Posts Made By: Rick Riley

I'm looking to buy a low power, wide angle eyepiece for a 10" f/5 dob. I can't justify spending 500+ dollars for a Nagler right now and I was wondering if you guys had any sugguestions for me. I'd like it get something around 30mm. I was looking at the 31mm GTO Proxima but there's a warning about using it on fast scopes. Has anyone used it on a fast scope and what were the results. Thanks.

Rick

I've been thinking about getting a planetary scope for a while now but I don't know how much better planets will look through a longer focus refractor compared with a short focus reflector. I have a XT10 right now and I was considering getting some type of refractor. Scopes seem to be pretty pricey so I was thinking about just putting an aperature mask on my dob and using for planets. Do you think I would get good results with that or should I just buck up and buy a good refractor. Any experience/advice would be greatly appriciated. Thanks in advance.

Rick R.

I just finished this base and there is one problem with it that I don't know how to solve. As indicated in the picture it wobbles quite a bit. It stops after a while and I don't know how much this is going to bother me when I'm out observing but I figured I'd ask the experts for some help. Thanks for your ideas in advance.

Rick Riley

I'm considering buying or building a scope for mars. I figure since this is the closest it will be in my lifetime why not enjoy it with the best scope possible. Right now I'm considering three scopes.

1.)Televue 102
2.)D&G 6" f/15
3.)6-8" f/9 or so dob

I figured I'd ask you experienced planetary observers which would be the best choice? Remember this scope is only going to be used for viewing mars. I live in the midwest so I don't get many really steady nights. I look forward to hearing your opinions. Also if you have any other suggestions I would love to hear them. Thanks in advance.

Rick Riley

PS. Money really doesn't matter, I'll probably be selling this scope after mars is gone so I won't be loosing that much money.

Hello,

I'm working on making myself a Gibraltar type mount for a refractor. I want to use a tele-pod head on the mount but I have no idea how they mount the head to the tripod. Could someone please send me a picture of the bottom of the head or a description of how this works. You can either post here or e-mail me at [email protected] Thanks in advance.

Rick Riley

I've been looking around at getting some wood legs for my CG-5. The two places I've look are hands on optics and Al's Custom Telescope Accessories. There's a big price difference between the two so I was wondering if there was that much of an advantage (or any) to getting Al's legs? I'd also be interested in plans for wood legs if anybody has made them. Thanks in advance.

Rick Riley

I'm thinking about building my first telescope this summer. I'm not really keen on making my own mirror so that isn't an issue here. I was planning on buying a 6-8" mirror from Discovery and going from there. Anybody have any good books or websites that I should look at before I blindly go about this. Thanks in advance.

Rick Riley

Just a quck question for anyone who knows about this stuff. I'm rebuilding the base of my dob and because of the Krige and Berry book I'm looking for HVHC plywood. I've called a few lumberyards and a specialty hardwood store and nobody knows what I'm talking about. Any help finding some of this stuff localy (St. Louis, MO) would be very appriciated. Thanks in advance.

Rick Riley

Currently I own an excellent TV-102 but the main reason I bought it was Mars which is shrinking now so I'm thinking of selling it and buying a short tube refractor. I really want a portable 80-100mm scope that I can carry on its mount easily.

Right now I'm thinking about getting a William Optics Megrez 80 and putting it on some sort of Bogen tripod/head combo. I also am considering buying a telepod instead of the Bogen combo.

What I'm looking for here are three things:
1) Someone with experience with a Megrez 80 to tell me if this is a good scope for the money.

2) What Bogen combo would work best or would the telepod be the better route to go?

3) If there's a better scope for around the same price range that I should be considering.

Thanks in advance to everyone and I look forward to hearing your opinions.

Rick Riley

I don't see what you're saying, this article says that the moon will rise in the East early enough for the people there to see the whole eclipse. On the West people will see the eclipse underway when the moon rises so they won't see the entire eclipse. To me this means that the moon rises in the East.

Rick Riley