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Posts Made By: Walter Hamler

October 19, 2004 06:29 PM Forum: Home Observatories

I surrendered to THE DARK SIDE...

Posted By Walter Hamler
Ivan, check out this site.
http://www.stellar-international.com/stiobs.html

Walt

October 20, 2004 03:13 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Is there a Mirror Lock for 9.25"SCT OTA?

Posted By Walter Hamler
Funny you should mention this. I just shot some piggyback astro shots guiding with my C-8. The camera lens is 350mm, so any reasonably good guiding should give good results without a problem.
Upon processing, all the shots except one had stars badly elongated in the RA axis direction. As I am pretty sure the guiding accuracy was not the problem, I have to look at some other types of movements as the culprit.
My particular C-8 has very little image shift when focusing, probably only 20 or 30 arc sec. I consider this minimal compared to others I have seen, but it may be too much. However, I don't think even that would register like it did on these pics. So, I am thinking some other sort of movement between the camera/lens and the telescope ota.
My suggestion would be to make some test exposures in various sky orientations and see what the star images look like. Once you are satisfied that you can get sharp stars, the rest is composition, filters, and time. Have fun. grin

Walt

October 20, 2004 06:36 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

SCT saddle/dovetail

Posted By Walter Hamler
http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_eqdb.htm
Try this.

Walt

October 23, 2004 01:15 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

M42 - NGC1977 Ha

Posted By Walter Hamler
Mark, do you think a similar result could be obtained with one of the digital slr cameras that has been modified for the extended red response? I was wondering if one of those cameras, a wratten 29, or one of the Digital IR filters being sold, and then converting to gray scale?
I miss some of the old film emulsions from the 70's and 80's that Kodak made specifically for Ha photography.

Walt

October 26, 2004 12:27 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Equipment question.. Photography

Posted By Walter Hamler
The Varimagni Finder is an Olympus camera product for the OM series of 35mm slr cameras. I believe it will fit some others brands but not sure which.
It is designed primarily to allow critical focusing with it's 2.5x magnification of the central portion of the viewfinder image, as well as full screen viewing at 1x. It could be of benefit for what you describe, viewing at the zenith, but is not limited to that.
It is no longer manufactured but readily available on the used market. However, because of its popularity, it tends to bring a premium price, ie, 125.00 and higher.

Walt

October 26, 2004 10:00 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Need Rubber Lens Cover

Posted By Walter Hamler
Orion or Scope Stuff

Walt

October 29, 2004 11:54 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Which bit 'o kit gave you the best eclipse view?

Posted By Walter Hamler
I used my new Apogee 80mm f/5.8 refractor to photograph and then put in an ep to see it closeup. The totally eclipsed moon looked 3D surrounded by a field of faint stars in a totally black background grin
This one compared favorably to the one I saw in Guam in 82 or 83 I believe. It was the darkest eclipse I had even seen.

Walt

October 30, 2004 07:12 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Where can I find a low profile 2" focuser?

Posted By Walter Hamler
JMI sells the 2" Reverse Crayford that I like very much. It is available in kit form for about 90.00 with shipping. I have owned a couple of them and they always perform nicely.

Walt

November 2, 2004 04:52 PM Forum: Film Astrophotography - Imaging and Processing

SLR camera adapter

Posted By Walter Hamler
1.25" camera adapters are made for t-mount camera adapters. Check with Orion, Scope Stuff, etc. As a matter of fact, I think I have seen then on the Anacortes site under accessories.

Walt

November 15, 2004 10:41 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

OT: Advice for Unmanned Launches in FL?

Posted By Walter Hamler
If you are planning on taking in the tour at KSC their parking lot is also a good spot, plus I am sure they would have constant updates available. However, the tour prices are a littly pricy these days.
Otherwise Jetty Park is indeed a good spot. Sometimes thers choice sites fill up early if the launch is one that draws a crowd like the shuttles. Hard to say on this type event.

Walt

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