Posts Made By: Erik Lin

I read the review on Cloudynights a while back and got really excited till I checked the price. $2150 without a head or assessories! I am sure it's a good match for a $20K TMB APO but a little more than what I wanted to spend. I found something else on Astromart that works very well for my 6"F/8: A Quickset Tripod that can hold 150 lbs with 2" OD center column and 18" travel. Cost is about 1/4 of the Peir-tech. I have to crank the center column myself but that's OK. List price for a new Quick-Set tripod is over $1k though. Look for a used one on Astromart if you are interest.

Erik D

I read the review on Cloudynights a while back and got really excited till I checked the price. $2150 without a head or assessories! I am sure it's a good match for a $20K TMB APO but a little more than what I wanted to spend. I found something else on Astromart that works very well for my 6"F/8: A Quickset Tripod that can hold 150 lbs with 2" OD center column and 18" travel. Cost is about 1/4 of the Peir-tech. I have to crank the center column myself but that's OK. List price for a new Quick-Set tripod is over $1k though. Look for a used one on Astromart if you want one.

Erik D

I am using the Giro-2 Deluxe with my 6"F8. It's an amazing mount for it's size. On one side it supports my 31.5 lb OTA with Losmandy saddle/DUP plates and 7" Parallax rings. On the other side it hold 24 lbs of counter weights. If you take the time to balance the OTA you do not have to tighten the tension knobs at all. It will pan and tilt as smoothly with a 50 lb load or no load at all. Due to the perpetual rain in the NE during the past month I have only had a few short sessions using the Giro. I was able to track Mars at 300X a few nights ago. I think I could have push it to higher X if the clouds didn't roll in in 15 minutes.

I think you need an adapter to mount Giro on a AP/Badder tripod. There are photos of giro on the Badder tripod on the Yahool AP UG forum. Check the file section. You can also email Marcus of APM Germany directly. The Giro-2 can be ordered with 3/8-16 or M10 base. I prefer the 3/8-16 base because I wanted to mount it on a extra heavy duty photo tripod with elevating center column. With this set up I can mount the OTA while the center column is lowered and raise it when I want to observe the zenith. I don't have to be on my knees to observe objects over head and it also make it much easier to share the view with my children. I wonder why no scope/mount maker have saw fit to offer tripods with elevating center column exepct the $2K+ Pier Tech.

Erik D

PS. You can see photos of the GR2 DX with a 6"F8 Meade refractor on CloudyNights. Tom Pico is the author. He is the one who gave me the idea and encouragement to go forward with the project.

John Ford has photos of the Giro XXL in his CN review of the TMB 152. His 45 lb OTA is mounted on Losmandy G11 with the 12" pier extention.

Yes, Someone mentioned A TEC users group on Yahoo but I can't seem to locate it. Kindly provide a link if you have it.

Does anyone feel a mounted scope of this size can be moved outside in one piece without dismounting. Assuming it's mounted on a Alt Az mount like the GR2 DX or the UA Unistar? I am thinking of getting a top quality APO I can carry outside in one piece. I can move my 6"F8 refractor(80 lb+) inside my house carefully but can not carry the mounted scope safely down the setps.

ERik D

Kevin,

I believe the OTA weight of the APEX 127 is 8.6 lbs. Several medium duty Bogen tripod can reach near 6 ft without raising the center column or over 7 ft with the center column(Bogen 3046 or 3051) Both are rated for 26 lbs and will be able to handle giant binos up to 25X100 with ease. All Bogen tripods have 3/8"-16 mounting bolt.

The Unistar light is rated for 10 lbs and will be fine for your scope. You can order it with black finish for slightly high cost. Talk to Larry at UA and tell him what you think you want and he will work with you.

I like using heavy duty photo tripods with center column instead of traditional scope tripods. Most telescop tripods are not tall enough for observing the zenith when you are standing. Photo tripods with geared center column makes height adjustment much easier and collapse to a smaller package when you finish observing.

