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Posts Made By: Dave Adams

February 11, 2005 03:42 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Help an equipment junkie narrow to one scope

Posted By Dave Adams

I am trying to settle on 1 main scope for observing here in metro Detroit where the light pollution is pretty bad and seeing not so great. I have learned over the last year or so that I really enjoy binoviewing and have also learned the importance of apeture after having only a Brandon 94 for about 10 years. I put my C9.25 on a unistar up against my 12.5" Telekit the last few good nights and learned how nice it is to be able to sit and observe. I also have learned how poor I am at finding things in these suburban skies. I just am not that great at star hopping. I want to get the easiest to use/setup scope that I can find with a good amount of apeture. I am thinking whatever I get can be left in my garage and I will wheel it out on the driveway for observing.

The options I am thinking of now are:
1. Nexstar GPS 11'' on JMI wheeley bars
2. ARGO Navis for my 12.5" Telekit
3 Losmandy gm-8 or g-11 with the gemini goto on wheely bars to suport C9.25 for a while then maybe a C-11 or C-14.

Which of the above would be the easist to use scope? I had an lxd55 and felt like going through the setup for Autostar was cumbersome. Is the Nexstar GPS going to be a lot simpler?

How about the other options compared to the Nexstar for ease of use?

I am thinking setup is not that great of an issue since I am planning to leave the scope setup in the garage and wheel it out. I would like to be able to wheel something out and get up and running with a minimum of headaches and the least amount of work to go from one object to another.
I am a lazy astronomer in case you didn't notice. Thanks.

Dave Adams

p.s. My C9.25 and 12.5" Telekit (Pegasus mirror) were about the same on Saturn tonight. The 12.5" made out the 5th star in the trapezium easily where the C9.25 made it out only part of the time. Stars were a little tighter I thought in the 12.5" but had more flaring at times. The scopes both performed well and were pretty close in the views they gave.

February 15, 2005 10:52 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Unistar/DSC vs Nexstar GPS

Posted By Dave Adams

Has anyone compared the ease of use of a Unistar with DSC
to a NexStar GPS. Both seem pretty easy to setup with maybe the NexStar having the edge for the easiest to use and setup electronics depending on which DSC computer is used with the Unistar. I already have a unistar and am thinking of either adding DSC or buying a NexStar. Thanks.

Dave

February 17, 2005 08:29 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Discmount DM-6

Posted By Dave Adams

Wondering if there are any Discmount users who could comment on how they like the DM-6? I have a Unistar that I am thinking of adding DSC to or getting a DM-6. The DM-6 looks more stable from the pictures but is a lot more expensive. Wonder how the tracking at high power compares between the Unistar and Discmount. Thanks.

Dave Adams

February 20, 2005 11:52 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Casady vs AP saddle

Posted By Dave Adams

Has anyone compared the Casady to an AP saddle? I am planning to buy a Discmount and have heard the Casady work well in that the scope can be tipped in. Thanks.

Dave Adams

February 27, 2005 02:53 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Celestron CG-5 vs Losmandy G-11 dovetail

Posted By Dave Adams

Just installed a new Losmandy G-11 dovetail on a C9.25 and a Celestron CG-5 dovetail on a C8. The CG-5 dovetail's portion that fits into my Unitar saddle is wider (3/8" vs 3/16" for the Losmandy). I found mouting the CG-5 dovetail to be a lot easier especially in the dark. It was hard to tell when the Losmandy dovetail was inserted into the saddle. I was standing with my C9.25 between me and the saddle and reaching over the top of the ota to tighten the saddle with the saddle was in a horizontal position. The Unistar has a tip in type saddle. Is there a better way to get the ota into the saddle? Has anyone found the Celestron CG-5 dovetail to be an easier to use because of the added width of the portion that fits in the saddle? Thanks.

Dave

March 6, 2005 12:54 AM Forum: Binoviewers

High power in short focal length refractor

Posted By Dave Adams

I have a Brandon 94 (640mm fl) and DenkII/Powerswitch/Newtonian OCS. Wondering if anyone has any good ideas on how to get to high power (150-300x) without having to resort to short focal length eyepieces.
With the OCS in high power mode (2.5x), I have an effective focal length of 1600mm. To get to 300x, I would need a 5.3mm eyepiece which doesn't sound like a great choice having read posts about troubles merging below about 10mm and the posts about it being better to magnify as much as possible before any binoviewer prisms to minimize optical abberations. Thanks.

Dave Adams

March 6, 2005 12:57 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

High power with binoviewer in short refractor

Posted By Dave Adams

I have a Brandon 94 (640mm fl) and Denk II/Powerswitch/Newtonian OCS. Wondering if anyone has any good ideas on how to get to high power (150-300x) without having to resort to short focal length eyepieces.
With the OCS in high power mode (2.5x), I have an effective focal length of 1600mm. To get to 300x, I would need a 5.3mm eyepiece which doesn't sound like a great choice having read posts about troubles merging below about 10mm and the posts about it being better to magnify as much as possible before any binoviewer prisms to minimize optical abberations. Thanks.

Dave Adams

April 3, 2005 02:24 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

C8 & C9.25 - what is maximum fov?

Posted By Dave Adams

Does anyone know the maximum fov for a C8 and C9.25? I am planning to buy a focal reducer and want to match up a 2" widefield eyepiece for each scope. I would be most interested if anyone has measured the widest fov through the eyepiece before noticeable vignetting begins. Thanks.

Dave Adams

April 5, 2005 12:55 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

14" Tscope big jump from C9.25?

Posted By Dave Adams

I am thinking of getting a Tscope 14" and if anyone has compared it or similar with a C9.25? I just sold a Astrosystems 12.5" Telekit which was a nice scope. The Telekit was brighter on deep sky objects from my
light polluted driveway but not enough of a difference to want to keep it. I did some comparisons between my C8, C9.25 and 12.5" on M36,M37 & M38 and the C9.25 seemed liked it performed closer to the 12.5" than the C8 which I did not expect. These are all relatively new scopes with the C8 having xlt coatings, C9.25 starbright coatings and the 12.5" has enhanced aluminum coatings.

The Telekit was on the heavy side for a 12.5" so I thought a Tscope 14" might be a significant jump over my C9.25 on deep sky objects and lighter than the 12.5" Telekit to make it easier to get out to dark sky locations.

A 14" Tscope is lightweight (35lbs mirror and rocker box) and is about as big a scope as I would want to haul into and out of a car. I do most of my observing from my driveway and the Telekit on a rolling platform was very quick and easy to setup. Thanks!

April 9, 2005 12:35 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

How deep can one go in light polluted area?

Posted By Dave Adams

I live in suburban Detroit and wondering what the limiting magnitude will be for observing deep sky objects with a 14" scope? Will surface brightness be a bigger factor than the overall brightness?

I found M53 (mag. 7.6) the other night with my C9.25 and it was barely discernable from the background sky glow. I am thinking that objects such as galaxies with their light spread out will be more adversely affected by light pollution. I am basically trying to figure out how to look at an objects rated magnituge and size and determine if it is within my scopes ability to see it. Thanks.