Posts Made By: Larry Thaxton

October 9, 2005 04:13 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

TV-76/TV-85 vs. 6" Reflector w/Royce Mirror

Posted By Larry Thaxton

Hi Joe,

I live at the beach and enjoy "grab and go" lunar and planetary viewing from my deck. Over the last few years I have gone through several scopes trying to get the right combination of performance and ease of use. My most recent refractor was a Televue 85 on a Gibralter mount which gave wonderful views. But, much as I liked it, my old 6" Dynascope outperformed it and was just as easy to carry out and set up. So I sold the TV85. The UTI-6 looks like a fabulous scope and is far more compact than the Dynascope. Under good conditions a 6" scope easily puts away any 3" scope, even highly touted APOs ( I have owned Pentax, Takahashi, Showa and TV APOs in the 3" to 4" range) but the reflector will require collimation now and then and is more sensitive to cool-down and seeing.

As an aside, a few months ago we had a spell of really good seeing and I squeezed my Takahashi FS-152 along side the 6" reflector and TV 85 to view Jupiter. Both of the 6" scopes beat the TV 85 in terms of detail and image brightness. The 152 was clearly better but the old reflector put up a really good image. Better contrast and lack of diffraction (and superb Takahashi optics) gave the large refractor the win. But the Dynascope was a one-trip set up and cost 1/25th what the Tak did.

October 25, 2005 10:55 PM Forum: Reflectors

Parallax

Posted By Larry Thaxton

I have dealt with Joe on numerous occasions and he is first rate in every respect. My 8" F/12 D&G rides on a wonderfully solid Parallax HD 150 mount. It is extremely well made, tracks flawlessly and looks great as well. Joe is a fine craftsman who provides excellence in both his products and customer support.

January 30, 2006 07:43 PM Forum: Eyepieces

12mm T4 vs 14mm UW

Posted By Larry Thaxton

Hi Darren,

I have use the Naglers mentioned as well as the 14mm Nikon (APM Special), 14mm Pentax XL,14mm Pentax XW and 14mm UWA Meade. The Meade is the best 14mm I have found to date for resolution and edge sharpness.

February 13, 2006 12:07 AM Forum: Takahashi

Color Match for Takahashi Green?

Posted By Larry Thaxton

Thanks for the help fellas! Hey Dave "Clint" Berman, I may just do that!

Larry

March 6, 2006 03:20 AM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

reflector/refractor, planetary-wise

Posted By Larry Thaxton

During the close approach of Mars in 2003 I had my absolute best view through a 10" F/5 Portaball. It was one of those exquisite nights when things just went perfectly and the PB gave an image that looked like the cover of Sky & Telescope. I never saw it better through any scope. On most nights my Takahashi FS-152 turns in more consistent images but when the sky co-operates, the 10" is better.

Longer focal length scopes have better depth of focus and seem to stay sharper while focus on short FL scopes sometimes wanders. A longer FL refractor uses more relaxed FL eyepieces with better eye relief. And they generally do not suffer from image degrading tube currents. But they cost a lot more- they FS-152 on an EM-200 mount is over $10,000 and a new 10" PB roughly $4,000.

April 16, 2006 03:39 AM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

How old are you???

Posted By Larry Thaxton

53 and counting. I have been interested since roughly 10 years of age when my parents presented me with a 50mm refractor for Christmas. After a long break from the "hobby" spent climbing, hiking, and kayaking, I came back and now haul a scope along on every outing I can. As a kid I longed for a number of scopes advertised in Sky & Telescope but simply could not afford them. So now I find myself buying a lot of old tech equipment when it comes up.

New blood? Over the last several years I have given away a number of telescopes to friends and their kids who show an interest in astronomy. These range from 60mm refractors (another is going out Monday to a friend who wants to teach his daughters about the sky) to several 6" reflectors, mostly older Edmund 6" F/8s and RV-6s. Best I can do to keep alive the wonder of actually getting out and seeing the beauty of the night sky!

April 23, 2006 02:14 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

EQ Newt vs. Dobsonian for Planetary Viewing?

Posted By Larry Thaxton

Hi Lee,

The advantage of an equatorial mount is that to track a planet across the sky you need only move it in RA rather than in altitude and azimuth as with a DOB. Especially when motor driven, this allows much easier use of high power. Having said that, there are certainly plenty of DOB drive systems out there that will do the same thing. And I routinely do high power obsevations of the planets with a 12.5" Portaball at 300x and above. The best eyepieces I have found for planetary use are the TMB Monos and Pentax SMC orthos. The monos are a little tight for a non-driven DOB but certainly work. It is something of a subjective issue anyway, do you want to let the planet drift across the field and then reposition or constantly nudge the scope versus having the image stay put in the center of the field of view?
One last thought, a traditional non-driven DOB is at its worst near zenith ( hardest to track smoothly) where the planets are normally at their best. I had a 12.5 DOB and it was much harder to use near zenith than the Portaball or an equatorially mounted scope.

April 26, 2006 01:19 AM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

What Do You Do Aside From Astronomy?

Posted By Larry Thaxton

I was fascinated by astronomy as a kid but lost the thread when I started driving. One night while bivouacked on a big wall in Yosemite I was marveling at the beauty of the night sky and the "bug" hit me again so after a 20 year gap, I found my self with a new scope.

To balance out my interest in the stars I:

Travel as often as possible;

Kayak -ocean now more than white water;

Climb rock and ice though I have less time to dedicate to it so I am at a lower level than in the past;

Hike as often as possible; and,

Cycle around town when I can't get to the mountains.

May 11, 2006 02:24 AM Forum: Refractors

Best Planetary 4" refractor?

Posted By Larry Thaxton

Nikon 4" F/12, Showa 4" F/10 and Takahashi FC-100N F/10. All are hard to locate and the Nikon is very expensive.

May 14, 2006 04:13 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

My final scope...

Posted By Larry Thaxton

Looks great Patrick. Nice mount!

Larry