You can easily spend more for a good Alt Az mount and tripod than you did the Apex 127 but you will really appreciate the ease of use. A lot of people get bigger and better scopes but a good tall tripod is an investment for life.

Erik D

"Binocular Astronomy" by Tirion & Crossen. Purchased mine from universityoptics.com. The price included shipping.

I have a least half a dozen books with the words "binocular" & Astronomy in the title. This one is the best by far. Unlike other books that just give a list of objects by constellation, this one gives you a bit of history and a description of how they would appear in 50mm or larger binos. The black and white photos in the book gives the reader a better idea of what DSO look like in binos and smaller scopes. IMO much more useful than a book filled with color photos taken by 12 in or larger scopes. Very useful for someone with 4 in or smaller scopes too.

ERik D

Anders,

You should read Markus' comment about the 45 deg/100mm Miyauchii clones on this forum a few days ago. Burgess and Oberwerk have the same model. They all had problems with the first shipment. Oberwerk has decided to remove this model from their web site till the QC problems can be resloved. The thread is on this page(July9.10,11)

In addtion to problem with the prism holder this pair also have narrow FOV even at 20X. I believe the FOV is less than 2.5 degs. I guess there is a trade of between having 45 deg eyepiece and wider FOV.

Erik D

Greg,

I purchased the Giro-2 DX with GM-11 Saddle plate from ITE two month ago. The other half of the equation is 13.5 in DUP plate with 7" Parallex Rings. I asked Bill at ITE to arrange all the necessary drilling.

Looks like TWO new holes are drilled on my G 11 saddle plate to mactch the spacing on the Gir0-2. That way the center point of the saddle plate matchs the center face of the Giro 2. Makes it easier to achieve optimum balance.

ERik D

William,

I have the Oberwerk 12X60 and the 20X80 LW from Burgess. I have not done detailed measurement of the FOV as Edz but I am inclined to believe the 5.7 deg FOV of the 12X60. My Burgess 20XLW is rated for the same 3.5 deg FOV as my Orion 20X80 but the actual usable FOV is better in the Burgess LW. My Orion 20X80 is sharp to about 2/3 from center while the Burgess is good to about 80%.

I believe the Burgess and Oberwerk LW are from the same factory. The Oberwerk may have better broadband multi-coating but I am not sure if is a detectable difference at the eyepiece. The Oberwerk 20X80 standard has the same optics as their 20X80 Deluxe. Slightly loner F ratio could mean less false color but again I am not sure how much difference is detectable for astronomy.

I like the optics of my Burgess 80mm LW very much. However, I do have some concern about the mechanical ruggedness of these low cost 80mm and bigger binos from China. My Burgess 80mm LW was perfectly collimated when it arrived five month ago but it seemed to have developed a slight out collimation conditon recently. I treat all my binos with extra care and Burgess have not been subjected to rough handling or extreme temperature change. I expected them to hold up better under such gentle use.

I do not have the Oberwerk 22X100 myself but this pair would be at the top of my list if I were shoping for a pair of 100mm bino today. For me the center focus feature and the extra bracing of the objectives is well worth the exrta $100 over similar 25X100 binos from Apogee/Burgess/Celestron.

ERik D

Peter,

I purchased The Orion 9X50 Right Angle Correct Image(RACI) finder for my 6"F8 refractor a few month ago and I like it a lot. I find it to have a big advantage over the 5X24 and 6X30 finders on my smaller scopes from my Mag 4.5 backyard. (actually a 50mm finder collects 177.7% more light than a 30mm)

The Orion finder uses two perpendicular thumbscrews making alignment very easy. The finder comes with own mounting bracket and the tube can be rotated 360 degs in the holder. Highly recommended.

Erik D

PS. Orion also has a 9X50 straight thru finder if you prefer the more traditional reverse image view.(~$60)