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Posts Made By: Vincent Bert

February 16, 2003 02:31 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Orange tube C8 optics cleaning

Posted By Vincent Bert

Does anyone have any advice on removing the corrector plate and cleaning all the optical surfaces on an old C8? I'm currenty getting up the courage to do this myself as Celestron wants over 100 bucks + shipping and a 6 week turnaround time to do this. Any advice, well, good advice would be appreciated, thanx, Vince

March 26, 2003 02:13 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Learning to Sketch

Posted By Vincent Bert

I am just learning to sketch my observations. I started out on DSO's, mainly small, dim galaxies as they were easy enough for my limited artistic experience. I generally will make a field sketch with notes then go inside and do the finished drawing on a table in better light. I am not near ready enough to tackle the planets yet but I am getting there. I noticed Sol and Carlos' drawings of Jupiter are simply jaw dropping! Do you gents make a field sketch first then the finished drawing later? If so I would love to see one of your field drawings of the planets as it may give me some guidance and insight on how to approach them with the pencil. Also, how do you handle the quickly changing face of Jupiter while you are doing a sketch? Should I just jump right in and try the gas giants? I'm afraid I might get frustrated until I get better (and quicker) with the pencil. That said, I get great satisfaction from sketching my observations, and my observing skills have improved tenfold. It offers much more instant gratification to me than taking film images. Also, I noticed that due to my sketching I can now see detail in DSO's that most others will not notice until I point it out to them at the EP, and I imagine that it will be the same for the planets. I appreciate any pointers you could post.

April 14, 2003 06:07 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Jupiter last night

Posted By Vincent Bert

Did a sketch of Jupiter last night and noticed a thin dark band below the lower main band. Is this the same feature that was just below the GRS a couple of months ago? Do those features rotate at different rates? Sorry about the poor sketch (I'm just starting out) The seeing was pretty poor also, I couldnt get much detail.

April 14, 2003 06:32 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Basic Sketching

Posted By Vincent Bert

I'm just starting to sketch the gas giants, its quite a challenge. I have had decent results with DSO's. One of my favorites is posted below, of course I was concentrating so hard on the spiral structure that I forgot to draw in any stars!!!! It was done at the EP a couple of months ago through our club's 22" RC. However, I have not been very happy with my attempts at the planets. I know I will get better with practice but any tips or techniques on how to tackle the planets would be appreciated. I use 2H and 2B pencils and a blending stump. It seems that a couple more pencils would help with the subtle shading seen in the gas giants. thanx, Vince

April 16, 2003 02:45 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Jupiter 4-16-30 0430Z

Posted By Vincent Bert

Jupiter from 0410-0430 UTC
Orange Tube C8 - 9 mm Nagler Type2
Seeing 5
Transparency 3

April 16, 2003 02:50 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Jupiter 4-16-30 0600Z

Posted By Vincent Bert

From 0530 - 0600 UTC
C8 - 9mm Nagler
Seeing 5
Transparency 3
Much Moon glare

I think as the Moon came up it started to wash out a bit of the detail. Also, the darn thing rotates so fast that its hard to catch everything in 30 minutes!

April 20, 2003 09:21 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Favorite edge on galaxy

Posted By Vincent Bert

This is NGC 4565 from last night. One of my favorites.

May 15, 2003 10:21 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

C8 to LXD-55 mount

Posted By Vincent Bert

I have an old orange tube C8 that i want to put on the LXD 55 mount and cannot find a mounting plate that would attach to the bottom of the C8 and fit in the LXD 55. Anyone know if this part exists or any other options, thanx, Vince

May 16, 2003 02:31 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Collecting shipping insurance, damaged scope

Posted By Vincent Bert

I recently purchased an FS 102 shipped UPS GROUND. The shipper packaged it very well, wrapped in layers of bubble wrap, put in a padded soft case, wrapped again in bubble wrap then put snug in a wooden crate made for shipping the scope. Well when it got to my door I opened it and thought I was gonna get sick, It had a ding in the top of the tube that scratched the paint. Upon further inspection I got even more sick. The shaft that connects the focusing knobs was BENT, and there is slop in the draw tube. The optics look OK but I'm sure collimation is off and maybe some damage that will only appear once the optics are bench tested. The wooden crate shows signs of serious mishandling, several small chunks of wood missing and one of the corners is seriously splintered. After contacting UPS, they said that the insurance is only payable to the shipper, which is OK by me, but they want to inspect the damage while I still have the scope. I have dated pics of the scope the seller sent me before shipping and it was pristine. The gentleman I bought it from said he will do whatever I wanted which really put me at ease. The insurance inspector is supposed to contact me this week to see the damaged scope. I had some computer equipment trashed by FedEx GROUND and getting the insurance was like pulling teeth. I was wondering if it is the same way with UPS. If UPS opts for repairs rather than full replacement I would be happy to keep the scope and send it to Art at Texas Nautical (he says they can fix anything good as new) Advice from someone who has experience getting insurance $$$ from UPS would be appreciated. In the future I think paying extra to have something shipped by air would be wise since the package gets handled by far fewer people. Knock on wood, I have not yet had a bad experience with either UPS or FedEx air shipments. thanx.

May 16, 2003 06:43 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

LXD 55 mount question

Posted By Vincent Bert

What is the maximum width of the LXD 55 saddle? Is it 1.8" or 1.6"? thanks in advance, Vince