Posts Made By: Richard Keppler

Roland Christen said:

It's finally clear here and I can image tonight. For weeks on end the skies have been either cloudy or hazy. Tonight is clear and decent seeing. I've got the big 305mm F3.8 fired up and the first couple of exposures are just so satisfying. The scope and STL11K are working at their peak. Stars on my laptop screen look like powder sugar sprinkles - thanks to perfect focus with my new Bahtinov mask. I hope to bag a few goodies tonight.

Rolando

Robert Gilbert said:

I have a wonderful but perplexing choice, a new Takahashi TOAS 150 or a 2000-2001 vintage AP 155 Starfire EDF. They are price equivalent. Any thoughts? I will be using a Losmandy HGM Titan/Gemini or AP900GTO mount regardless of OTA (any thoughts on the mount as well). This will be a major step up for my equipment .

Thanks,
Robert

George Prentice said:

I have had my Sky 90 for a year. At first I was surprised at how out of focus the stars were off axis. I had inquired about it, I think the dealer said, that's normal, but wasn't sure it was correctable with a flattner / reducer, for visual... or something like that. I also have a FS128, which, of course does not suffer the same issue. Anyone out there have a flattener reducer, does this fix the problem and allow for edge to edge sharpness? Any other side effects. Any input welcome. I think I would really appreciate viewing with edge to edge clarity. Thanks, George

Greg Nowell said:

When I was working with Berlebach on their eventual Losmandy compatible tripod designs, the prototype they send me had the counterweight positioned BETWEEN two legs, not OVER one leg.

I found this to be very unstable: it doesn't take much of a push to "go over" when you have the center of gravity between two legs.

I noticed this because I see a vendor here advertising the desirability of 360 degree adapter rotation for setup. This is not unique to this person: I know of a few other cases. It seems to me that it is not a good idea at all, and that AP was right to put a stop in the amount of adjustment they give you. If you are "allowed" by the mount to position exactly between two legs with the counterweights, you are at risk for tip over.

I hope the picture here makes this clear. The risk may be minimal with a light mount but if I were setting up and had radically misplaced true N I would rather lift the entire tripod and move it to get closer rather than observe all night with the counterweight and telescope mass perched overhanging the two extended legs. I discovered this truth with the prototype Berlebach and the C14/G11.

Long story short: I always thought it would be nice to have infinite or 360 degree adjustment but when I came face to face with reality I discovered that it wasn't a real good idea. I have another pic of the Berlebach prototype which did not get marketed that way.

I have also seen some folks set up counterweights between-the-tripod-legs, and I consider this a no-no. Regrettably the lower your latitude the greater your temptation to set up this way, and I suspect, the worse the results. In a low latitude with the counterweight over the tripod leg the shaft might actually hit the leg. Put it this way. In a low latitude if I were observing with the counterwegiht *between* two legs I would stake down the rear leg as a failsafe. I've been in too many situations where the wind suddenly kicked up. A tripod is impossible to knock over when force is applied from between two legs against an extended leg. It is EASY to knock over when force is applied from behind one leg toward the empty space between the two other legs.

regards
Greg N

Doug Walton said:

Hi everyone - I'm in a bit of a quandary. I received notification that my name has come up for delivery of a new 130mm StarFire Gran Turismo - after approx. a 9-10 year wait. Unfortunately, I'm currently not in any kind of position to buy the scope anytime soon. As I see it, my options are:

Cheers,
Doug

Roland Christen said:

French research facility at Dome C doing extra-solar planet research:

http://e.bondoux.free.fr/imagesforum/PAIX.JPG

3600 mount with heavy equipment package. This one is definitely not carry-on size:

http://e.bondoux.free.fr/imagesforum/t300.JPG

Maurice Clark said:

The past couple of times I have used the system, the AP control does not seem to boot up correctly. The key pad just reads "Astro Physics Version 4.12". Nothing seems to be able to make the key pad show anything different, nor will the key pad move the telescope in any way. I can still drive the telescope using The Sky, but I am at a loos as to what might have happened with the AP control system.

Maurice