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Posts Made By: Ed Blankenship

September 20, 2003 03:20 AM Forum: Telescope Making

Double scopes

Posted By Ed Blankenship

Hello Robert,

Check out this ad from Italy: "http://www.astromart.com/viewad.asp?cid=216855" and ask yourself if that's what you were thinking ?

Cheers,

Ed

September 22, 2003 11:50 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

EPs with built in barlow vs separate barlow

Posted By Ed Blankenship

Hello Ian & all,

I just purchased Rick's Uranoport, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I usually use the 8 to 24 mm Vixen LV Lanthanum Zoom with my Celestron C-8 SCT which is a f/10, 8 inch scope. I also have a Vixen 9mm LV Lanthanum which gives me great views when seeing is good and skys are clear. If I zoom in on a planet, but don't get below 10 mm, I reach for a 32 mm Plossl and use a 3x Barlow to get just shy of 11 mm. All these combinations work for me, but I wear eyeglasses for astigmatism and I'm on a budget too. Someday, I'd like to get Radians in 8,9,10 & 12 mm, but for now I'm happy with what I own. I'll try to find time this week to use the Uranoport and post my experience.

Best regards,

Ed


December 29, 2003 10:10 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

2x Barlow lenses

Posted By Ed Blankenship

Hello Paul,

I have the Celestron Ultima 2x, 1.25 inch barlow and am
happy with it. When pared with the Celestron Ultima 35mm,
I get really good results for mid-powers in my C-8 SCT or
my C-102 refractor. Some people don't like the extra eye
relief that the barlow adds to the 30mm or the 35mm, but
really like it. If the Meade gave less, then I'd choose
the Celestron (all else being equal). All the ones you
mentioned are "Multicoated", but who knows what that means
when comparing optics from different sources ?

I have a 3x Orion and several 2x Celestron
and "no-name" barlows which aren't quite as
good as the Celestron Ultima 2x, but often are O.K.
(depending on what I'm looking at).

I just recently received a 2.8x Klee ("shorty" format too),
but haven't had the time or clear skys to try it out yet !!!
I am hopeful that the Klee is a step up from the Orion.
I have heard such good things about it that I'd suggest it
to you also, since University Optics has a good reputation.

The 2x to 3x variable barlow is also tempting to me, but
I haven't "taken the plunge" yet in that direction. I don't
have any direct experience with the Meade, but would like
to compare both the Meades and the Televues next year to the
Celestron. Maybe I'll switch if the comparison favors it.

I own two 2x, 2 inch Celestron barlows which I prefer in
some situations like planetary viewing or looking at double stars
or M-57, etc. I have stacked a 1.25 inch after the 2 inch
barlow to get 4x, but the light loss is sometimes too
great depending on the object.

I wear eyeglasses, so I need to use eyepieces that have
generous eye relief which has driven me to conclude that
barlows are a better approach unless one considers the
Vixen LV Lanthanum series or the Radians. I have only
the 8-24 mm LV Zoom and the 9mm fixed Vixen at present,
but can get about 11mm by using a 32mm with the 3x barlow.

I hope the Klee will give me a good
view that I will compare with the 9mm Vixen or if I can,
afford it, I'd like to get a 10mm and a 12mm Vixen. Maybe
down the road, I'll save up for a Radian, but that will be
quite a while. For the near term, I'll be using my barlows.

I hope that helps,

Ed

P.S. I also got one of Rick's 1.4x URANOPORT "resolving barlows"
that can piggy back inside an eyepiece, but it is
really different too. It greatly changes the eye relief, so
it currently lives inside my Pro-Optic 24mm which had too
little eye reilef until the 1.4x URANOPORT came along.

December 29, 2003 10:30 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Re: Moisture Inside a SCT....????UPDATE..

Posted By Ed Blankenship

Hello Merlin & all,

Here's a link for the item that Merlin suggests:

"http://www.lymax.com/cat/CatalogMgr.pl?cartID=b-6534&SearchField=partnumber&SearchFor=sctc&offset=1&displayNumber=6&template=sctcooler/sctcooler2.htx&sort_on=op2&hdrFile=htx/headers/lymax1.htx"

I have wanted one, but haven't worked my way down the priority list that far yet.
Anyone used one of these specifically to get the moisture out of a SCT or MCT yet ???


