Posts Made By: Craig Smith

June 14, 2004 02:43 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Dob ease-of-use?

Posted By Craig Smith

I've had a telescope on a german equatorial mount but just sold it. I'm considering a dobsonian, but I'm wondering about the practical limitations due to its lack of tracking. How high can you go with the magnification before keeping it centered gets impractical? Does it get old having to constantly move the scope when observing? In all the articles I've read, nothing has addressed this subject; I'd appreciate some real-world opinions from those of you who have used them. Aperture is not the question here -- I'm just looking at an 8 or 10, which can be had in either configuration, but the dob is more portable and quicker to set up. Thanks.

June 18, 2004 04:59 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Dob slow-motion controls

Posted By Craig Smith

Thanks to all those who provide the excellent feedback on the dob ease-of-use thread. Now I'm wondering, has anyone ever put slow-motion controls on a dob? A couple gears with a quick-release mechanism, like on eq mounts, seems like it would solve the issues related to fine movements and changing eyepieces, etc., without disturbing the rest of the advantages. The manual slow-motion controls on my eq mount were actually easier to use than the motors.

June 26, 2004 07:38 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Binoculars vs Telescopes

Posted By Craig Smith

I haven't been able to find any formal discussion of this subject -- I don't want to start a thread with speculation, but if anyone really knows the answer or where to find it, or has specific experience, please share.

Mathematically a 50 mm binocular gathers as much light as a 70 mm refractor, albeit spread over two eyes instead of one. But when our brains put together the two images from a binocular, would it not yield an effectively brighter image? Do 50 mm binos give an image similar to a 50 mm scope, a 70 mm scope, or somewhere in between?

December 13, 2004 03:03 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Binos vs small scope

Posted By Craig Smith

I'd like to get something for quick looks, wide-fields scans, and portability. Must be cheap (I've spent enough on my 8" SCT already). I enjoy scanning the sky with my small 8x30 binoculars; it's nice to be able to just walk outside and lie down and look, but I have a hard time holding them steady and sometimes I think I'd like a bit more power. I don't like the idea of putting binos on a tripod as my neck would not be happy with the viewing angle. The disadvantage of a scope is it would be a little harder to find stuff, the field would be a little smaller, and a little more work to set up, but hopefully minimally. So I'm thinking a small scope that just goes on a photo tripod. But I've heard that good binos are better than a cheap scope, but for the same price it doesn't make sense that you could get better quality when you have twice the optics, a bunch of prisms, and a cheap eyepiece. For those that have tried one or both methods, which would you recommend? Or are both valuable? For things like M31, does the contrast improvement of binos offset their additional light loss and potentially smaller size?

December 18, 2004 07:35 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

$50 Orion 60 mm

Posted By Craig Smith

Eventually I hope to get a small short-tube refractor for travel, daytime, wide-field, etc, not yet sure about going the ultra-cheap Apogee route or saving up for a decent one some day way off in the future. But then I see this Orion 60 mm long tube for $50 complete, and even with $75 worth of accessories. Can those standard alt-az tripds be adapted to anything else? The tripod and accessories alone seem almost worth it. The narrow field and low quality would limit its astronomical use, but the thought of having a cheap scope for kids and scouts to play with, and maybe for daytime use, is intriguing. Or it is just a bad idea because the scope itself is completely worthless? I already have a minus-violet filter.

December 20, 2004 08:37 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Cheap binoculars -- Apogee?

Posted By Craig Smith

OK, I've decided to get a modest pair of low-power binoculars -- like 7x50, BAK4b, decent coatings. The Pentax gets great reviews but is $130 after rebate (which I often forget to send in). For $70, are the new Apogee Astro-vues OK? I thik they only have multi-coated objectives. The only review I could find (of a more expensive higher-powered one) was decent. I don't care at all about the filters. There is also the regular Nikon Action; I've only seen reviews of the Action Extreme. I can't find much info on the optics of the Action -- I don't think they also only have multi-coated objectives. Oberwerk has the 8x56. Their web site says fully multi-coated. Hard to come by out west here though (OPT has the Apogees), and I'd like something this week for a trip next week.

March 17, 2005 04:56 AM Forum: Star Parties

Eastern Sierra observing

Posted By Craig Smith

I'm going from LA to Lake Tahoe this summer, and would like to stop overnight somewhere and do some observing, probably in the Mammoth/June Lake area. Yes, it won't be totally dark in a public place, but certainly better than what I'm used to. I've heard it can get windy though. Anyone have any experience with this area?

May 9, 2005 03:54 AM Forum: Meade

Tripod bag

Posted By Craig Smith

Does anyone know of a tripod bag that will fit the LX200 standard tripod with Peterson Mount Assistant attached?

July 15, 2005 07:51 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Small multi-use refractor questions

Posted By Craig Smith

OK, the age-old discussion again, but after reading what I could here I still have a few questions. Here's the scenario:

I would like a small refractor, not for astrophotography, but just for wide-field views, daytime use, and hopefully quick looks at the moon and planets. Alt-Az mount only. Airline portability is desired. Cost is a factor.

So here are the questions:

It seems the Orion 80 ED is the best all-around optical value, but it doesn't fit on an airline. So basically it appears we have the 80 mm SV and 80 and 66 WO options. The WO APOs are basically twice the cost of the "achros" (no more "semi" discussions here). I think the 80 APO is out of my budget. The 66 mm APO is just a little more than the 80 achros. I figure they could both probably be pushed to similar powers? I'm not sure how much color will bother me; FWIW I already have a v-block filter. The 66 could get by with a lighter mount. So: 66 Petzval (much cheaper), 66 APO, 80 Zenithstar, 80 Megrez, 80 Nighthawk, which shall it be?

Next, what kind of a finderscope, if any, should I get? Perhaps both a red-dot and small 6x30 on a dovetail mount? Do I really need one?

What kind of tripod/mount? I don't want to spend more than the scope. I guess daytime and nighttime have different needs, but a single one would be preferable. I assume I would need some kind of slow motion controls. I've heard the slow-motion heads for photo tripods aren't too great. How about Orion's AZ-3? It's probably not too good for daytime though -- does it have any kind of fast-motion option?

Thanks very much!


July 18, 2005 01:33 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

William-Optics 66 apo vs 80 "semi"-apo

Posted By Craig Smith

As a follow on to my other post ...

For planetary viewing, I know both of these options are definitely limited, but between the two which would you recommend? The 66 apo has a focal length of 460, their 80's either 480 (Zenithstar) or 500 (Megrez).