Posts Made By: Thomas Gappmayer

Hey everyone

I'm relatively new to astronomy myself as well, and have a 4.5" 9(f/5)Celestron goto reflector I bought this summer. After quite a bit of enjoyable viewing, I have decided I want a bigger scope that will give me room to grow. Currently, I am considering a meade LXD55 SN-10 and a Celestron C-10N, but I had some questions regarding each.

First of all, how much performance difference will I notice between my 4.5" and a 10"? There are plenty of astrophotos from the LXD55 out there, but they are huge exposures. How much difference will I notice when I move up to this larger aperturely, with just my normal eye? How many more DSO's will be made available because of the scope? Secondly, on the LXD55, I have the option of getting UHTC coatings, and I was wondering how this would improve my viewing experience? Thirdly, I was wondering if there were any other telescopes I should consider for $800-$1100 or so. Thanks a bunch for any help.

Thomas

Yeah, so this is the newbie that posted a little bit ago about buying either a LXD 55 or a C10-N by celestron, and it seems that my scope problems have been solved temporarily. A local nature group heard that there was a sixteen year old kid (me, of course) who was shopping for a scope, and they have decided to loan me their Meade 16" EQ semi-permenently, giving me leeway to make all the necessary upgrades to this light bucket. Anyways, out of the box (it was new), I can already tell the focuser is akin to maybe a dollar store item, and I was wondering if there were any suggestions as to a modestly priced (but still good!) 2" focuser/other accessories. I already have a decent selection of filters/ EP's, so I'm okay there, but any other "must have" suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks!

I'll have to post a pic sometime of me, my 4.5" and now this 16"..

Thomas

Hey all--

I just took the mirror of my 16" Meade Eq out for a long overdo cleaning, and was wondering if it would improve image quality if I were to mask the edge of the mirror. I've read somewhere that meade mirrors suffer from a "turned-edge", and if so, I was wondering how large of a mask to create for the mirror, and if I would notice a difference in the mirror's light grasp. Thanks

Thomas

Hey folks,

I'm a poor college student who just came across a bit of a neat find. To make a long story short, I am now the proud owner of an 8" Dobsonian telescope, home (custom) made(I paid $20 for it too!). I couldn't be more thrilled, but this one seems to be a fixer-upper, and I was wondering if I could get your input on what you would do first in my situation. Here's the rundown::

Optics-- 8" primary, unknown F ratio (it looks like it's F/6 or F/7ish, on a good looking mirror mount (I can take pictures of it if you want)

The secondary is mounted on a single stalk, homemade looking wire-thing, with no way to collimate it. (and a quarter glued to the back of the secondary!)

The focuser is a threaded tube that you thread to bring to focus.. really basic. (1.25")

The mount(altitude bearing) is comprised of two deep-dish pizza pans attached to a wooden frame and resting on a wooden cradle

The azimuth bearing is another set of pizza pans with a layer of felt between it to make it move smoothly

And the sonotube is painted black on the inside (poorly painted, might I add?)

Anyway, now's where I need your help. I already plan on putting on a 2" rack & pinion from a meade LXD 75 onto it, and hopefully upgrading the spider, but if each of you got this scope, what would you do to fix it up and turn it into a decent little dob? Keep in mind my limited budget, but all suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks and clear skies,

Thomas