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Jupiter (clearer) Nov 5th 2023 w/Mewlon 180c

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Posts Made By: Chris Brown

April 4, 2004 06:12 AM Forum: Celestron

Celestron's new Dobs

Posted By Chris Brown

What's the deal with Celestron's new Dobs?
They aren't in the catalog yet, and they look like Orion/Sky-Watcher clones...any comments?
Chris Brown

April 11, 2004 10:41 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

T-Scopes 13-inch Dob

Posted By Chris Brown

Any astromarters out there have any experience with these telescopes?
Chris Brown

April 23, 2004 04:36 AM Forum: Solar System Observing

C/2000 Q4 (NEAT)

Posted By Chris Brown

This comet is supposed to be in-between Canopus and Sirius this week, has anyone seen it yet?
Astronomy Mag dated April, 2004 reports that this comet should reach mag 2 on the 30th!
Waiting with bated breath...
Chris Brown

July 19, 2004 03:58 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Only the millionth sn-10 for sale

Posted By Chris Brown

What's the deal on these scopes??
On the surface, they seem to have great potential, lots of aperture, good design, UHTC, but I find people constantly giving them away for about a grand!!
I know the mount sucks, but this has never stopped the likes of us before...comments??
Chris Brown

August 3, 2004 03:52 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Astromart's golden age...

Posted By Chris Brown

Wow!!
A golden age on A-mart these days...
B/C orthos, circle t erfles, even a Parks "volcano" Ortho, GREAT DEALS!!
I won't even mention the long FL newts, cheap SC's, even a complete ETX-125 setup, for well under a grand!!!
Obsessions, platforms, I haven't even checked out the Refractors yet!!
If my Denco-equipped Kawasaki 400 triple (1975) motorbike didn't need tires right now, I'm sure I would be sleeping in the dog-house with my newly aquired astronomy gear, while my wife changed the locks!!
I hope some newbys are watching, fantastic opportunities...
Love this sight...
Chris Brown

August 24, 2004 07:14 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Gotta be a good deal...

Posted By Chris Brown

A good friend of mine recently picked up a 12-inch reflector on an Equitorial mount for just $100...
The mirror shows that it was re-fiqured in 1961! by a Carl somebody (not Zambuto!), which was scratched in the back of this pyrex blank, along with the FL (1540), and the SN (1995), so my question is, who was re-figuring mirrors in California, around 1961, with a name of Carl??
The scope is supposedly home-built, with a metal tube, 4-vane spider, Criterion (?) 1.25 focuser, and a LARGE 8x50 finder, with focusing eyepiece...
Who did the mirror in 1961???
pics to follow...
Chris Brown

November 5, 2004 03:19 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Nice surprise this morning...

Posted By Chris Brown

I got up early (5:15) this morning to see Jupiter and Venus' close approach, and I got a nice surprise...training my ETX-90ra on Jupiter, I caught Ganymede's shadow transit!!
I wasn't aware of it,(not doing my homework!!),but it was an easy find with a Meade RG 7mm Ortho, even as dawn approached...
The atmosphere was super steady, I think I'll get up early more often smile
CB

November 17, 2004 04:34 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Brass reflector??

Posted By Chris Brown

A good friend of mine recently purchased what was left of an old brass reflecting telescope, which included the tube, compression focuser, secondary holder (square mirror!), a very long sight scope (refractor), and other odd bits.
The scope had no markings, and the glass was long gone. The mirror cell held a mirror of around 3 inches, and was machined very nicely with three very small collimation screws...If any of this sound familiar, please let me know, I have a photo...
Thanks!
Chris Brown

March 10, 2005 05:06 AM Forum: Reflectors

L&L Optical

Posted By Chris Brown

I decided to get my old, worn out mirrors on my XT-8 recoated, searching the internet,I chanced upon L&L optical in Mission Viejo, CA., which is just a few miles from me...
Not only did the they recieve my mirrors after business hours (on saturday!), but I was able to pick up my mirrors on a monday night, also after business hours...just two days later!!!
Richard gave me a full tour of the place, I guess they do Discoverys' mirrors, along with Royce, and they even have a contract for a telescope which operates out of our atmosphere!!
Anyway, they really know thier business, Richard showed me what colored sprectrums to look for on the coatings, and he even showed me how to clean my now super-radiant mirrors (NO water involved!!)
The end result??I got the 96% reflectivity coatings for about a "C" note and one half, and under abysmal skies,(you could count the stars on two hands), I saw M35 like it was a dark sight, many new tiny stars, Jupiter grew many extra bands, and Saturn had a 3-D appearance!!
I highly recommend this useful upgrade to your reflector, I was convinced that I had outgrown my scope, as it turns out, it just needed a tune-up!!
Money well spent...
grin Chris Brown

December 3, 2005 03:46 AM Forum: Eyepieces

Big surprise..

Posted By Chris Brown

I recently bought some circle-t kellners from a-mart (.965 celestron), and I was very surprised by thier quality!! Despite a narrow field and short eye relief, optically very sharp, flat field, nicely coated, a small circle-t Japan sticker on them...a far cry from the cheap huyegen and ramsden .965 eyepieces I have seen...are these really decent quality eyepieces posing as entry-level eyepieces?
CB