Posts Made By: Don Joski

I have a Vixen NA 140 refractor on a GM8. I wanted the C9.25 but couldn't afford it at this time so I purchased the Orion 8" EQ Reflector. I just got it Friday and it's been cloudy and rainy. I got out for a few minutes last night before it clouded back up and took about five photos. I'm still learning my Nikon Coolpix 880 and aperature was left open a little too long but views of the moon were very good and picture turned out decent considering I hand held camera to 40mm 2" ep @ 25x. I really liked the Orion 10" but just too big for GM8.

BTW, I've always wanted the Tak Mewlon 210 w/ EM10 mount. Also keep in mind Vixen is coming out with the Titan mount in the fall or winter. It's a goto mount and it is supposed to have a weight capacity greater than the GPDX. You could even try the PDHQ 10" dob by Discovery and add the observers package for $800. Observers package includes digital setting circles.

Isn't it fun to shop for scopes!

I like the telescope Lara Croft used in Tomb Raider as she watched the planets approach alignment. It looked like maybe a 12' SCT. That would work well I think. Unfortunately I can't tell you what is really best. The best I used was a Meade 10" LX50. Not too portable so now I use a 5.5" refractor or 8" Newt and the Newt is better, bigger anyway. Personally I'd take the setup Lara had but I'm twenty million dollars short on funds.

I wanted to update this a little bit. The Neville Public Museum counted 1300 people showed up to view Mars up until 9pm. I didn't get there until 9:30 and I was there until midnight so I think the count will continue to grow. An official count is to be released soon so I'll update with info. That is a pretty successful evening considering there were no packers there! Actually, a pretty high number considering the populace of Green Bay is only 102,000. Cheers.

Thanks for info. I do have a Nikon CP 880 w/ 18mm wide angle ep & adapter. I'll use that for Mars photos and I guess try my hand at long exposure astrophotos. So far I've taken decent images of M16, M17 and M45. The longest exposure on 400 speed film has been 15 minutes on M16 & M45. I'll try for 30 to 45 minutes though I think a guidescope would be very helpful.

Is it possible to photograph a Martian moon? A photo taken last week was overexposed. I used a 25mm TV plossel and 3x barlow and had the shutter open anywhere from the 2 to 10 seconds I mentioned in my post. It looks like Phobos. Any chance? I'll find the photo and scan it here at work tomorrow, then post. Maybe I'm just seeing a reflection of light. BTW, focal length of scope is 800mm.

Thanks for help, info.

I've owned a few 8" sct's and one 10" LX50. The size difference was quite big and images were bigger, better, brighter as well. I really liked the optics of the LX50 and reports are that the C9.25 is one of the best sct's available. I would have to say yes you will notice a difference and yes I think it is worth it. It was rated in the top ten for planetary scopes by Gross and that is saying something. All others were reflectors with zambuto mirrors and the Tak/AP big refractors. It is in some very fine company. I've also heard the star images are pretty good for an sct. As I've heard before, the 9.25 is the sct to get if you don't like schmidt-cass. Good luck.

Or you could keep what you have and buy 20x80 binoculars with a tripod for $350. I just used mine for the second night and views are wonderful. There is so much more sky to see. Andromeda is bigger and brighter than the 20x image in my Vixen 140mm refractor. You can even get hand holdable ones from Oberwerk for $199 or the auction site now for $190. I'm sorry but my At1010 was nice but these are much more fun. The light ones are only a few pounds. You try it out and if not enjoyed sell them. My dos pennies.

I've experience neither but I have the LXD55 mount and had the aluminum tripod. Basically you would have to replace the tripod for a pier or wooden legs. The autostar does work well but no experience with the Advanced Series goto. I'd prefer the Advanced Series tripod because of the 2" tube legs and it looks pretty rock solid.
As far as quality of scopes I have only to say that the AR6 has a very small lens/dew shade. Ed Ting really liked the Celestron minus the color. I'd go w/ Celestron because of the mount and the Celestron 6" is a proven scope. It's been around for years so something is right. My 2 cents. Good luck and enjoy either one!

I second Gordon's idea. Also, the Vixen NA120 is bigger, still light at about 13 to 15lbs and will fit perfectly on a LXD55. You can find one for sale on an auction site for under $1500 w/ GP mount. Sell the GP, buy the LXD55 and you are set w/ enought to buy an ep or two. You don't have an airline portable scope but you can take great photos and have enough aperature for some deep sky and short focal length for widefield views. I had a VIxen NA140 w/ GM8 I took camping throughout WI and MI's UP. It weighed only 14 lbs and setup was five minutes. You can always add a little Orion 80mm short tube in a month or two for flight. 2cents.

Update - I recieved a response from Olympus. They will send me a free 4/3 system adapter: "We offer for a limited amount of time a free
FourThirds to OM adapter to existing E-1 or EVOLT owners. The OM adapter is
mounted to the camera then to the OM "T" mount, the OM "T" mount is affixed to the telescope adapter."

There that takes care of it.

I can't believe I read nearly every post for this sometimes articulate, amusing and frustrating conversation. I even learned a few things about achromatic glass and ed glass, that is good. Thanks.

BTW, I think astromart gets me about every April 1 when they announce a company is going to make a 6" f/6 apo for $2,000. Now I know that isn't going to happen anytime soon. So sad...