Posts Made By: Lee Savoy

This is a really good source for eyepiece protective gear. They have cases, caps and plugs for eyepieces along with a lot of other cool scope gagets. The prices all include U.S. shipping and the staff is really nice.

www.scopestuff.com

I recently bought a 100mm Orion refractor for my girlfriend for her birthday. Last night was the first chance we had to use it. It had a pronounced purple halo around everything, even very dim stars. Bright objects like Jupiter and the moon were very purple. My experence to date is with reflectors, no color problems there. I know most achros have color issues, my question is, how much color is too much? Secondly, what can be done to correct the color problems as far as filters go?

Thanks for any help.
Lee

I have recently gotten involved in the AAAA Observing programs and was wondering if any of you guys have done these. If so what equipment did you use for each observing program you completed? What would be the smallest equipment/scope you'd recommend for anything completed? I have an Orion 130ST reflector and an Orion 100mm refractor, I'm just wondering how many of the observing programs I can actually complete with these scopes. I do have access to a dark sky site and a 16" SCT that belongs to our astronomy club that I can do some of these with, but I'd like to use my scopes for as much as possible.

Thanks for your opinions,
Lee

I had the opportunity to look through the 4.7" f8.3 and the 4.7" f5 at the same star party Saturday night. These observations were made at different times for the two scopes, so I have to qualify that this is not a side by side comparison. I was really exicited about this, because I've been thinking of adding one of these two scopes to my stable (I have a Meade 60mm refractor, remounted on an Orion EQ-1 mount & tripod and an Orion 130ST EQ reflector). Anyway, I have to say, both the f5 and the f8.3 gave up INCREDIBLE views. I was able to look (at different times) Saturn, Jupiter and M42 in both scopes. I was careful to compare them with similar 1 1/4" eyepieces in place. Now I am a novice at this so a more critical eye may have found more problems, but both scopes seemed to perform very close to the same and both performed GREAT. Both had very little abberation(sp)no ghosting and no rainbow effects toward the edge of the FOV. I really didn't notice any difference between detail and clarity for either scope. I think either would be a good chioce, I'll probably base my decision on size, in which case the f5 ST will be the winner. It seemed as comfortable with planetary stuff as the f8.3 and the f8.3 seemed to do the deep sky stuff as well as the f5. Oh, one side note...and I was sure not to tell the owner, but they even seemed to be comparable to a very expensive Takahashi that showed up at the star party. I think you would be happy with either telescope. Let us know what you decide.

Ok, guys, I'm new to the Newt scene myself. I bought an Orion 130ST EQ a couple of weeks ago. I was AMAZED at what I could see, but this disscusion string has raised a few questions for me. I'm also fairly new to Astromart so forgive me if I'm asking redundant questions.

First, what is the software you're talking about using to stack the images? Where can I find it?

I had been contemplating my next eyepiece purchase and I think Mike made up my mind on the Siebert Optics eyepiece. That's a really nice image of Saturn. I think this is my last general question for everyone. I hoping you Newt guys can help me, what is the highest power eyepiece I can get away with using? The 130 is a 1300mm primary, 650mm f/5. I was looking at the Siebert 4.9mm or 7mm. I was afraid the 4.9 might start to wash out. Any opinions? I already have 10mm, 25mm, 40mm Orion Plossls, an old Celestron 2x Barlow and a couple of REALLY old Meade eyepieces that came with a 60mm we bought 15 yrs. ago.

Now I have a couple for Bruce; what tripod and mount did you use? I've got the Orion EQ-2 that came with my scope. I have done a lot of work to it to steady it up and it's much better. Think it's steady enough to pull this sort of thing off? I don't have a motor for it yet though. Did you track or just snap the individual pictures with the snapshop command in the Logitec software? Just a couple more questions, buddy, I promise. :^) Is you're webcam the small "ball" shaped Logitec? I sat here and tried to yank the lense off and didn't see how without just ripping it off. This is the last one I think, did you mount the camera to the scope some way or just hold it?

Sorry to be so long winded, and thanks in advance guys.

Lee

Don't be intimidated, I had never used one before 2 weeks ago, now I'm a pro ;-) It's really easy. I had never used anything but an alt-az, which to me, now seems harder to point.

Lee

Of course, I believe "Murphy's Law of New Telescope Purchase" comes into play here. I had my new telescope 5 nights a couple of weeks ago, before I got to try it out.

I just got my first "real" telescope a couple of weeks ago. So far everything I've seen has been better than ANY picture. There's nothing like the real thing. I have yet to try astrophotography myself, but that's next I can feel it. :-)

After considering the advice given here and talking to Orion, I've decided the color I'm seeing isn't anything out of the ordinary. After I started thinking about it, the color halo wasn't that bad at low magnifications. I was trying to use a 2x barlow and 7mm plossl when it was at it's worst. The scope did give nice crisp views even with the halo. So based on that, I ordered an Orion V-Block filter and the gentleman I talked to told ne that if I still wasn't happy after I test the filter that I could exchange the OTA. If I'm still not happy with the performance after that I can exchange it for a comparable reflector. Orion's customer service really is top notch. I'll let you guys know what I think of the V-Block filter when it gets here next week.

Thanks to everyone for their very useful advice.

Keep looking up!
Lee

Well the V-block filter arrived today. Does it work on clouds? Wouldn't you know it, a long weekend and it's suppose to be cloudy the whole time. I have had a chance to use the scope a couple more times since the first light questions and it does deliver really good views, even in the middle of the light polluted Dallas Metroplex. I can't wait to get it to the TAS dark sky site with the new V-block filter in place. Thanks to everyone for your helpful advice.

Keep looking up,
Lee