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Posts Made By: Larry Thaxton

December 5, 2008 06:08 PM Forum: Star Parties

Copan International Star Party

Posted By Larry Thaxton
When is this planned? I am interested having just returned from Tikal and Guatemala. Have Uti, will travel!

LArry

December 13, 2008 02:29 PM Forum: Refractors

D & G Optical Achromats

Posted By Larry Thaxton
Hi William,

I owned a D&G 6" F/15 and liked it so much I ordered an 8" F/12. Both scopes had superb optics and were wonderful performers. The 6" had very little color and thrilled many folks in my neighborhood when turned to Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon. When I ordered the 8" I was expecting a lot more color but it surprised me as it was not an issue, at least for me. Since I have also owned a few 5" to 7" APOs, I had a chance to compare them my self and let others look through each. The D&G 8" was an absolute crowd pleaser, maybe the favorite of most who looked through the various scopes. There is color on things like Vega, Sirius and even Jupiter. More than some folks are willing to tolerate. But for planetary, lunar, double stars and globular clusters the 8" was one of my favorites. In addition, Barry is a super guy to deal with and produces a top notch product at very fair prices. My bet is that you will love the 6" F/12 or F/15 but be prepared for needing a substantial mount to carry it! The biggest issue with long focal length achromats is adequate mounting. My 8" was on a Parallax HD-150.

March 21, 2009 12:28 PM Forum: Takahashi

FS-128 on a

Posted By Larry Thaxton
Hi George,

My first FS-152 was mounted on an EM-200 Temma II and it was a wonderful combination. The EM-200 easily carried the OTA, finder, ring, Mark V binoviewer and every pair of eyepieces I tried. It would do well with imaging but the NJP is better yet and often available second hand for close to the same price. My current FS-152 is on an NJP Temma and is superb. The mount is slightly overkill but that is the way I prefer mounting scopes for high power viewing.

Eyepieces? I have two sets of Zeiss Abbe orthos (4mm - 25mm) and a pair of 5mm Pentax XOs for planetary and XWs for widefield. Add the Mk V binoviewer and it really does not get much better.

March 21, 2009 03:49 PM Forum: Takahashi

FS-128 on a

Posted By Larry Thaxton
And the current FS-152 on an NJP with 11x70 finder in place of normal 7x50.

March 22, 2009 12:36 PM Forum: Takahashi

NEW TAK

Posted By Larry Thaxton
TOA 170 or 180?

April 5, 2009 07:10 PM Forum: Reflectors

Who can build me a OTA?

Posted By Larry Thaxton
Hey Charles,

Give mark a call at Teton Telescopes. He is soon to realease the "Rapier" series of optimized Newtonians and may be able to deal with the project. Parallax could as well and Joe is a great guy to deal with but his scopes are a bit heavier. Depends on what you are looking for as far as a finished scope.

May 14, 2009 05:24 AM Forum: Eyepieces

18mm Mark V Binoviewer Eyepieces

Posted By Larry Thaxton
Hi John,

I have used both the 18mm Baader orthos and 18mm Tak LEs in a Mk V binoviewer. Over the last few weeks I switched from two full sets of Baader orthos to pairs of 5mm, 7.5mm, 12.5mm and 18mm LEs as the shorter FL LEs offered much better eye relief. Eye relief is not a big issue in the 18mms and both the Baader and LEs provide excellent sharpness. I liked the Baaders a great deal but the LEs seem brighter and do have a bit larger field of view. Frankly, either would be a good choice and the Baaders are a heck of a lot less expensive. If you are putting together sets fro planetary the Baaders offer more choice in "planetary" focal lengths at 5-6-7-9-12.5-and 18mm.

May 22, 2009 09:31 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

If I only had one telescope.

Posted By Larry Thaxton
After many years of trying different scopes, I am still convinced that if I could own only one scope it would be the 12.5" Portaball. It really does everything well. Oh yes, and a Roundtable equatorial platform. It exceeds the $3,000 limit new but they come up used for great prices.

If I had to buy new and hold to the $3,000 I'd look at Mark's (Teton Telescopes) Rapier line of optimized Newtonians in the 8" size range on a DOB base.







June 9, 2009 07:36 PM Forum: Refractors

Nikon 6.5cm ED APO

Posted By Larry Thaxton
Another view.

June 13, 2009 05:02 AM Forum: Refractors

Nikon 6.5cm ED APO

Posted By Larry Thaxton
A picture of the larger brother to the 6.5cm Nikon:

Nikon 250mm Refractor:


http://www.actpal-uji.com/tenntaikannsatu.html


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