Cheers,

Ed

December 29, 2003 01:31 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Which diagonal

Posted By Ed Blankenship

Hello Ken,

I found a nice improvement in upgrading my 1.25 inch
diagonal on my Celestron C-8 SCT to a 2 inch SCT type
Orion diagonal and my observing buddy likewise found
the 2 inch Meade SCT diagonal was better than his 1.25
inch diagonal. It seems that the explination is that
the larger mirror surface has less defects near the center
on the larger diagonal mirrors. I'm sure that either of
the mirrors you suggested would be even better than what
we have, but any 2 inch is a step up from the 1.25 inch
Meade stock diagonal and 1.25 icnh visual back. I've heard
that you can actually get a 2 inch light cone out of the
SCT rear port or something larger than 1.25 inches at any
rate. The Williams 2 inch units go very fast here on the
used market and are highly spoken of too. I will upgrade
someday, but for now the Orion 2 inch works for me.

Ed


supplied stock

January 12, 2004 03:48 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

"Good" 20-25mm 1.25" EP?

Posted By Ed Blankenship

Hello Ken & all,

I am in favor of the Celestron Ultima series of eyepieces that can be purchased used here on ASTROMART for $60-70. The Ultimas are a big step up from the eyepieces in the kit. One other suggestion is the Vixen LV Lanthanum series that can be obtained here used in the $70-80 dollar range. Some day I'll own a Radian or two, but that would clearly be outside your price range of < $100.

One thing to keep in mind is that I'm using these eyepieces in an 8 inch, f/10 SCT and a 4 inch f/10 refractor, so in a faster scope, your experience could be different. What scope are you using ?

As far as the eyepieces from the kit, I have found the 32mm with a good 2x or 3x barlow to be a very satisfying combination at a very resonable price. When I say good, I mean the Ultima 2x or a UO Klee 2.8x not the 2x from the kit. I have to wear eyeglasses to correct for astigmatism, so my need for generous eye relief is key factor in selecting eyepieces for me. If I could use the 4000 series Meade 26mm, I would since I've heard really good things about them from my observing buddy who uses one regularly.

Cheers,

Ed

P.S. I wonder if we're related ???

January 12, 2004 04:15 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

stupid finder tricks

Posted By Ed Blankenship

Hello Bill & all,

I have a Celestron C-8 SCT (f/10) and have found that I get good results from combining a Telrad with a very low power eyepiece. I use a very inexpensive 50mm Surplus Shed 2 inch eyepiece (I call it my "finder eyepiece"). It gives me more than a half degree field of view (2000mm / 50mm = 40 power). If the Telrad center circle (which is 0.5 degree)contains the object, then it is in the field with the "finder eyepiece" too. That has worked for me without using a finder scope at all. The Telrad has an intensity control and since it is "zero power" I look thru it with one eye and alternate opening and closing the other eye to see objects fainter than can be seen thru the Telrad's glass which attenuates some of the light. I don't have the blinking option, but have heard good comments about it helping see really dim objects. One final trick is that my observing buddy uses binoculars to look thru his Telrad to see both the dim objects and the Telrad circles at the same time. It works for him when he's looking for really dim DSO's.

Cheers,

Ed

May 31, 2013 04:37 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Feathertouch Two Speed Focuser Upgrade

Posted By Ed Blankenship

Hi All,

Just by chance I looked at an ad for "For Sale: MEADE 10" UHTC PETERSON EQUIPPED OTA " and followed the link to eventually find and read up on the thrust bearings that the $30 mod adds to reduce the "slop" in the stock Meade focus knob. I am still going to try the feathertouch internal focus upgrade that I have on the way, but I'm surprised that no one vectored me to the Peterson Engineering Corp. Site yet. I did read their "what it does & what it doesn't do' page and have a better feel of what is inside my Meade 8 inch LX-10.

Cheers,

Ed


May 31, 2013 04:42 AM Forum: Meade

Feathertouch Two Speed Focuser Upgrade

Posted By Ed Blankenship

Hi All,

I posted this question in the Equipment Talk section and actually got some replys. I guess the MEADE Forum doesn't get as much traffic.

Cheers,

Ed

May 31, 2013 07:22 AM Forum: After Dark

Triple Conjunction...The Planets of May...

Posted By Ed Blankenship

grin Thanks for the photo, we had typical Portland, OR weather >sad , so I missed it.

Cheers, Ed