Posts Made By: David Tasch

August 21, 2002 12:10 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

August 21, 2002 12:15 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Orion customer support a disappointment

Posted By David Tasch

Today I called Orion with a request to purchase a replacement endcap/dust cover for my XT10 reflector. Much to my surprise I was told that since I had bought the scope second hand that I was out of luck and could not purchase this item. I went on to explain that I wanted to pay them good American greenbacks for the part - not that I wanted a free replacement. I still recieved the "I'm sorry but....". This was a total disapointment given the often rave reviews I hear about Orion's customer support. Does anyone have ideas with how to get through to the folks at Orion?

Thanks for any help'

David

August 21, 2002 01:58 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

XT10 endcap/dustcover continued

Posted By David Tasch

Thanks everyone for the showercap ideas! I was hoping to get another endcap such that I could make a really nice off-axis apeture stop. I experimented using poster board and noticed some remarkable viewing characteristics. The moon and Saturn were dramatically sharper and had much greater contrast - beyond what I think could be gained by the apeture reduction with less than ideal seeeing. I know there are different opinions regarding this concept of stopping down and clearly a larger apeture wins if the optics are immpecable but this is not a premium mirror! By stopping down the apeture, however, I have 4-5" of UNOBSTRUCTED optics that are probably on par with a premium mirror. I'm assuming that sampling a small portion of an average or better than average mirror will show that the given area has less aberations etc. Another added benefit was that I noted that my 40mm Optilux 2" eyepiece (not great on fast scopes) performed REMARKABLY better with the apeture stopped down.

I'm surprised we don't see off-axis stops on more dobs. Medium and big dob owners could essentially have big APO's for practically pennies. I guess I'll make a nice apeture mask out of some thin plywood and finish it nicely with paint and hardware.

Does anyone else have experience with "slowing down" the optics on the dob with an off-axis mask? Comments/Suggestions welcome.

thanks,
david

September 1, 2002 01:35 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Posted By David Tasch

Does anybody have experience using a binoviewer using the Nagler 13T6 and 9T6 eyepieces? I was wondering if the maintain there edge performance in a binoviewer? I am currently trying out a DeepSky Bino. I don't have the 1.2x corrector yet so I am using a Powermate 2.5x to get to focus. I am experiencing some loss in edge performance with this setup. Is this normal in a Bino?

Thanks,

David

September 1, 2002 02:23 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Binoviewer edge performance?

Posted By David Tasch

Does anybody have experience using a binoviewer using the Nagler 13T6 and 9T6 eyepieces? I was wondering if they maintain there edge performance in a binoviewer? I am currently trying out a DeepSky Bino. I don't have the 1.2x corrector yet so I am using a Powermate 2.5x to get to focus. I am experiencing some loss in edge performance with this setup. Is this normal in a Bino? The reviews on Bino's that I've read only discuss image brightness, vignetting/no vignetting, and planetary performance-no mention of edge performance.

Thanks,

David

November 8, 2002 09:24 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

GRS sighting

Posted By David Tasch

This morning I finally saw the GRS on Jupiter. I could tell that the periphery of the spot was darker than the center and that the equatorial band that it lays in had a greater width on one side - it appeared that the band is almost "bunched up behind the spot". During moments of really good seeing I could tell that there was multiple banding at the poles and "stuff going on" inside the large bands. I could never really put together the fine details because the seeing would change rapidly and my mirror was still cooling down. I think the sun was up by the time my mirror was completely cooled. On one last note to see the really fine details I observed with one eye. My bino seemed to degrade the image just slightly but for the low contrast details on Jupiter it was a significant difference. Has anyone else had this experience? Also, what filter(s) are going to be best for Jupiter?

Clear skies and sleeping babies,

David

November 8, 2002 09:26 PM Forum: Binoviewers

Low contrast details and a Bino

Posted By David Tasch

This morning I finally saw the GRS on Jupiter. I could tell that the periphery of the spot was darker than the center and that the equatorial band that it lays in had a greater width on one side - it appeared that the band is almost "bunched up behind the spot". During moments of really good seeing I could tell that there was multiple banding at the poles and "stuff going on" inside the large bands. I could never really put together the fine details because the seeing would change rapidly and my mirror was still cooling down. I think the sun was up by the time my mirror was completely cooled. On one last note to see the really fine details I observed with one eye. My bino seemed to degrade the image just slightly but for the low contrast details on Jupiter it was a significant difference. Has anyone else had this experience? Also, what filter(s) are going to be best for Jupiter?

Clear skies and sleeping babies,

David

April 16, 2003 01:11 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Parcorr/need more in-focus

Posted By David Tasch

I have a 15" F4.5 truss dob that will not allow any of my eyepieces to come to focus. I think I need to shorten my truss poles to get eyepieces to focus. Without the Parcorr, the 31 Nagler uses ALL of my in-focus...moreso than any other eyepiece I own. Any ideas on the amount I need to shorten them?

Thanks in advance,

David

August 29, 2003 12:01 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

14mm UWA and 2" barlows

Posted By David Tasch

I want to get a 2" Barlow to use with my Meade 14mm UWA, Nagler 11 T 1. Can I use a traditional barlow (TV Big barlow)or do I need to get the 2" Powermate? I know the 31 nagler will vignette with the Big Barlow but how about the 14mm and 11mm ultrawide/Nagler? Also will the eye relief be "thrown out" beyond the comfort zone with a traditional barlow? Assuming the Big Barlow won't vignette/encourage blackouts will I be giving up anything with regards to image quality versus the Powermate. Looking for someone who has had experience with 2" barlows/image amplifiers.

Thanks in advance,

David

October 3, 2003 02:48 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

What did I see transit the moon?

Posted By David Tasch

Tonight around 9:05 CST I was observing the moon at about 150X when I saw a dark (jet black)object/shadow? move across the illuminated side of the moon until it completely disappeared into the terminator. It was either round or slightly oblong and approximately the same apparent diameter as Mars it 150X. It crossed the moon's illuminated side in approximately 3 seconds. I am in Austin, Tx.

Thanks,

David