Posts Made By: James R. Chastain

Hi,
I have a homebrew telescope that I was given several years ago. I haven't really used it since I don't have any 1.25" eyepieces. It has a solid aluminium screw in type of focuser instead of a rack and pinion like most scopes I have seen.
I've been reading some of information on the telescope building sites and was wondering how useful this size telescope might be. With a ROUGH measurment the mirror is 4" and the FL about 18-19". This mirror should be about f4-5. There is some writing (in felt tip pen) on the back that say's 34" R.C. , 80% parabolic.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but from what I have read, wouldn't this be considered a wide field telescope?
What should I expect with this type of telescope? The mirror is not perfect but money is very tight right now so it will have to do.
I just want to know what I should consider before I spend any money on eyepieces. Also what eyepieces would be best to start with?
Any help is MUCH appreciated,
James

Howdy all,
I have managed to find a local fellow that has an Orion Starmax 90mm Mak on an EQ1 mount with all accesories as new.
Like this one...
http://www.oriontelescopes.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=368&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=10&iProductID=368
Would $125.00 be a good used price for this scope?
From what I have read, this class of telescope is only really useful for planet viewing. Being a newbie, this would not really be a problem but I was just wondering if this would be a good deal and what everyone thinks of this scope.
He also has an extra 13mm orthoscopic ep with it.

Thanks,
James

Hi all,
All smiles here
I managed to find an Orion Starmax 90mm mak with an EQ1 mount that I could afford and just took it out for 1st light!!
Would you believe it? The first point of light that caught my eye that I decided to look at was Saturn! I was using a 25mm lens and the scope was not at temperature but WOW! I couldn't quite make out the Cassini division but just to make out the planet and rings was awesome! Excuse my enthusiasm but I just had to share.
Think I will go read the book now 8)

James

Hi all,
I've been having a blast with my new scope when the weather corporates but have a problem.
Anyone have experiance with reducing vibration in an EQ1 mount?
I recently purchased an Orion Starmax 90mm mak with the EQ1 mount and aluminum tripod legs.
The problem I am having is somewhat of a medical problem. I have a disorder called essential tremor which causes tremor in mostly my hands and head especially when concentrating on something.
When I'm focusing, the tremor makes it hard to tell when I am focused since the mount and scope are jittering with my hand. I end up moving it a bit and then removing my hand to see if I need to focus better. It doesn't help much that my head is shaking as well :C
I read somewhere on AM that someone packed sand into the legs of thier aluminum tripod and it seemed to help eliminate vibration.
If anyone has any experiance with this, I would like to hear about it. It's a real pain in the "you know what"
Do you think a more rigid mount system would help?
What about wooden legs?

Thanks,
James

Hi,
What is the theoretical limit to the size of a telescope mirror? Besides cost 8)
I realize this is probably a much simplified question to a very complex answer, but just in general?
Is it the weight of the materials used for the mirror?
The technology of making mirrors?
Ect...

Is there a website you would recommend for such answers?

Thanks,
James

OK, Thanks for the info. That helps some. At least I have a better idea of what I have I took the mirror cell out and measured closer and it is 4.25"
Would this be a good telescope for planet viewing? Any idea of what I should expect to be able to see with this limited apeture?

Thanks,
James R. Chastain

Steve,
Thanks I will take a look. I'm not really sure which type of ep (plossl?) to get but 17" focal length is 431.8mm so a 12.5mm ep should give me about 34.5 power. Then a x2 barlow should double that. (see...I have been reading) 8)
I don't want to spend a fortune on ep's but I would like something that will be useful when I do upgrade to a better telescope.

Thanks for the reply,
James

Joe,
I bet that looked awesome! Just imagine what kind of view the astronauts have. I haven't gotten the chance to look through a good telescope yet. I have had a few cheap Tasco's, but nothing more than department store quality. No local clubs so it's hard to get an idea other than some of the outstanding pictures I see here on AM and on the web.

Thanks,
James

That has to be one of the most AWESOME bird picture I have ever seen! I just wanted to tell you "VERY WELL DONE" and thanks for posting it!!

James