Posts Made By: Ed York

I'm totally with Floyd on this one. I redid my 8" f5 and built a 12" f6. Both have an Antares quartz somewhere around 1/25 pv. The views are crisp.

Floyd said a while back; "it's a small mirror that does a big job."

Ed

A good buddy of mine cuts his own grass (not an easy chore in Houston in August) to justify dropping $100 every Saturday on golf (not counting clubs, ball retreiver, shoes, range binoculars, and every other golf gadget he can find).

I followed suit and gave up golf. My yard "savings" go into Astronomy.

That and my net worth is in the millions - if we're talking pennies, pesos, rupees, pebbles, grains of sand ....


Ed

If you are doing it for cost, buy the Orion and get the classic for $529 or wait for a good used 10" scope here. One other option is to jump on the 10" classic that is currently listed on Orion's clearance page for $450. Use the savings to buy a good star chart. The Orion classics are very good solid scopes. The 10" is a great size to own.

Ultimately you probably could build a cheaper scope, but going cheap and getting a good scope seems to take a lot of experience. Building also take a lot more time then you expect.

Building or even rebuilding allows you to customize and get the scope you want for your needs. The problem is, we usually want the cool options that drive up the cost. I've rebuilt an 8" tube scope and built a 12.5" truss dob. Neither was cheap. They are absolutley beautiful scopes to use and bring me great joy. I really enjoyed the experience of building them as well.

I once read, "Price is price. Value is the total experience." To me, my scopes are an excellent value.

I hope this helps.

Ed

Michael Baca said:

My question is are refractors or reflectors better for astromonmy?

Reflectors!

Beautiful scope! A 12.5" is a great size scope to have. Nice views and reasonably transportable.

Ed

M35 Open Cluster in Gemini
M36, M37, M38 Open clusters in Auriga
M44 (Beehive) big open cluder in Cancer
NGC 2362 (Tau cluster) in Canis Major

M46, M47 in Puppis

Thanks for all of the advice. I chose not to decide and follow eveyone's advice.

First, I made a deal on a Stellarue 809D refractor in the classifieds. This scope on a tracking mount will be ideal for the smaller kids (3-6 year olds) that aren't ready to hand track or find anything. With a smaller mount (suggestions?) the EP can be close to kid height but I do intend to use a small ladder as suggested. I too find that requesting them to hold onto the ladder "for safety reasons" keeps the scope from getting moved off target as frequently.

Second, I really dig the idea of having them find some stuff themselves. By now I know a lot of the older kids and they're repeating on stuff (their parents too). I think the 7 year olds are ready to find some stuff. I'm going to keep by eye out for a used, beat up, or parted out 4.5-6" dob and get them setup. I've already started sketching out ideas for a lit instruction stand complete with a red light, battery pack, sky chart and instructions. The chart/instructions page will have a mounted protector that is lit up by the red light. I can train a teacher in about 3 minutes to manage this station.

Back to the refractor, any suggestions on a diagnol? I have several series 4000 SWA with the 1-1/4" barrel so would I need the 2" diagnol. We'll be looking at bright stuff not widefield or deep sky. I must admit that I like the big honking wide 2" EP's but this scope will rarely be used by me. Everytime I try to slide over to cluster or nebula, I get asked to put it back on the moon or planet. I have 2" filters, but probably won't be using them much on these things. Orion has their diagnols on sale so I was thinking about using the sale to bump up in coatings. Are the quality of these good enough for what I need or am I just making that Stellarvue limp?

Again thanks for the help.

Ed

I would also highly recommend Mark Harry - though I can't seem to find his email. He has a great reputation. I had him redo a mirror for me. The expectations were high and he exceeded them. I redid that scope about 3 years ago and I grin ear to ear everytime I use. It is just such a nice instrument to use.

I think it is such a great idea that I have been willing to be a Supporter at 10x this rate (yes $120/year if you keep current).

If every person that logs on at least 1/week pitched in the rate would be very very reasonable. Forums, articles, Ads, Auctions, recent News and a Calendar. One bit of good advice or one purchase and you get the $12 back and then some!

Ed