Posts Made By: John Tucker

I have a 2" OIII (Lumicon) filter that threads easily into all my 2" eyepieces except a new Pentax SMC-LX 40mm. It threads on a half turn or so. I don't want to crossthread anything so I carefully backed it out. Any ideas or suggestions?

THX,

J. Tucker

I have a Televue skytour and the AZ encoder is bad. Does anyone know where I can find out who makes the actual encoder, what the pin-out is or any other useful info. I asume that the 4 pins are Vcc, gnd, CH1 and CH2 and that it is a quadrature encded 2160 tic encoder. I'm trying to repair myself rather than buy a new set up.

Thanks in advnce,

J. Tucker

I've just purchased a pre-owned TV Sky Tour. It has some interresting design "features". Does anyone know where I can get some detailed technical info (schematics, program listings, bug reports, version history, etc) for this or any of the Tangent Instruments based DSCs on the market (Advanced Astromaster, etc). Also looking for info concerning crashing when attempting to enter the date in PLANETS mode.
THX

Is the F6.3 focal reducer useful for visual work, or basically a tool for astrophotography? I would be using this on a 10" f10 LX200. Will it cause vignetting on low power, wide field eyepieces (35mm Pan, 40 mm Pentax xl)?

THX

If you look at the test data from the 1st add, you will see from the lot of 6 20" the Strehl numbers are .956, .980, .961, .954, .954 and .980. Looks like for the extra premium, you can have one of the .980 mirrors. If I understand correctly, the interferometric testing is costly and time consuming. The optician makes his best mirror (and no two will be exactly alike) then tests them. If they meet the minimum criteria, they go on sale and for a premium, you can pick the best of the lot. I don't see a problem with this at all. I have to confess I have one of those mirrors, it came on a used scope though so I did not have a choice up front. The seller though was asking a little more because of it though. I'm not sure if I am expert enough to tell the difference, but I am pleased with the views. Just my $.02...

J. Tucker

well, I'm just getting back to the forums and realize this is a little late but... If your serious you might a well start saving your pennies. With your 10" you'll want: 15 mm panoptic, 22 mm panoptic, 35 mm panoptic and a nice 10 or 11 mm plossl. Naglers are even better. It makes such a huge difference with this scope. I have a lot more into my eyepiece collection thanI have in the LX200

jtuc

Dave,

I have the 10" and find I rarely want more higher power than 10-12 mm, even with great seeing. With your scope f=3048 mm, I wold think you would want to start with wide field 20-40 mm eyepieces. I got mine all used on (where else) Astromart. The Panoptic 22, 27 and 35 mm are all good choices. I recently purchased a 40 mm Pentax XL which is great. If money is a concern, the Meade 32 mm SW is ok, but the 35 mm Panoptic prety much blows it away.

J. Tucker

I'm not the expert on this, but I've just put a TV sky tour on an alt az mount. I beleive the lumicon unit is one of the Tangent Instruments type, and they should all work the same. After the intro message is the first display "ALIGN MARK"? If so you are probably already set up for ALT/AZ operation. then you just do a two star alignment and you're ready to go. If not, is there a mode called "INSTALL"? This is where you initialize the computer for differnt mounts and encoders. If you have specific questions let me know and I will try to answer.

J. Tucker

I bought a nice Pronto set up a while back to use as a quick look scope. I probably used it twice before selling it. Since I got it used, I did't take a huge hit. I just got spoiled by dark skies and decided that if I couldn't drive out to the country, I didn't really need to observe. I notice certain people on Astromart also go thru a lot of equipment over the years.

Floyd,

I got my Kendrick second hand along with my 18" f/4.5. It did not come w/ any instructions. I would also be very appreciative if you would share your alignment procedure.

Thanks