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Captured by
Douglas Rollain

M20 Trifid Nebula in LRGBHa

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Posts Made By: Doug Culbertson

January 24, 2003 01:47 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

AstroMart staff

Posted By Doug Culbertson
Hey, looks like you have a pretty good collection of vinyl in the background too! Cool...I still love listening to my records.

Doug
Midway, FL

January 28, 2003 06:30 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

New Tele Vue Products - extra! extra!

Posted By Doug Culbertson
The thud you hear is the bottom falling out of the used 11mm T1 Nagler market...

Doug
Midway, FL

January 30, 2003 01:29 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Really far off forum topic.....

Posted By Doug Culbertson
I also think that it has possibilities, and have wondered when someone would apply that concept to making DSCs for the Portaball line of dobs.

Unfortunately, I don't have the mechanical or computer skills to take on the project, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it in the near future.

Doug
Midway, FL

February 1, 2003 03:21 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Space shuttle missing!!

Posted By Doug Culbertson
Judging by the video of multiple contrails, it does not look good. May the crew and their families be in all of our thoughts...

Doug
Midway, FL

March 6, 2003 01:30 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

The Fateful Star Party

Posted By Doug Culbertson
Ron,
What a great, well thought out review of your evening! I think you point out the fact that "try before you buy" is more than just some old saw that many of us quote. The right scope for you is the scope that makes you take a look and say "OH WOW!" no matter what the aperture.

Thanks for a good read.

Doug
Midway, FL

March 6, 2003 03:38 PM Forum: Star Parties

Taking a poll for a Mars Star Party......

Posted By Doug Culbertson
Sounds good to me. The Keys would probably be the ideal location. Either that or out in the desert southwest. The problem with Cedar Key, or anyplace north of far south Florida is the daily intrusion of clouds during the summertime as the Gulf heats up and sends lots of moisture toward land. South Florida has a nice laminar flow of air that seems to do a better job of dissipating the cloud cover.

Doug
Midway, FL

March 13, 2003 01:16 AM Forum: Binoviewers

Binos vs Microscope Conversions

Posted By Doug Culbertson
Someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong here, but I thought that the main difference between the converted microscope heads like the Nikons and the higher priced ones like Denkmeier and TeleVue, et al, was the size of the prisms. In the Denks and TVs, AP/Baader, etc, are 26mm+ prisms, while the others have smaller prisms, thus limiting one to mainly lunar and planetary observing. The problem lies in the fact that the smaller prisms vignette in any eyepiece over 24mm or so.

I would also think that the higher priced binoviewers have better coatings on the prisms to reduce light scatter, better eyepiece holders, etc. Like I said, that was my impression, but I could be wrong.

Oh, also aren't a lot of the converted microscope heads 45 degree instead of straight through? That makes it pretty much impossible, or at least uncomfortable to use on a Newt!

Doug
Midway, FL

March 14, 2003 08:39 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Robin Cassidy

Posted By Doug Culbertson
http://www.carmelcoast.com/Astro/salesmart.html

Doug
Midway, FL

March 15, 2003 02:35 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

C11 vs Starmaster 11

Posted By Doug Culbertson
Well, I happen to think that the Starmaster is that much better...or more specifically, the Zambuto mirror MAKES it that much better, IMHO. Much smaller central obstruction, around 17% vs what, 33% CO for the C11? The Starmaster has much better contrast on the moon and planets, faster cooldown than the C11, smoother mirror (can the C11 claim .95 or better Strehl?), no dew problems, much lighter package when broken down, and Rick's legendary customer service. Otherwise, 11" is 11".

I have to admit that tracking would be nice and that can be had with an equatorial platform. With DSCs one can push to faster than the C11 GPS can goto. But, I guess it's a bit harder to do astrophotography with the Starmaster...

Oh yeah, I might be a bit biased.

Doug
Midway, FL
Starmaster 11" f/5.4 ELT

March 16, 2003 03:14 AM Forum: Star Parties

Taking a poll for a Mars Star Party......

Posted By Doug Culbertson
Brian,
I posted this to the equipment forum too...
The Tallahassee Astronomical Society would be willing to offer our dark site as an alternate site if the one in the Keys can't be reserved. We have a couple of acres in a semi-dark area about 15 miles outside of Tallahassee, Fl in the Panhandle area. Our site is up on a hill, and holds a dome with a C14, as well as a small house with bathrooms and a kitchen area. There is also limited electrical access in our observing field. The site is not large enough for the big RVs, but tent camping would be fine. Of course, with only a couple of acres, we would have to put a cap on attendance. We think it is a nice site though and we can still handle lots of telescopes and observers.

If Brian, or any other organizers of a Mars Star Party, would like to contact me at [email protected], I would be glad to discuss this with you, as there are some legal considerations, since we have to cross private property to access our site.

While I do think that the Keys probably offer superior observing conditions, we offer this as a consideration. Besides, I think that we are a great, although small, group of observers in TAS!

Doug (Secretary, TAS)
Midway, FL

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