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Posts Made By: Mark Rice

March 4, 2005 09:48 PM Forum: Binoviewers

vingetting with focal reducer?

Posted By Mark Rice
Bill, if you're talking about a reducer and a binoviewer, it shouldn't. My binoviewer works just fine in my SCT with 24mm wide angle ep's and .6(?) reducer. No vignetting that I can see. What didn't work was trying it with my .63 SCT reducer. Wouldn't come close to focus. If you're viewing mono it should work great.

March 18, 2005 02:31 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Re: Filters

Posted By Mark Rice
Hmmm, that's a puzzlement. The colors in an 0III filter are going to be pretty subtle. Ok, mostly gray 8) When you're dark adapted the eye doesn't have the best color perception. I am surprised that you can see some reds, though. Maybe it's some kind of narrow band filter for imaging like Ha though I don't know if you can see anything through one of those.

April 15, 2005 11:19 PM Forum: Eyepieces

I'm fixing a hole...

Posted By Mark Rice
Wise words, indeed and I thank one and all for their input.
I regularly use the 14 UWA on my Starhopper 1.25" focuser without balance problems (it's the old Discovery-type with the sliding dovetail hubs). Funny thing is my 12" DSH - only a couple of my ep's come to focus without an extension tube or using the 1.25" adapters for the UWA's. So it's a toss-up about using the dual barrel (tho' I kinda like clamping those babies on my Starhopper).
Wee or not-so wee? Think I'll head over to the local shoppe and "weigh" the attributes. Maybe I can try both and return the loser...

May 13, 2005 01:35 AM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

PST?

Posted By Mark Rice
Yeah! What he said! I just got one and I get all giggly when I observe with it even without double-stacking. grin I DO have to recommend the Cemax ep's, though. They do make a difference. 8O

August 12, 2005 05:41 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Burgess/Back planetary eyepieces??

Posted By Mark Rice
Larry, I've got a 6mm prototype arriving today (maybe). I'll post some first impressions if the weather cooperates.

November 25, 2005 08:11 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Solar Viewing Tips/Need to Know Stuff

Posted By Mark Rice
Hey Eric, I've got a similar setup though I don't use it much anymore. Some of the best viewing I got with the glass filter was using an Orion Ultrablock filter during the big sunspot events of Halloween 2003 at the first Eldorado star party. Look for granulation (it looks kinda sandy) on the surface - it's a good indicator of seeing.

December 7, 2005 03:22 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

The crab nebula

Posted By Mark Rice
I recently got to observe M1 in very dark skies and structure was noticeable in a 12". At low power (50X) it's just a bright oval; at 100x I could see some feathering of the edge and the central portion gets "lumpy". With an Orion Ultrablock and averted vision the lumps became very faint bubbles, revealing the filaments. Now, this was a REAL subtle effect and I had to return to it several times to make sure it wasn't just my eyes making stuff up. Upping the magnification to 170x didn't make any improvement; but bumping the scope did confirm that I was seeing some structure.

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