Posts Made By: david berman

If you haven't purchased one yet, it may be more practicle and cost effective to pick up an EM-10 Temma Jr. The P2Z is a very good little mount, but very limited and only has an RA motor. The EM-10/11 already has both motors, encoders and full GoTo capability, more load capability and new technology.

Hi Chris,

I had an EM-11 and it was a great mount, however if you add in the rings dove tail and a camera, it was a little under sized for the FSQ. For visual it is OK. Keep in mind that the new "Q" will be a little heavier. If you can go the extra $$, the EM-200 is really a perfect match for the "Q". It won't even know it's on there and it's very portable. I also had a G-11 with a TOA-130 on it and found it to be a very good mount with excellent tracking when properly aligned.(same with the EM-200). You can't go wrong with either.

Dave

Hi Michael-I've had several of these scopes up to and inclding my current MN-86. I'm very familiar with them and have totally rebuilt 2 of them. The laser collimaters that I've tried have been a waste. Any mis-collimtion of the collimater, itself or any wobble in the eyepiece holder throws it off commpletely. The Cheshire is still the most reliable up to a point. On the MN-76 get it as close as you can and then have a friend help to fine tune it on a fairly bright star with a 12mm eyepiece. I then slowly bring it into focus, watching that the "donut" hole disapears concentrically into a nice fine star point with no flares. Be sure that the OTA has totally cooled down (usually about an hour) or you will not be able to acheive good final collimation. Be patient and you will be rewarded by an excellent performing scope. Also be certain the diagonal is perfectly aligned with focuser. You should be able to observe a very nice concentric image of the diagonal mirror. (not oblong). Every one I've had, I had to tweek a little. If you think you have to, be careful not to scrath the miniscus lens. This really isn't as complicated as it may sound, and you won't have to do it very often unless the tube gets jarred or bumped. Good luck. Enjoy

It's not even close to enough. I've had 6", 7" and 8" MN's on various mounts. Even a carbon fiber MN-76 that a had a couple of years ago was the upper limit for the GP-DX. It was marginally OK for visual. It's not so much the weight, it's the length of the tube. I also had the Orion MN-61 on a GP-DX and it was OK for visual, but marginal for imaging. Something the size of a Losmandy GM-8 should be the minimum for an MN-76 so that you can get the most enjoyment out of it. A TAK Em-200, G-11 or an Atlas would be ideal.

Where is that at ED? Is that the one that moved from Crystal Cove in Newport? I'm in Huntington Beach.

Sorry Ron, I don't think this qualifies here. Should be under a new heading "Bad Ass to the Bone"

I'd rather have a VP in office with "on the job training", than a president with "on the job training", any day of the week. This one is so sharp, she'll be up to speed in about a year, anyway. Obama is right. It is time for a change, but not 'spare change'.

That's beautiful Steve. How do you keep from blowing out the core? I went 2 minutes on ISO800 with a modded 40D. I guess I could do very short multiple exposures. Is there a way to average them? Thanks...Dave

They're gone. The phone is disconnected. They were located not too far from my house. Great scopes for the money, and some at any price, but terrible marketing. Confusing product line with no consistancy. The U.S. distributor was always competing with the dealer network. Hope they can get it together and return

If anyone has any, or could refer me to information or old photos of John Byrne, I'd appreciate it. It would be really interesting if there was an accounting of scopes that he made and who they were sold to.

Dave