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Posts Made By: Larry Thaxton

May 18, 2002 03:19 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Machinist

Posted By Larry Thaxton

There was a fellow advertising for a while on AstroMart-John Savelle (??) who offered a custom machining service. Is he still around?

Thanks!

June 3, 2002 01:57 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

digital setting circles

Posted By Larry Thaxton

I have recently purchased a Parallax mount that included Losmandy encoders installed but not the actual computer/digital read out. Does anyone have a suggestion on which unit I should buy to complete the system? Is GPS of any help on digital circles and if so, does any company currently incorporate GPS into their system?

Thanks,

Larry

June 22, 2002 12:47 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Foreign sales

Posted By Larry Thaxton

Hi,

I recently put a DS-16 mount up for sale and a fellow from Portugal responded expressing his desire to buy it. I agreed to do a bank transfer having done them myself with folks in Australia. After sending along the bank name and account information, he seems to have disappeared. Anyone else have a similar problem or advice?

Thanks!

August 11, 2002 09:00 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Starliner Cassegrain/newtonian question

Posted By Larry Thaxton

I need a bit of advice/help wit a 12" Starliner cass/newt I recently picked up. Perhaps someone out there can give me a few tips-or better yet, a copy of a Starliner manual. My initial problem is how do you set up and collimate it in the cassegrain configuration? It has adjustments at both the primary and secondary locations. I assume I start at the secondary as in a newt but have no idea how to determine when it is "spot-on." Is this laser territory? Sight tube? Cheshire eyepiece? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Larry

(I will post the same message on the scope building board)

August 11, 2002 09:00 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Help!

Posted By Larry Thaxton

I need a bit of advice/help wit a 12" Starliner cass/newt I recently picked up. Perhaps someone out there can give me a few tips-or better yet, a copy of a Starliner manual. My initial problem is how do you set up and collimate it in the cassegrain configuration? It has adjustments at both the primary and secondary locations. I assume I start at the secondary as in a newt but have no idea how to determine when it is "spot-on." Is this laser territory? Sight tube? Chesire eyepiece? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

September 3, 2002 04:25 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

planetary scopes

Posted By Larry Thaxton

Well, I guess I will add my thoughts to the discussion. For the most part I am pretty much limited to planetary viewing as I live quite close to Los Angeles. Over the years I have had a chance to use and compare several scopes for this use. A 10" DOB, properly collimated and with excellent optics is a killer planetary scope-I own a Portaball 10" with a Zambuto mirror. Last season I had a chance to compare it on Saturn to a 7" APO triplet at a remote, dark location. The majority of those present voted that the 10" put up a better image-resolution and contrast considered.

At home the best images of the planets have come through a 6" F/15 D&G refractor. I have a 4" flourite and a 5" Meade APO both of which do an excellent job but the light grasp of the 6" wins out in providing finer detail. I also have an old 8" F/8 reflector and it too is a killer planetary scope. The more time I spend, the more I find myself gravitating to scopes of 6" or larger diameter. Having more light to work with is just easier. Having said that, I admit that the images through the 4" flourite are stunningly sharp and quite satisfying!

September 12, 2002 11:54 AM Forum: Telescope Making

collimation (?)

Posted By Larry Thaxton

I am experiencing a plume of light on stars and planets in my 12.5 inch F/4. It appears as a tail on stars and a blob of light on planets. On either object it is only in one portion of the image and not a uniform halo surrounding the object. Collimation problem? If so, a suggested cure, i.e. secondary or primary adjustment (both??).

October 27, 2002 07:26 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Starliner Mirror cell Repair Question

Posted By Larry Thaxton

I picked up a 12.5" Starliner cassegrain/newtonian a while back and have just started setting it up. As I was attempting to collimate I discovered that one of the main mirror adjustment screws had broken free of the mirror cell. It has a 1" square base that is simply glued (?) to the rear of the mirror cell. There is no evidence of any kind of welding on the remaining three. I tried quick set epoxy and let it cure 24 hours but it came lose again. Before I track down Devcon aluminum epoxy, anyone have hints?

I can actually get pretty good collimation w/o the screw as it has a push-pull setup and am going to use it as-is for a while. This thing is definitely a beast and maybe more than I am willing to wrestle around. It does well so far on my old DS-16. It appears to be the "standard" model and has a Feathertouch focuser at the cass focus (nice focuser!) and an original Telescopics 1 1/4" at the newtonian focus. Combined with the 60mm Carton guidescope, original sliding weight balance system and a nice finder it creates quite an impression! Anyone out there with an old Starliner manual???

October 28, 2002 01:08 AM Forum: Telescope Making

Need help with a mirror cell repair

Posted By Larry Thaxton

I picked up a 12.5" Starliner cassegrain/newtonian a while back and have just started setting it up. As I was attempting to collimate I discovered that one of the main mirror adjustment screws had broken free of the mirror cell. It has a 1" square base that is simply glued (?) to the rear of the mirror cell. There is no evidence of any kind of welding on the remaining three. I tried quick set epoxy and let it cure 24 hours but it came lose again. Before I track down Devcon aluminum epoxy, anyone have hints?

I can actually get pretty good collimation w/o the screw as it has a push-pull setup and am going to use it as-is for a while. This thing is definitely a beast and maybe more than I am willing to wrestle around. It does well so far on my old DS-16. It appears to be the "standard" model and has a Feathertouch focuser at the cass focus (nice focuser!) and an original Telescopics 1 1/4" at the newtonian focus. Combined with the 60mm Carton guidescope, original sliding weight balance system and a nice finder it creates quite an impression! Anyone out there with an old Starliner manual???

Message Thread:

November 3, 2002 07:18 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Cassegrain expert- So Cal area

Posted By Larry Thaxton

I picked upa 12.5 Starliner cass/newt a while back and would like to find someone in the So Cal area familiar with setting one up. I have tried several methods and get pretty close but not quite. It might be that I have to start over centering everything physically and then collimating but an optical expert would be a welcome shortcut! Any leads?

Thanks!