted By John Moore
In order to use the Digi-T adapter, you have to have an EP that has a removable rubber eyecup - not the slide on kind that come with the UO HD Ortho's and Celestron Ultima's, but the kind with a groove that's cut in the top of the EP to hold the eyecup on. This is where the adapter ring attaches.

I've successfully used Orion Sirius EP's, Antares W70 EP's, and Coronado CEMAX EP's with my Olympus C-3000 and Digi-T adapter. So, I think that any EP with a similar groove will work. ScopeTronix has a list of compatible EP's on their website, but it's by no means complete.

John in NEOhio

February 14, 2004 08:22 PM Forum: Binoviewers

Antares 14mm W70 first light report

Posted By John Moore
Tom: nice review. I've just purchased a pair of these and have not yet had a chance to try them out. I am encouraged by your comments.

John in NEOhio

February 24, 2004 12:52 AM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

Refractor and filter choices

Posted By John Moore
Michael:

Some answers -

1. Doesn't matter, except that you want a scope that has good baffles to prevent scattered light reflection. Coronado says the MaxScope OTA is optimized for h-alpha light.

2. Larger aperture is just like at night - better resolution and more light. So you can go to higher mags and get great views.

John in NEOhio

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