Posts Made By: Doug Culbertson

Ok, time to take the plunge into the H alpha arena. I have been wanting to do this since looking through Coronado filters at the last couple of star parties that I have attended, and am now able to do it.

My question is, is there a really big difference between the Solarmax 40 and 60...other than the obvious 20mm? I am planning on the 60, but was wondering if the difference is worth paying twice as much for? My gut tells me yes, since it is < .7 angstrom as well as the aperture difference, but I am wondering if anyone has actually been able to compare? This will be going on a TMB 100 f/8, FWIW.

Also, as to the waiting times...I was told on the phone a couple of days ago that the current delivery time for a Solamax 60 is about two months. Does this sound realistic?

Thanks in advance,
Doug
Midway, FL

Well, after going back and forth on this for several months, I am finally thinking about ordering a Solarmax 40. I have scaled back on my expectations somewhat, going all over the board from considering a TMB 100 with Solarmax 60, until finances ended that idea, and I am now thinking about the 40mm filter for my recently acquired Pronto.

According to Nick, at Coronado, I would be fine with the SM40 and the BF5. I was not aware that there was a 5mm blocking filter, so maybe this is a new item? Anyway, Nick says that it should be fine for the Pronto as it is designed for a full disk view in scopes less than 500mm (the Pronto is 476mm). He also said that I could expect delivery in 8-12 weeks, which is better than I expected.

Any thought or comments on the SM40/T-Max/BF5/Pronto combination? Any idea how it might work with my TV BinoVue?

Thanks for any advice, comments, etc!
Doug
Midway, FL

Has anyone tried any of the Celestron Axioms for use in a binoviewer? Specifically, the 19mm (1.25") and 23mm. These look interesting in that they provide a 70 degree fov with winged eyecups. The 10mm of eye relief might be tight for some, but since I don't wear glasses while observing it is a non-issue for me. According to the advert blurb, the Axioms are designed as an extension to the Ultima line. I have used the Ultimas in the bino and am happy with the two pair that I have, hence the question about the Axioms.

Thanks for any input!

Doug
Midway, Fl

Well, since I haven't been able to sell my TeleVue Panoramic mount, I am thinking that maybe I need to get another refractor to mount on it.

In looking around, I know that the TV76, TV85, FS78 and maybe the Vixen and Borg 102 f/6.x scopes will work on that mount, but does anyone know if the FS102 with tube ring and diagonal would be too much weight for the Panoramic? I would rather go with at least an 85mm scope, as I just sold a Pronto...not quite enough aperture to please me.

Anyway, I am just trying to cover all the bases, and at the current Tak prices, well, it almost seems like a no-brainer.

Doug
Midway, FL

Well, I receieved my 1.3x OCA from Harry last week, and just got a chance to try it out tonight. Transparency was excellent, with seeing rating around a 6/10; pretty "fast" seeing, but still able to get some decent detail from the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn as it did settle out from time to time. Decent night, and at no time did I ever wish that I was using a smaller aperture! ;-)

I was using the HS OCA on a TeleVue BinoVue, and tonight I was using my Starmaster 11" f/5.4 ELT. Eyepieces used were 24mm Panoptics, 16mm T5 Naglers, 15mm Ultimas (Antares), and 12.5mm Celestron Ultimas. The first thing that I noticed was that the OCA does actually give around 1.3x on any given eyepiece.

The OCA itself is pretty well machined, and is threaded for 1.25" filters. This particular unit was made specifically to fit the TeleVue BinoVue by removing the nosepiece and attaching the upper end of the OCA directly to the large ring on the BinoVue. It fits well, but took me a couple of tries to get it just right. I am going to purchase another nosepiece assembly from TeleVue so I can have one dedicated to the Siebert OCA and one for the TeleVue 2x corrector.

There were no reflections either on or off axis with this corrector, and the reason is probably due to a combination of very good coatings, and the fact that the tube of the OCA is very well baffled and pitch black inside. Even when viewing Saturn, which was about 5 degrees from the waning gibbous moon, there were absolutely no reflections seen in any eyepiece pair that I used. There was no loss of contrast on the Moon, Jupiter or Saturn, and I particularly enjoyed watching the GRS transiting Jupiter tonight.

There was also no vignetting with this unit, in spite of the fact that it is a 1.25" unit. The reason is that it uses a fairly large upper lens assembly (30mm?). All of this is explained in great detail on Harry's website.

All in all I must say that I am *extremely* pleased with this OCA. The only downside to binoviewing with decent aperture scopes was the fact that you couldn't get low power views for deep sky objects. While there are other units on the market now that will also accomplish this, I feel that the $159 (now $179?) that I paid for the unit makes it a fantastic bargain.

More as I get a chance to give it a decent workout.

Doug
Midway, FL

Anyone have any experience using a pair of these in a bino? I already have one 8mm Radian that I like quite a bit, but have really gotten into binoviewing of late. Since this is my only Radian, I have considered a couple of options; buy a second 8mm Radian as my higher power bino pair, or sell my 8mm and save for a pair of 9mm Naglers.

Anyway, I am curious as to how the 8mm Radians might perform in a binoviewer, since I seem to recall reading once (article by Roland Christen?) that anything shorter than 10mm was not recommended. On top of that, the eye placement is a little finicky on the Radian as a cyclops eyepiece, so I am curious as to any problems in a bino.

FWIW, this pair will be used in a TV bino in 18" f/4.2 and 11" f/5.4 Dobs.

Doug
Midway, FL

Does anyone have any experience with the Astro-Physics finderscope? Is it sharp, soft, etc? It looks like a pretty decent deal at $175, including illuminator and the quick release bracket. All it says on the AP website is that it is "imported" but not where it is imported from. Not that I would expect AP to sell inferior products, I am just curious as to how it compares to other finders out there from Antares, TAL,Tak etc.

Doug
Midway, FL

Congrats Don! You are going to love that scope, believe me. The Feathertouch is an excellent upgrade, and I am glad to see that AP is now adding that feature.

Doug
Midway, FL

Does anyone know whether or not the Orion Sky View Pro mount is capable of handling the Intes Micro MN66? I have only seen this mount once, and it had the 8" Newtonian OTA on it. Seemed like a solid performer, and much more stable than the CG5, thanks to the tubular steel legs. Just curious...

Thanks!
Doug
Midway, FL

Ok, this may be a stupid question, but how do you know if a binoviewer needs collimating? I was out last night using my TeleVue BinoVue and various eyepieces and, for some reason, decided to star test with the binoviewer...Well, the defocused star showed what would be a classic miscollimation, with the secondary shadow offset from the middle of the Fresnel rings.

I could merge images without any trouble, and the funny thing is that stars all looked pretty good. I checked my collimation with the laser and then the star test using a moderately high power, and the collimation of the scope was spot on. Hmmmmm, put the binoviewer back in and got the offset secondary shadow again, but this time I did notice that in focus some of the brighter stars had a slight flare to them.

Anyway, I had always thought that a miscollimated caused problems with merging images, which didn't happen in this case...So, any of you binoviewer experts, does it sound like my bino needs a trip to TeleVue? Of course, I guess I could always call TeleVue too...

Doug
Midway, FL