Posts Made By: Craig Levine

Quick question: Is this the EP that Apogee has branded with their logo? The one one their website is $199 (Type II). If it's the same EP line, what are the differences between the Type II and Type III?

Thanks,

- Craig

My wife also has a consuming passion (besides our relationship): Gardening. We respect each other's hobby and take part in both. I do the heavy digging/hauling for her, and she understands my needs/wants for the telescope. for every EP or upgrade I acquire, she gets several cubic yards of the best soil, shrubs, nursery beds etc. She's attended club meetings and lectures with me, I've spent many weekend days visiting several greenhouses. She now can point out most constellations; I can name a good portion of plants in the garden. Our bookshelves are divided evenly between gardening and astronomy books. It's all about mutual respect and sharing. You can be down to earth and have your head above the clouds.

Cheers,

- Craig

Craig Levine
Secretary
RASC, Halifax Centre
www.halifax.rasc.ca

Hi Jay,

Ya bum! Found yerself an AP did ya? Congrats! Email me off-list with the details. You might want to look up the AP Yahoo! eGroup as well. Call me first if you decide to eventually sell it.

The TV 3mm-6mm arrived in great shape yesterday afternoon. I hope to try it this evening.

Cheers!

- Craig

Nice chair Tom! I have one as well, set for a max height of 38" inches or so. For my 13.1" dob, it lets me sit comfortably no matter what altitude the eyepiece is at. I agree on the importance of a good observing seat. Sitting compfortably lets you concentrate on the view, not on the discomfort of standing and bent at an uncomfortable position in order to peer into the EP for a minute or so.

Cheers!

- Craig

Hi Joe,

I had an aluminum bar machined and tapped to fit over the rings, and attached a telrad. It works fine and doesn't add a lot of extra weight. Now if only I had an AP mount...

Cheers,

- Craig

Craig Levine

Whew! This thread has meandered all over the place...

The AP's are a new product, produced to AP's specifications by Valery Deryuzhin in Ukraine, I believe. We're not talking about mass production here, so the unit cost will be higher, particularly as the development and production costs have to be recovered. I know AP will be machining the barrels in-house, and they are a very small company. This will also add to the cost. AP fans ("connoisseurs?") trust Roland Christen's obsessive attention to detail and quality, and will pay for the quality that results. I'm assuming that the same can be said for the TMB's. So, based on the above, no one is being "played", particularly when there are excellent (and mass-produced) orthos being made in Japan and sold by UO etc for a reasonable price that offer excellent performance. As long as there are choices and alternatives, I see no problem with a manufacturer selling a product at a price of their choosing to a niche market that is willing to pay the asking price.

As a suggestion, why not purchase a TMB, an AP, a UO or whatever? Try them out and compare them. See for yourself if they live up to the hype. When you're done sell what you don't want on Astromart. I'll have the opportunity to try some TMB's later this year, and hopefully a pair of AP's at around the same time. I'm not going to pass judgement or make assumptions on their worth until I've had the opportunity to try them first-hand and compare the views in both, as well as with some UO orthos and TV Plossls.

Value is in the eye of the beholder.

Cheers,

- Craig

It's about the same as looking at a 60 watt lightbulb. Looking at fresh snow at high noon on a clear day is brighter.

As an aside, last year I FREAKED the heck out of my co-workers when I pulled out a pair of binoculars (with Baadar solar filters attached) and pointed them at the Sun. When I told them what I was doing, one of them visibly blanched! Once I explained what was up, I had a line-up waiting to share the view.

Clear skies,

- Craig

I have the 1000 Oaks model. I use it on my 102mm refractor objective, eyepieces and Telrad. I'm in the process of acquiring strips for my 13.1" dob as well. I like the fact that each channel has its own control. That feature lets you control the heat to each heat strip individually and you don't waste power. It works well, and you can make your own strips, buy 1000 Oaks, Kendrick or other's products.

Cheers,

- Craig

Hmmmm...it was advertised as having a BF-10, but it's actually a BF-5. :S . I'm not too fussed, as it was still a deal. I'll contact the seller. I'm assuming it was an honest mistake. Maybe he ordered a 10mm and received a 5mm? Or it was a typo...? Again, not too big of a deal. I'm just glad to have it in my hands.

Can you buy the BF's seperately? Any idea as to how much they cost?

cheers,

- Craig

These things move! I could see changes in the prominence over the course of several minutes. Tilting the etalon brought the right-hand sction of the complex into greater visibility (there were two prominences emanating from the same point - a loop perhaps?). I then noticed a brighter patch on the limb of the sun directly below the two, at their base. Over the space of about five minutes, it grew dramatically and flared up the left-hand prominence. What a show! Some clouds scudded over the sun shortly after, but man, what a display!

I used a Maxscope 40 with a 12mm Cemax EP and a Televue 2.5x Powermate.

Cheers,

- Craig