Posts Made By: Jim Moscheck

I am wondering if anyone can give me their experiences with an LXD 75 mount. I'm looking for a mount for my orion ED80 and to use for some wide field photograpy up to a 200 mm lens (just camera, no scope). I have a friend who bought an LXD 55 and he is contantly adjusting set screws, training the drive, alighning the mount, and then swearing at it, and this is after he "hyper tuned" it. Have the bugs really been worked out? I want a grab and go mount that I can get up and running with as little hassle as possible. I'm experienced with EQ mounts so polar alighnment is not a problem. Any comments are welcome. This question was asked and ignored on the equipment forum.

Thanks,
Jim Moscheck
SE Mich
LX 200 8"
ED 80 on older CG4 mount

Hello All,

I just got back from my local telescope shop and he just received and had on display a 12" and thought I could give some impressions. It's cloudy so I could not take it outside to check the optics so I'll just report what I saw.

The movement in both altitude and azimuth was very smooth, but it would need a counter weight for any heavy eyepieces. The fit and finish was very good and it seemed very sturdy. When I asked to see the mirror the salesman winced and told me the mirror cover had come off in shipment. They're sending it back since it scratched the mirror and inside the base tube. The mirror cover reminded me of a soft drink or coffee take-out lid. Thin, flimsy, white plastic cover which fits over the mirror clips. Very poor. The focuser seemed similar in quality to the imported crayford on my ED 80, but with two set screws. The inside of both halves were flat black.

All in all I was impressed. I have been thinking of getting a 10 or 12 tube dob, but after seeing the Lightbridge I might reconsider. I would think Orion would counter with one of there own.

Cheers,
Jim Moscheck
Living under the perpetually cloudy light dome of SE Michigan

There used to be a support forum, but I'll ask here. There are different levels of support and feature ad support. With feature support you get five featured ads. Is there a time limit to use the five ads? And, is this over and above regular support. I've never supported before but I want to now. I don't really have much to sell, but I do want to help keep AM going. What a great resource we have here!
Thanks, Jim

In the classifieds, what is the significance of the color of the stars in the rating column? Lots of different colors, mine are kind of grey/blue.
Thanks,
Jim

Do I have to worry about the center ring on my primary when using any of the solvents recommended for mirror cleaning? Can they react to the adhesive on the ring? I've never cleaned a primary mirror before, but have cleaned the corrector plate on my SCT. I purchased a floor model at a local telescope shop which sat in the store window for a while. I'm sure it's just dusty and will probably come clean with a rinse of distilled water, but just in case it doesn't I'm tryng to be prepared. 8^)
Thanks, Jim

Hello Everybody.

Inspired by Floyd Blue's modifications on his Orion 10" dob I decided to give them it a try myself. I didn't have too much luck with the focuser. I've since given up and ordered a replacement crayford. Next up is a cooling fan, but I thought I'd share what I've just finished.

In a seated position I found it awkward to see the screen on the computer when it was Velcro'ed to the base and it was very difficult to hold with one hand while moving the scope with the other. I remembered a post and picture awhile back showing a controller holder on a post for a DSC computer. Here is my take on it. It cost practically nothing as I used scraps of oak and a dowel left over from my observing chair. I painted the dowel and the cleat that holds it gloss black to blend in with the base. The holder is then attached to the dowel by a hole on the back. It is just held on by gravity so it sets up and breaks down quickly and can be swiveled right to left. It moves with the base so it is always in the right possition. It is surprisingly sturdy as the holes the dowels go into are 2" deep. I haven't observed with it yet, but I think it'll be a nice handy upgrade when I do.

Anyone ever been to this one? This year it's March 29 - April 2 at Deerlick Astronomy Village east of Atlanta. Any info would be apprieciated from anyone who has observed there.
Clear skies,

I made a trade recently with a fellow club member for an 8mm Orion/Vixen superwide mostly to test it to see if I liked it. It works really well in my 10" dob with sharp stars to the edge. Lately I prefer longer eye relief EP mostly for comfort and the fact that if I'm not careful I get eyelash oil on them. I had a 13T6 which I really liked, but was constantly cleaning it, so I traded for a 12T4. My question is would I miss my 9mmT6 ( 133X ) if I decided to sell it and keep the SW? The SW give me less field but 150x. My other short FL EPs are 6,7,and 9 UO orthos and a nagler 3-6-zoom.

Thanks,

What exactly is the set screw on my 12T4 for? I just picked up a 2" barrel extender so I could use my 2" filters with it and it got me thinking about the set screw that came with the EP. Is it something simple like keeping the eyepiece from falling too far into the drawtube or diagonal? The instructions that came with the EP were kind of vague about it. Anyone know?

...before the prices go up. :S I've been in the planning stages of building a truss dob using Kreig and Berry's book and didn't plan on ordering a primary mirror till next year. If prices go up like some folks are predicting I now feel if I don't buy it soon I probably never will.

My goal is to build a Dob that will last me the rest of my life. I was planning on building two telescopes over the next few years. The first being in the 12.5 range and then a second larger aperture one in which I could use the experience I gained on the first to refine the second.

Well, I've since purchased a 10" tube dob which will act as my "everyday" scope and now want to build the larger one which I’ll use at star parties and dark sky locations when the seeing and transparency will support the extra aperture.

I've observed with friends who have mirrors made by Swayze, Zambuto, Galaxy, and Omni-Torus. In every example of these mirrors the views were excellent to say the least, especially in the Zambuto.

My question is concerning Discovery mirrors. I never had the opportunity to use Discovery optics and wonder if anyone here can comment on their quality. Their prices are less expensive that the others and I feel I could afford a larger 18" mirror for the price of the competitions 15 or 16". Obviously I want the best quality mirror that I can afford and I’ll give up some aperture if that means I’ll get better performing optics.

Any and all comments are appreciated and I sure hope my spelling and grammar is up to par.