Posts Made By: Michael Brannon

June 15, 2004 09:28 PM Forum: Insects - Flowers and Other Small Stuff - Photos

I think this is an anole????

Posted By Michael Brannon

Here's one I took the other day. I'm not quite sure what kind of lizard it is, but I think it's an anole. I know we have tons of these around here (Florida).
Taken with a Nikon Coolpix 4300

June 30, 2004 01:25 PM Forum: Mounts

Celestron CG-5 Go-To opinions

Posted By Michael Brannon

I would like users opinions on the new CG-5 Go-To version that are on the newer advanced series scopes. How is the accuracy of the Go-To? Slewing noise? Are you satisfied with it? Considering a possible trade...

July 7, 2004 01:36 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

WHOA!

Posted By Michael Brannon

Orion just came out with an XT12 Intelliscope! At $949, I may just have to consider one of these....

July 14, 2004 09:40 PM Forum: Pet Pics

Any reptile owners?

Posted By Michael Brannon

Here's a picture of one of mine (Elvis). His girlfriend Priscilla (of course) is hiding at the moment. They are proud new parents of 9 little ones!
Michael

September 26, 2004 11:39 AM Forum: A Day in the Life of the Administrator

I think I've been scammed

Posted By Michael Brannon

I really hate to have to post a message like this, but I recently purchased an item from an individual here on Astromart, and feel that others should know about the ordeal. The ad number was 293113, and it was for a Scopetronix Maxview 40 ep. The ad was run by Jay Markland.

When I responded to the ad, everything sounded like it was going along well. I paid via Paypal, and he said he was shipping it the same day. After about a week, I still saw no eyepiece. I e-mailed him to let him know. No response. Another e-mail, then a couple more, and so on. I finally heard from him after threatening to give him a bad rating and alert other Astromarters, as well as the Administrator of a scam. After that, I finally got a response from him, and he said he just got back from Florida where he helped a relative with the hurricane. He promised me that he would get right on it, and send me a tracking number that evening. That was the 20th of September and I still have seen nothing else from him. I've tried to give him every chance I can by sending him 4 more e-mails since then, and nothing but silence.

The eyepiece was originally purchased from him, and supposedly shipped, on Sep. 1st! I don’t know what this guy’s deal is, but if he was on the up and up, he would have surely done something about this by now.

I just wanted to alert others to this guy, and hopefully Herb will see this as well. The piece was only $75. So, it’s not like I’ll go bankrupt over it, but I just don’t feel that this is an honest individual. Also, who knows if he’s sold this eyepiece to multiple others. He’s still never marked the ad as Sold. You may want to think about this if you consider answering an ad from this Jay Markland
Sincerely,
Michael Brannon.

November 2, 2004 05:12 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Rini EP opinions?

Posted By Michael Brannon

I am looking for a low cost, low power knockaround eyepiece, and have been considering the Ganymede/Rini 35mm 60 degree. I was wondering if anyone out there has had any experience with this eyepiece or other similar ones from him. I know it won't be a 35 panoptic in performance, but what can I expect in a 8" f/6 scope? Is this a good ep, or would I be better off looking for a used Orion Plossl or something? Any help would be appreciated, and thank you in advance for any feedback...

May 25, 2005 02:50 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Orion Stratus Wide-fields

Posted By Michael Brannon

I was wondering if anyone has purchased and tried any of these new eyepieces. They are advertised as having a 68 degree FOV, fully multi-coated and all sizes have a 1 1/4" lenses. If you have tried any of these, I'd love to know what you think of them.
Thanks, Michael

May 26, 2005 07:46 PM Forum: Eyepieces

New Scope, looking for EP advice

Posted By Michael Brannon

I am the new owner of a Discovery PDHQ 10" f/6 and would like some advice on eyepieces for this scope. The focal length on this scope is 1524mm.

Here is what I have right now:

UO abbe orthos 5,7,12.5,18, and 25mm and a 40mm Kellner

Orion Highlight Plossls 12.5, 17, 20, 26, 32, and 40mm

I also have a UO 2.8x klee barlow

I am looking at getting rid of some redundant sizes, and bringing a few wide-field eyepieces into the fold. Please keep in mind that I am on somewhat of a budget. So, no 31mm Naglers here. I like taking pictures with my digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 4300) through the scope. I bought the Plossls because they all have the same size top ring. So, the scopetronix camera adapter will fit any of them. The only problem is that only the 17, 20, and 26mm sizes work well without severe vignetting. So, I'm looking to make some changes.

I used to have a 35mm Panoptic that was my all time favorite eyepiece. So, I would like to find another low power widefield. Just not one that is quite as expensive as the Pan.

A couple of eyepieces I'm considering are the UO 40mm MK70, and maybe a 10mm Speers Waler. I hear that many dobs may not have enough in focus to bring the Speers Waler to focus though. So, I am not sure if it will work with this scope or not. I also would not mind one or two sizes between the 40mm and 10mm that are wide field.

I mainly enjoy planetary observing, but some DSO stuff as well. The orthos are great for that, but they have a pretty narrow FOV for DSOs. I really don't want to give up image quality. (maybe a 9mm ortho?)

I've read a lot of posts on eyepieces, but I am not sure what to go with.

HELP!

I realize that the words "planetary performance", "wide-field" and "Budget" probably have no business being in the same sentence. So, I am asking for any advice you may have to offer as to the best choices for this particular scope.

Thanks to all in advance,
Michael Brannon

June 16, 2005 04:34 PM Forum: After Dark

Satellite and Space Station tracking website

Posted By Michael Brannon

To those who are interested, I happened across an interesting web site today. On NASA's web site there is a feature called J-Track. It is a real time 3d animation that lets you track satellites, the international space station, hubble, even the space shuttle (if one were up there right now). Just click on the object and it gives it's name and shows it's orbit and coordinates. Then, you can click satellite, select, and satellite info. to get full information on it. It's also pretty interesting watching these things as they go through their orbits. You might want to give it a try.

Here's a link:
http://scisites.msfc.nasa.gov/realtime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html

Keep looking up!
Michael

December 20, 2005 01:17 AM Forum: Binoviewers

Will it come to focus?

Posted By Michael Brannon

I'm considering buying a Burgess Binoviewer with their included 1.9x corrector and was wondering if anyone out there has had experience with this in an f/6 dob. I have a Discovery 10" f/6 PDHQ and a Hardin 8" f/6 and am planning to use this primarily for planetary viewing.

They are advertising that the corrector will allow it to "easily" come to focus in a reflector, but have read some reports that it might not. Does anyone out there have this setup? I just don't want to buy one and I can't get it to focus.

I would appreciate any advice possible.