Posts Made By: Stu Travelbee

The only issue with this design is the front legs are straight and will sink into the ground if the earth is soft, where the Stardust chair has all four legs splayed out to give support even on soft ground. I own the Stardust chair and love it.

I read that some feel they have a narrow interocular measurement and this limits them to certain eyepiece designs. I was curious what different people have for their interocular measurement. I have 62-63 according to my calculations and my optometrist lists mine at 63.
Stu

Recently I ordered a UniStar HD Deluxe and wood surveyor tripod from Larry at Universal Astronomics.. Having had my TEC140 on a Losmandy G-11 for the past six month I wanted another mount for quick viewing sessions with faster set up and tear down. After looking at a few mounts for an OTA this size I decided I would order a UniStar HD Deluxe. My first impression of the mount while unpacking was it is larger than I had imagined. I was quite pleased with the over all construction, fit, finish, and machining of the UniStar HD Deluxe. The welds were very uniform and the hardware was of high quality. The “arm” of the mount is fabricated from 2” square stock with .25” wall. Both the altitude and azimuth controls were easy to fine tune for smooth movement and the 3” saddle plate has two guide rods to keep the jaw parallel while tightening on the dovetail. I found the tripod to be very stable as I ordered it with a Bogen spreader instead of the usual spreader with EP tray. The tripod is identical to the CST/Berger yellow surveyor tripods except the dowels are black and the legs are natural wood which gives it a nice non-industrial look. It’s easy to pick up the OTA, mount, and tripod to carry outside by just lifting up on the spreader and collapsing the legs. I was curious if the legs would have to be extended fully for the OTA to point near the zenith and have easy access to the eyepiece, but with the legs completely retracted the saddle plate was still 54” off the ground leaving the eyepiece high enough to view while seated. A “rap” test to the diagonal showed the image to stabilize in 2 seconds at 200x, much better than I was expecting for a 48” long 23 pound OTA on an alt-az mount. At just under $600 I am very satisfied with this “grab and go” mount and tripod for the TEC140. Yes, I will still use the G-11 for those long “night into morning” viewing sessions, but it nice to have a sturdy alt-az for all the other times.
Stu

Zeiss was born on Memorial Day and will come home with us in three weeks. Until then he will look cute...

I am looking at the two Glatter 2" lasers; the holographic with barlow attachment and the single dot with barlow. What are the adavantages of the 2" holographic ($210) over the 2" single dot ($135). TIA...
Stu

It would be very easy to switch between the two. All that would be needed would be to remove the diagonal and unscrew the "T" adaptor, replace the diagonal, and insert your TV binoviewer. The OCS can be used a different magnifications if your scope has the needed in and out focuser travel. The 2" OCS would be a benefit if you have a fast focal ratio scope, faster than F/5.

Randy,
I have the 18x50s and was curious where you purchased the step down adaptors as I already have the filters too?
Stu

Lynn,
I have been using Kendall Multi-Purpose EP-2 (L-426) lithium and find it to be easy to clean off and stays where I put it. I put a small "blob" in the freezer and when removed it was just as pliable as when warm. Others like Slick 50, but the Kendall EP-2 lithium seem to work great for my mount gears even in 10 degree weather. It is available at most auto supply stores.
Stu

Larry,
Last weekend I had one of the best nights viewing in years. I just received the dual arm Power Switch and with the Denk II and a pair of 18mm Radians had some wonderful views. I see you have a 140 also.
Stu

Doug,
I have the #DRA-0028 Radian adaptor, but you only need #DEC-0028 (top portion) if you want to use a 1.25" focuser. It will work with Radians too.
Stu