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Coathanger CR 399

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Posts Made By: Nico Taelman

November 7, 2003 03:02 PM Forum: A Day in the Life of the Administrator

Thank you Herb for a great site

Posted By Nico Taelman
Astromart gave me a place to talk about my passion with people sharing my enthusiasm; about amateur-astronomy in general and astronomical equipment.
The classifieds are truly extensive here, lots of choices and good prices...
Thank you Herb!
Nico

November 9, 2003 06:15 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Historical ads

Posted By Nico Taelman
Yes! That's the one..I have the 8" f4 model. I'd be real happy to see any scans of ads if you have informations from magazines..
Thank you
Nico

November 11, 2003 09:52 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE READ!!!!!!!!!!

Posted By Nico Taelman
Hi Ricardo, the group Jake is talking about will defenitely help. I think you'll have to carefully unmount the mirrorcell from the OTA and reposition the mirror; loosen the clips, maybe even get the mirror out. Check for damage on the cell itself (probably not). If the chips are small you're lucky. As for precautions, just make a clean environment for the process. I do doubt your collimation is good with the mirror in this position, it could but...30x for checking this is way too low. I have an f4 myself and frequently check collimation at about 80-120x. When viewing with the 26 mm stars are pinpoints in my scope too but your observation of Jupiter speaks for itself I think..
I don't want to scare you but you might have to be more careful in handling and transporting your OTA.
Take care
Nico

November 13, 2003 03:11 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Clear day!

Posted By Nico Taelman
I know Floyd, weather's a bitch aint it? The past weeks I've been seriously considering moving to Greece and leave Belgium for what it is, grey, cold, cloudy, and crowded, lots of lights (look at a world night-time sattelite picture...). I f*$!~* hate it! The only thing about moving to a Meditterranean country is that my income would decrease but then again, my current equipment would increase in value with their kinda nightskies...
Wishing all of you clear skies however. Oh, I would like to buy a few new eyepieces next month, bad idea?
Nico

November 14, 2003 04:14 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Dew

Posted By Nico Taelman
I think the hairdryer is a good idea..do you have a light-shroud, or a big dewcap up front?
Nico

November 18, 2003 09:46 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Orion Atlas mount

Posted By Nico Taelman
Hi Vince, I took a close look at the mount a few times in a local store and I'm thinking of buying one too. There are lots of options available for the mount to improve the tracking; other motors, pec, different hand-controls,...you can upgrade the mount one step at a time. I was thinking of using it for my 8" and eventually a 14" newtonian, though that might be too much for the mount. I do know of someone who has mounted a 12" f5 on it and it's still stable.
The one I would buy is the Skywatcher Synta model, just the same as the Orion I guess..
APM telescopes in Germany offers several upgrades..
Nico

November 18, 2003 09:55 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Proud Papa

Posted By Nico Taelman
That's great Chris, it must be real nice to have your kid(s) sharing this passion. My daughter is just over 14 months, she sometimes comes to a sudden stop when she runs through the house, looks up to the scope and points her finger at it; papa? Yes, dear, those are papa's toys, but the little blue one is someday yours if you want it...
I just wish I had a scope that stands as tall to me as my scopes to my daughter!
Nico

November 19, 2003 10:14 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Compare and Contrast!

Posted By Nico Taelman
I would say the Celestron 9.25 is the better choice for portability, especially if it's mounted on a fork-mount, and its optical performance from what I've heard is pretty good. I would go for it for planetary viewing. The Meade is primarily a wide-field instrument ideal for low-power on extended deep sky objects. Collimation will be critical on the 10" , at f4. I own an 8" f4 and collimation is pretty important for optimal viewing. Since they are both closed-tube designs with a corrector plate and the aperture doesn't differ that much I think cool down time will be more or less equal..
IMO they are very different instruments and do what they are supposed to do concerning their design.
Nico

November 20, 2003 10:33 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Why so many 7mm Naglers for sale

Posted By Nico Taelman
Anybody share opinians on a Vixen lanthanum 7 mm? I use it for high-power on the Moon and i'm quite happy with it. Great eye-relief in particular.
Nico

November 20, 2003 08:31 PM Forum: Home Observatories

Astrosky pier

Posted By Nico Taelman
That looks like a nice observatory in a nice environment and it's the kind of design I'd want in an observatory, the roof rolling off on both sides, lovely!
Nico

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