Posts Made By: Don Bryden

I have a Celestron 8x50 rt. angle finder with a .965 crosshair eyepiece. One of the hairs is broken and I'd like to replace it with an illuminated eyepiece. The problem is I can only find 1.25" illum. reticle eyepieces (like my Meade 12mm astrometric).

Does anyone know where you can find an illuminated crosshair or reticle .965" eyepiece? Can I get a .965 to 1.25 adapter and use my Meade? Should I toss the entire finder scope and get a Tak or WO? I have thought I might disassemble the Celestron eyepiece and etch or mark it with a dot in the center...

Any thoughts would be appreciated

This is a completely newbie-ish question and I apologize if it's misplaced but it's sort of a refractor-focuser-ccd question all in one. I have an SV-105 (f6.2,651mm FL), integrated 2" Feathertouch 2 speed focuser, and an ST-2000XCM. With my 2" (WO dialectric) diagonal I must run in the focuser nearly completely. So much that I don't feel I can run it past focus on that side (though it appears to focus just as it bottoms out). On the other extreme, without the diagonal, I can't run the focuser out far enough to focus, apparently needing a good 2" extension to achieve focus.

I suppose this allows for accessories like the AO8 or filter wheel
(which I don't really need with the single shot color but I
understand is possible to use). But with the focuser racked all the
way out, adding a big extension would really have the camera hanging
out in space! With my odd assortment of eyepieces (from a 55mm TV to
a 7.5mm UWAN and 5 more in between, I can focus visually with or
without the diagonal. Does this sould right?

I'm looking for parts to repair a CI-700. I would be interested in a source for the DC motor and gears, the knurled manual knob, and the worm gear assy.

If anyone has any ideas (or parts) I'd be happy to hear from you!

Thanks,

Don

Take a look at "Introduction to Digital Astrophotography: Imaging the Universe with a Digital Camera" by Robert Reeves. He covers a ton of info from choosing equipment to image processing.

Here's a link to it on the OPT website though I imagine any Astro or book site would sell it.

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=105-258-259-261-7018

Thanks for the ideas though, fortunately, another A-marter has come through in the pinch. He has an old Meade ill. eyepiece that has a .965 barrel that he'll sell for $60. I just hope the Meade eyepiece and Celestron 'scope will get along

Thanks for the replies,

Don

I can't help with the chips but I know a guy who has a few CI-700 boards and a complete controller unit (though I believe he said the RA output doesn't work). Here's his website: http://www201.pair.com/resource/astro.html/teletrade/

GL!

Welcome to the world of astrophotography. You've just discovered what flat frames are for! You mention that you couldn't load your dark frame into Registax (sorry, can't help - I use MaxiM) so I assume you took one with equal length and temperature of your 127" image.

You're on the right track. Longer (or more) stacked exposures with associated dark frams will boost Signal/Noise ratio and clean up the picture. The flats may not even be necessary with a higher S/N ratio but if you use them, they will eliminate your dust bunnies.

Here's a nice "How to" guide: http://www.saratogaskies.com/articles/cookbook/index-v0p5.html but just do a search, there are a ton of books and websites dedicated to astrophotography.

You say you loaded the drivers. After installing ASCOM (5.0 is latest version) you need to set it up from the Starry Night Telescope tab. Click on "Configure" Then from the Ascom Telescope Chooser click "Celestron Telescopes". Click "Properties" and then set the scope type to NexStar 9.25 GPS or CPC. Be sure to put in you other info such as com port, mount type, etc... and you should be able to connect.

But...if you've never installed ASCOM before v5.0 then you have no drivers as v5.0 no longer includes them. You must go to the driver page and choose the correct drivers (http://ascom-standards.org/Downloads/Index.htm). For Celestron CPC (and for all Celestron computerized scopes) there is a Celestron Unified driver. Download it and select it from the Starry Night as above.

-Don

Yes! In fact we just dealt with this issue with another club member's scope. He had dropped the hand box so we got a replacement but that was not the issue. Finally we took it down to Celestron and let them work on it. Hector,who runs their tech support, tested the unit himself, flashing the hand controller and the mount firmware.

He could see that the mount firmware would become corrupted the moment it was turned back on. They actually ended up replacing the entire mount head and now it works fine. I would definitely get in touch with Celestron in order to ship the mount head back (or go through you retailer if it's a Celestron dealer). I know you are out in TX but visiting the Celestron facility is an option too. they've been upgrading their facility in Torrance and have doubled their space and added an observatory (though the outskirts of LA is not the ideal location for one...)

Here's their info if you don't have it at hand:

Celestron, LLC.
2835 Columbia St
Torrance, CA 90503

telephone: 310-328-9560
Tech Support: 310-803-5955
fax: 310-212-5835
Web email form: http://www.celestron.com/c3/support3/index.php?departmentid=1&_m=tickets&_a=submit&step=1

-Don B