Posts Made By: David Johanson

I have recently purchased a Celestron C-8, starbright non-XLT with CG-5 mount(soon to be motorized). It was a huge upgrade from an older C-90. I am learning my way around the sky and having a blast.

I have a few generic plossl eyepieces which aren't worth much but I do have a 40mm Celestron plossl that is very nice and a celestron SMA 25mm wide angle that seems to be a big step up from my Meade MA25. I have Celestron SMA 10 and SMA 12 which don't seem to perform well and neither does the meade 9mm. The only "serious" eyepiece I own is a University Optics 18mm ortho which now is duking it out with the 40mm as my favorite. I also have an Orion 2x barlow which is marvelous at times and horrible at others. I have also recently obtained a DGM Optics NPB filter. Which really improves the view of the Orion nebula which is all I've had a chance to try it on.

So here's the question. How much of an eyepiece is it worth buying for a non XLT C-8?

I can't see spending $250 plus for a Panoptic (yet), but would I be able to appreciate a Televue wide angle or a Nagler for $125-150?

Should I invest in a better quality Barlow? The Orion 2X with the 18mm UO is amazing on the moon but seems horrible on the Orion Nebula, very dark with or without the NPB filter.

If I was going to drop $150+ dollars on an eyepiece, what would you reccomend?

Thanks
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Dave Johanson

I have ordered a 19mm Panoptic and now I'm thinking I should mate it to a decent diagonal for my C-8. My question: Which one? I have the solid one that came with the C-8 which seems fine but I have a feeling I will want something better with the new eyepiece.

I suppose the obvious answer is a Televue, but the Everbright at about $190 is a bit steep. The Televue standard is more reasonable at $140 but what others should I consider?
Thanks
Dave

Hello all,
I have a C8 on a CG-5 on a heavy duty wooden tripod.Moving it to an ugly but rigid tripod made it into a very stable mount.
My question:
Is the LXD55 "goto" capable of handling a C8?
I would transfer it to the heavy tripod as the aluminum legs are pretty useless.
Thanks
Dave

I am contemplating the purchase of a 32mm University Optics Konig to fit between my 19mm Panoptic and 40mm Pentax XL. I'll use it in a C8 w/ a WO SCT diagonal and in a C102 f10 w/ Celestron diag. I haven't been able to find specific information on this eyepiece except that it is probably not as sharp edge to edge as some other, more expensive eyepieces. While I'd like a 27mm Panoptic it aint in the cards for a while.
Think I'd be happy with the Konig? What's a fair used price?
Thanks
Dave

Hello all,
I was thinking, I know it is very dangerous to do that, about higher magnification with my C8 f10...
I currently have a 19mm Panoptic that I use with a 2X Televue Barlow for magnification of 210. This is usually too high for decent viewing, but I have seen some quite nice planetary views with this combination.

My question....would I be happier, or more satisfied with a 9mm ortho or some other less than $150 eyepiece?

While I swore that I'd never spend more on one eyepiece than I did on my first scope, I have since bought a 19mm Pan, a Pentax 40XL($150!) and just traded my first scope for a UA 32mm 2" Konig.

Perhaps I should just get some counseling...

I'm considering installing a piece of heavy 4" galvanized pipe in my front yard as a pier. I'll probably build a small deck around it but this pipe is heavy and set into a concrete base will be mighty secure. What I need is an adapter to fix the CG5 to the top of the pipe. I can fix a plate to the top of the pipe but would like to buy something off the shelf rather than spend lots of money at a machine shop.
Anyone know of a source?

I'm considering purchasing one of these Scope/mount pakages. Its the GOTO CG5 and the C100ed scope for $1575. This seems to be a great price for this setup, anyone have experience with either the mount or scope they'd like to share? I can't seem to find any info on the scope, is it the same basically as the Orion 100ed?

Thanks for any help!
Dave

I recently sold my pair of Celestron Skymaster 20X80's. I just didn't like them. The optics were OK but I found them hard to look through. I have a pair of Fujinon 7X50's which I can look through all day but the Skymasters seemed to have less than the advertised 15mm eye relief. I used them with a parallelogram mount so it wasn't holding them steady or for a long period that was the problem.

Enough complaining...

Does anyone have any reccomendations for a new pair of "big" binoculars? I don't want to spend a fortune but want something better. I have read good things about the Oberwerk Light Weight 20X80s and the Orion Megaview seem a possible choice.

Are there others that people are happy with. Are any of the 22X100s that seem to be sold under many names any good?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Dave

Can you really take a 19mm Panoptic and place it in a 5X powermate and have a 3.8mm view?
It just seems improbable...

Just spent an early evening, hour and a half enjoying the view through a Stellarvue Blackhawk (80mm f/6) with a single eyepiece, a Pentax 40XL. Let's see 80 times six equals 480...divded by 40 is 12???
Didn't look for a single Messier, particular star, NGC??? Nope, I looked for nothing.
I spent the time just scanning the sky and enjoying star field after starfield...
Probably the best time I've had in months.
I'm off to bed early. Alarm is set for 3:00. I'll pack a few shorter length eyepieces for some early morning views.