Posts Made By: John Moore

Craig: I was at your decision point a few months ago, and decided to go with the MaxScope 40. I have a TV-76 refractor that would have been the home for an SM40, but now I can view in white light and h-alpha at the same time - I have both scopes on a CG-5 mount using a saddle from ScopeStuff. I did just get a BF-10 blocking filter to replace the BF-5 that came with my MaxScope. It will be more suitable for using my Denkmeier binoviewer and the larger blocking filter opens up the flexibility when using my digital camera and webcam for photos. I would suggest that you buy the kit with the BF-10 rather than the one with the BF-5 if you plan to do either of those things.

Alpine Astro has fringe filters from Baader and they do Paypal. I've bought from them several times, and they are an Astromart sponsor.

Rick: if you ever plan on using a binoviewer or take photos, get the BF10. I have a MaxScope 40 and bought it with the BF5. I purchased a BF10 and am much happier with the size and the views it allows. For strickly mono visual, the BF5 is fine.

Does anyone remember the original question? We went a long way from a $500 plastic shed to a $10K wunderhaus. Has anyone actually used one of these plastic sheds? I have a Rubbermaid shed that I use for my garden equipment - the sides are REASONABLY secure with the roof and doors open. It's not tall enough for my 11" SCT, though, and it's a lot smaller than the shed mentioned here.

The Pier-Tech website has pics of their offering (the big one). Even with the Pier-Tech 2 pier $10K seems high. Nice, but pricey.

Alan: no laughing from here either!! I've been trying to convince my wife for a good long while that I need an observatory to get better use out of all the $$$ she sees me spending on this hobby. Finally I have gotten her nudged around to see it my way, and now I've got the Association Police to contend with - actually it's the builder/developer as he's the association until more folks move into the subdivision he's constructing. We see him tomorrow to review plans for a roll-off and try to get his buy-off. But until all that's done, you are light years ahead of me with your flip-top. Your design gives a great illustration that with a little innovation and some old fashioned hard work you don't need to spend a bundle to have some fun. Enjoy it!!

John

Garry:

I was at H.O.T.S. - they did have a prototype K-line filter set up on Saturday. Don't remember the exact introduction date, but it's some time in 2005. I didn't get a chance to look through it visually, but they had it set up with an eyepiece camera and it looks pretty interesting.

John Moore

Chris: nice shots! And thanks again for the solar photo processing tips that you and Hiram presented to us at H.O.T.S. Good stuff! I'm already looking forward to next years conference.

John

Chris: I am constantly amazed by the quality of your shots. Excellent image!! Thank for sharing.

John

Paul:

I agree with Ron. I was in the same situation as you about a year ago. I have a TV-76 APO and was trying to decide whether to get an SM-40 plus adapter or go with the SolarMax 40 Telescope. I had several email conversations with Bill Dean at Coronado, and he offered up the plus/minuses of both setups. I ended up getting the dedicated scope.

IMHO, the dedicated scope gives a little better contrast. The added bonus is that I, too, do both h-alpha and white light viewing at the same time with a saddle mount I have for my CG-5 GEM. I am just in the process of getting my SolarMax 40 double-stacked at Coronado. And I decided to get an adapter plate for the TV-76 to give myself the option of travelling with just one scope for day and night use.

You can't go wrong either way - just depends on what your objectives are: portability, simultaneous white and h-alpha, cost, etc.

Excellent as usual, Chris!!!