Posts Made By: David Paessler

December 1, 2002 05:59 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Thousand Oaks Hb filter

Posted By David Paessler

I am in need of a 2" HB filter and are presently using a borrowed Lumicon with 97% transmission. Has anyone had experience with the Thousand Oaks Hb filter and what kind of transmission numbers could I expect from it.
Thanks,
David Paesslr

March 11, 2003 04:55 AM Forum: Star Parties

Twin Lakes Star Party 10/20-25 NEW SITE

Posted By David Paessler

The Twin Lakes Star Party is relocating to a bigger, darker, quieter site for 2003. Located in western Kentucky, the TLSP is a nice event in late October. Camping is just about perfect this time of year, not to mention observing. If you like a laid back, easy going star party, in about the darkest area of the state, check us out at http://wkaa.net

March 14, 2005 12:55 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

Old Meade DS10 Rejuvinated

Posted By David Paessler

Here is what can come of an old heavy scope with just a bit of patience and work. The whole scope weighs what the counterweight used to on the GEM mount. 10 inch f/4.5 with a 62 inch eyepiece height. Did I mention I hate bending over to use a scope. A truss on a 45 inch focal length is a bit overkill, but I wanted a scope that could be transported easily in the space of one passenger in the car. This definitely fills the bill and stacked there is just room for a small eyepiece case and an Argo Navis for setting cirles in the bottom of the rocker box. Nothing original, just a lot of ideas copied from here and there!
David Paessler

November 8, 2005 04:39 AM Forum: Eyepieces

Re: Safety undercuts

Posted By David Paessler

I kinda like the safety undercuts. It gives a nice place to wrap a thick layer of vinyl tape to keep those pesky set screw marks off the eyepiece. I know, not everybody has compression ring fittings everywhere. I got 4 scopes and who knows how many adapters to keep up with. This way I am covered. Plus if they get loaned out, I don't have to worry about all those pesky ring marks. On a serious note, you can mostly fill them with tape to identify 'your' eyepiece and to get rid of the undercut too.
ymmv
David

July 7, 2006 09:37 PM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

A 16" dob

Posted By David Paessler

I just finished up a 16" dob to replace an older heavier one I had been using. This one tips the scales at 123 pounds using a 2" thick mirror. Still sounds heavy till you compare it to the 170 pound original. I love the view through larger scopes, but this is about all my back will pack!
David Paessler

December 3, 2006 01:57 AM Forum: Pet Pics

Lucy

Posted By David Paessler

Here is a shot of Lucy, a rescued cat, we fed her from an eyedropper till she was weaned. I like cats and dogs, but have had a lot more cats. I love the golden eyes.

December 5, 2003 09:13 PM Forum: Star Parties

Upcoming Wisconsin / Illinois Star Parties

Posted By David Paessler

If you are in mid to southern Illinois, the West Kentucky Amateur Astronomers are having a very informal two day star party January 23, 24. It will be a bare bones observing party with a warm room and flush toilet available. 2 miles up the road is a hotel with warm rooms. For more info check out http://wkaa.net This will be the same site we held our Twin Lakes Star Party at this year, the Pennyrile Forest. Closest town is Dawson Springs, KY.
David

March 17, 2005 05:48 PM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

Old Meade DS10 Rejuvinated

Posted By David Paessler

Thanks for the kind comments. Yes, it is much more usable than the old Meade DS10 configuration. About the only thing I lost was the tracking when going to a dob. It gives an honest 2 degree field of view with a 35mm Panoptic and is fantastic for deep sky sweeping! The summer milky way is just mind blowing with that big a fov and 10" of aperature behind it. It does things my 16" f/5 can't with it's limiting 1 degree fov. A plus there is no ladder involved with using this one.

October 25, 2005 02:42 AM Forum: Eyepieces

Eyepiece guards

Posted By David Paessler

You can call Televue and order what you want from them. I ordered several of the rubber eyeguards (think they were $4 each) and extra caps (they were about $1 each). Nothing to it and an exact factory match.
David

March 9, 2006 04:07 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Help Me Choose!

Posted By David Paessler

If you are into galaxys, Copelands Septet in Leo is a nice view and a challenge to pick out all the galaxys. Also known as Hickson 57, try searching for NGC 3753 as it is the brightest at Mag 14.5. Also the "Box" is another nice cluster of 4 galaxys that are interesting, also in Leo. It is also listed as Hickson 61 and NGC 4169 is it's brightest member.
clear skies,
David Paessler