Posts Made By: Lynn Kliewer

9.25 users I have a few questions for you. I am fairly new to astronomy. (Recieved a gift of the Celestron Nexstar 114 for my birthday last January from some wonderful friends of mine who noticed my interest in astronomy--- Sky and Telescope mags always laying around, etc.) As you might guess I was quickly innoculated with aperture fever. I did some research and settled on the Celsrtron 9.25 as a scope with good optics at a reasonable price and it still fits in my Honda Accord to go to my clubs star parties as I have no viewing at home in the city. I just purchased an Ultima 9.25 for a very good price. I had been thinking that I would buy a 9.25 OTA and then get a GM8 mount for it UNTIL the Ultima fork mount came along for a good price. So, I was looking for information on Celeston 9.25 telescopes tonight and I noticed an old forum exchange about changing to or from a fork mount with the 9.25 telescope. Now I may end up being very happy with the fork mount but if I am not just ecstatic about it after some time my question(s) are: 1.)If, in the future, I would decide I still wanted to go to the equatorial from a fork mount is that possible with this Ultima OTA? 2.)If it is, what is involved in making the change-over beside getting the GEM? 3.)Would I be able to sell an Ultima tripod, wedge and fork mount if that were the case and I didn't want to keep it? 4.)And whaterver else you can think of.
Thanks for whatever help you can give me,
Lynn

I am fairly new to astronomy and I now own a C9.25 that I am currently buying eyepieces for. Could any of you C9.25 owners or otherwise experienced astronomers advise me on how short of a focal length the C9.25 will tolerate (7mm, 4mm, etc.???) and what types of lenses work best at higher powers in this scope? I know I want lenses with good eye relief so that makes Pentax SMC XLs and Radians attractive to me but I thought I would ask other observers what their experinces were to guide my shopping (and spending).
Thanks,
Lynn

I am looking for an inexpensive but descent quality pair of 10x50's. I want to use them for scanning the sky to help me proximally locate deep sky objects for my 9.25 Celestron scope. I have read about the 15x70 and 20x80 Burgess binoculars on Astromart forums in terms of getting decent quality for your money. My question--- what about the Burgess 10x50's. Has anybody used these? For $49 it seems a descent buy--- If anybody has an idea of how they perform let me know.

Lynn

I read the article in the August S&T regarding atmospheric dispersion correction with prisms (at that time there was no mass produced version) and then the Nov. S&T comes out with the news of a retail product in the New Product Showcase section with AVA's new "Planetary Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector." I did a search of the forum but from what I can tell this hasn't been discussed here much. The article gave a pretty good description of "how and why" this works. I have only been at this about a year and a half so I thought I would put out a question to see if there is any interest in this thing by those of you who have been at this a while or if any discussion would generate. Are there differing opinions as to HOW MUCH improvement this will actually make for planetary viewing? Has anyone tried this by making their own and did it make a big difference? Is it worth the price(starting at $135 and up). I will spend most of my time with clusters and galaxies this winter but I'm really looking forward to viewing Jupiter and Saturn again when spring approaches and they come up earlier in the evening--- what do you think?

Lynn

I need some opinions on the Nagler 26mm from some of you experienced astronomers. (My scope is a 9.25 f10 SCT.) I am upgrading my eyepiece line and I am considering gettng a Nagler 26mm to fill in between a 17 mm Nagler and a 40mm XL. Since the Nagler 26 has been out for a little while I would like to hear from those who own or have owned or used a Nagler 26mm. Also, has any one else had this configuration of eyepieces (40/26/17)and does it cover the mid to high power range well for you?

Lynn

Has anybody used the 50mm Axiom? I would like to know how it would compare to the view through a 40mm XL or similar eyepiece. I have the 40mm XL and like it but I am wondering if I can get a wider view yet. I have been recomneded to try the Axiom so I thought I would see if others have used and/or compared it. It would be used on an f10 9.25 SCT. What is the lowest power that could be used on this scope?

Lynn

I am working on the slow motion controls of my equitorial mount and I will need to replace the lubricant around the shaft/gear that the slow motion knobs are attached to. The stuff that was on there (and that is on the gears in the mount itself) is BLACK and fairly disgusting. Where do I get this and/or is there something better? Is there something in local plumbing or hardware stores or should I get this on line? Need your recomnedation.

Lynn

I seem to remeber from some of the posts I have read in the past on equipemnt that there is a company (or someone) out there that will manufacture or mill a needed part that can't be otherwise found or purchased. I have an EQ2, which only mounts with the rings directly bolted to the plate on the top of the mount. I would like to adpat it to handle a dovetale plate and use a different ring setup. I may need to have a steel or aluminum bar made that would seve as a mounting base that I can attach to the EQ2 and subsequently attach the doevetail plate to it. Anybody know if there is a business out there that could machine steel and aluminum for something like this? With the right equipment and know how it may even be fairly simple.
Lynn

I notice that last summer there were several threads with commentary on the new Starbright XLT coatings. Does anyone have more info or experience on how the preformance is actually working out in regard to this product since then?

Lynn

Hello,
I'm looking for some comment and education on the Nexstar C11 telescope. I have been considering moving up to the Nexstar C11 in the future. (I currently have an Ultima 9.25 that I like but I am eventually going to move to a Nexstar "Go-To" telescope and I am thinking about an aperature increase but want it to remain fairly portable.) I am most interested in deep space objects. Can anyone give me information on the differences in the central obstruction on the new C9.25 and the C11 telescopes and how it affects the viewing. Are there any websites or articles on this anywhere? What is your experience in how these the 9.25 scope (and also other SCT's--- 12 in??) compare with the C11 for viewing deep space objects? What difference does the new XLT coating make for (observing) brightness of deep space objects--- if any?

Thanks ahead of time for your respone,
Lynn