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Posts Made By: Rod Mollise

October 29, 2011 02:35 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Televue eyepiece vs Cheap Celestron multi Set

Posted By Rod Mollise

There is a place for both. You can't go wrong buying the very best, but for a novice a set like Celestron's (or Meade's) can be a godsend. In the beginning you won't notice too much difference between plebian and perfect, and having a large range of focal lengths available will allow you to get some good work done while saving up for whatever. wink

November 5, 2011 03:31 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Burgess

Posted By Rod Mollise

kim jenner said:

Is Burgess still in business?I have tried calling, order e-mails,web host manager.All to no avail.Help,Kim jenner

Don't know. Last time I saw Bill and wife Tammy was at the Chiefland/Nova Sedus star party...December...2009. They were definitely in business then, set up as a vendor, and said they were planning to bring out a new line of binoculars. Since then, though, there hasn't been much changed on their website. They may be mainly selling at star parties, now, but with this economy, who knows?

November 5, 2011 03:34 PM Forum: Meade

lx80

Posted By Rod Mollise

anthony maida said:

has anyone heard anything about the new lx80 mount?

Not anything from anyone who's used one in the field. Not yet. I believe Meade _was_ saying "November," though.

November 7, 2011 01:03 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

How to power my Eq 6 sky watcher with ac outlet

Posted By Rod Mollise

refet dehari said:

Hi I have many 12V adapters but the mount manual does not let me know how many mA need to be .
any idea?
Thanks
Refet.

I'd use one with at least a 1.5 - 2 amp capacity. And be careful about the polarity of the connector.

November 7, 2011 01:05 PM Forum: Antique/Classic/Vintage Optical Instruments

Edmund 4.25 reflector

Posted By Rod Mollise

Tony Aguire said:

Hello all...I recently was gifted an Edmund 4.25 reflector with the mount, complete with manuals and an RKE 28 mm EP. We think the production date was around 1981? There is a small amount of rust on the tripod tube, and a few dings in the paint. This item was used gently but often I suspect. The motor works. The mount is an 85,309 the O.T. is an 85,286

I am just getting into vintage scopes. This one has some cobwebs inside the tube and quite a bit of dust on the secondary, the primary looks decent, with a couple of cobwebs having fallen on it. I would like to clean the secondary, remove the cobwebs from the tube (without touching the primary yet) and take this scope out for the first light in likely a very long time. Any suggestions?

Long term I would like to restore this scope. I have a soft heat for older mechanical designs of any kind, so any pointers would be appreciated.

BTW the only issue is the straps that hold the OT to the mount, one has a tear. Is there s good place to find a replacement?

The RKE would indicate that, yeah, late 70s - early 80s. It has a red tube, I assume.

Clean the secondary as you would any first surfact mirror. Distilled water, a drop of Dawn, cotton balls, no pressure.

As for the straps, you may have to cut one out of similar metal.

November 12, 2011 05:12 PM Forum: Digital SLR AstroPhotography

Afocal with my dob?

Posted By Rod Mollise

In the simplest way, just hold the camera up to the eyepiece, center a nice crescent Moon, and fire away.

At the risk of sounding like I'm plugging magazines, this year's edition of Sky and Telescope's Skywatch has an article by me about beginning imaging, and goes into the details of afocal picture taking.

8)

November 18, 2011 03:42 PM Forum: Refractors

Got Aperture Fever?

Posted By Rod Mollise

Alan French said:

Here you go. Oh, and you also need ATM skills, or deep pockets for a tube and mount.

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=754882

Clear skies, Alan

And a Yerkes style dome... 8)

November 25, 2011 02:45 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

November 26, 2011 02:39 AM Forum: Celestron

C14 Lift

Posted By Rod Mollise

David Cahn said:

I'm thinking about purchasing a C14. Is it realistic for one person (me) to lift this babe from storage to mount without slipping a disk? I'm not a body builder.

Input is appreciated!!

It's possible. Get on Youtube and have a look at Greg Nowell's C14 videos.

November 30, 2011 11:10 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

47 Tucanae

Posted By Rod Mollise

Killer. So what did you think? Better than Omega or not?