Posts Made By: Chris Gorman

Where I live my skies are about mag 4. The other night I was about 30 miles away from the city, the skies were probably mag 5.2-5.3. I used the stars in the Little Dipper to determine the magnitude. I couldn't believe the difference. It was amazing how many more stars I could see compared to my mag 4 sky. It was truly beautiful. Unfortunately I didn't have my scope with me.

It seems kind of strange to say this, but I don't really know what mag 6.5+ skies look like. I'm fairly young, and I'm sure I have been places where there were mag 6.5+ skies. The problem is I don't remember them, or I never paid attention to them. Before I got interested in this hobby I never "looked up".

I can only dream about what mag 6.5+ looks like. Anybody want to describe them?

My skies are mag 4, and I'm using a 10" dob. How big of a performance hit am I taking because of the light polution? In other words, would a 6" dob in mag 6.5-7.0 skies perform the the same as my 10" does in mag 4 skies?

I need to find a pair of ep's in the 5mm-7mm range. They will be used for both bino and mono modes. I tried the new Pentax XW's but I didn't like them for binoviewing. I was thinking about going with the 5mm or 7mm Nagler Type 6. The Radians are an option to but I prefer a wide FOV. What are my other options besides Tele Vue and Pentax? Any comments on the Nagler Type 6 ep's?

I have never tried these, can anybody comment on them? Do these eyepieces really have a lot more contrast than a similar focal length Radian, Nagler, etc.? Are they extremely uncomfortable to use because of the lack of eyerelief?

I must admit, the high contrast is intriguing. But the very small FOV, and horrible e.r. make me wonder if they are worth it.

I was observing the moon last night with my TV-76 and 24mm Panoptic. The moon was full and it was very bright but it didn't "hurt" my eye to look at it. However, I couldn't imagine looking at the full moon with too much of a larger scope without some type of filter.

Is it dangerous to observe the full moon in say a 5"+ refractor or 8"+ dob without stopping it down or using some type of filter? Should I use a moon filter or neutral density filter when I observe the full moon in my TV-76?

Are these just a waste, or do they help? Since you can stack them on top of one another what are some good color combinations to use on different objects?

I have only been in this hobby for a couple of years. I have always thought the "Nag" in Nagler was pronounced like "bag". Then I hear "Nag" is really pronounced with a "long a" as in "hay". This just doesn't seem right to me.

I was thinking about buying one of these. Are they worth the money or can I get a cheaper ortho with very similar performance. Any recommendations?

I just read the message below about "beating a dead horse". The reason for this is because this hobby has a very slow progression. What we need is a real breakthrough. Otherwise 10 years from now people will still be asking the same questions. So until something changes, expect continued repetitiveness.

Chuck, I'm a big dob fan but even I wouldn't want a 20" f/6 dob. Ok, this is what I would do. Hear me out because I think it's the best solution. Sell the 20" dob, the C14 and the 8" D&G. Then buy an 18" Obsession(with a Torus mirror). The 18" Obsession is f/4.5, and the ep height at the zenith is about 6'5". Basically all you need is a footstool, and that is only if you are observing at zenith. The 18" will give you the aperture you need, and keep you close to the ground. Of course it's a faster scope, I don't know if that matters to you or not.

Obsession also now sells complete GOTO systems for their scopes. On the 18", the ServoCAT Goto drive system installed along with the Argo Navis digital setting circles installed cost a total of $2500.

So basically your setup will be an 18" Obsession(with complete GOTO and tracking capability) and the FS102. If you can swing it, maybe also sell the FS102 and get a 5" TMB APO instead. Just suggestions.