Posts Made By: ken pfeiffer

That is a good story. I have a little different story....

On December 5 last year I ordered a Universal Astronomics Unistar Deluxe mount and heavy wood surveyor's tripod from ATWB. I would have ordered it directly from Larry at Universal Astronomics, but I wanted to support ATWB. I got a call from Robert about what kind of dovetail I had, so he could make the order right. I appreciated that. A couple of weeks later I called to enquire about the order status, since I know there is a wait on most Universal Astronomics orders. Robert told me that he called Larry and there was a slight delay. The order would probably be shipped in mid-January. Fine, I thought, since I expected a delay.

So, mid-January came, and no mount. I sent an email to Robert, but no reply. I waited another month, and sent another email. Still no reply. I waited still another month and sent another email. And still no reply. Now it is over a month later (more than four months since the order) and still no mount, and no update from ATWB. I am starting to wonder if the order is in the system. I feel like canceling the order and getting something else. But not from ATWB.

I guess I should get on the phone and bitch in person, but I just thought I would share this with y'all first.

Me too!

I think the prices have been going up steadily. I remember a few years ago, the AP 155 was going for $4700. I got on the notification list at that time and I still have not heard back. If this goes on for long, I am not sure I could ever afford one by the time I could actually get one.

Even the 5" ones are going up, too. Oh well...

Where did you take that shot, Floyd? Looks sort of like the Sierras.

Get one of these:

http://www.stellarvue.com/f50.html

It is the best telescope accessory I have ever gotten. It makes finding anything a breeze and a joy. No more contorting, wrenching your neck, etc. It is very easy to use. Point your scope along the horizon toward what you want to look at, and sweep upward until you get the major features in the field of view (bright stars, whatever). Then center the crosshairs on the target, and voila!

I have the Stellarvue and it is great! I can use it easily with my glasses on. It is also compact and comfortable, and well built. It has greatly increased my telescoping enjoyment. I can't imagine being without it now.

Hey Ron,

I saw your review at the ATWB website
concerning the NP 127. You said you sold
your TMB 130 to buy an NP 127.

Now that is quite a statement! I am sure
there are others here besides me who
would be very interested in the comparison
between the two scopes.

How about it? What did you not like about
the TMB? And how is the NP that much
better?

Thanks for any info on this!

Hi Sonya,

Yes, binoviewers work just fine with SCTs. I have had a few different kinds, including a Televue, which was by far the best with light throughput and image quality. You may have a balance problem if your SCT is fork mounted, so you may need to get extra counterweights.

The advantage of a binoviewer is you get to use both eyes, which reduces eyestrain and "floaters", and you get what appears to be a beautiful 3-D view. Binoviewers work best on bright objects, such as planets and the moon, and you can usually see more detail. They make most deep sky viewing much worse, because of an apparently dimmer image.

One nice thing about Astromart is you can pick one up used, and if you don't like it you can sell it and not be out much money at all.

Have fun!

>
Take the "Plossls" that came with the Baytronix and stick them in an 8 inch Astro-Physics APO and the views will be pretty amazing.
<

OK, I will try that. I'll send you a
private email with my address for shipping that AP.

I came to the same conclusion years ago after comparing plossls with a variety of premium widefield eyepieces. Not only were the plossls clearer, but brighter as well. And I don't really care about sticking my head into the eyepiece and moving it around to get that spacewalk feel. I just like a nice bright field I can take in with one convenient lazy head position.

I think the expensive glass has its place, particularly when you get to shorter focal lengths, though. Looking through the pinhole of a 7mm plossl seems very inconvenient compared with say, the nice big hole in a radian.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the help.

Nice site - lots of other stuff to buy, too!