Posts Made By: Ron Hranac

But you will be getting a larger Etalon. The PST uses a 15mm internal Etalon; the 40mm SolarMax is, as I understand, based on a "full-size" 40mm Etalon.

Ron
Equipment Forum co-moderator

The Ethos I had on order through a local store came in a few days ago. Given the mediocre seeing and so-so weather--the new 'scope curse apparently applies to new eyepieces, too )--I've only been able to do some casual observing with it the past couple nights.

That said, here are a few general comments. The eyepiece itself is about the same overall length as a T5 31mm Nagler, and the same overall diameter as a T4 22mm Nagler. Weight-wise it's slightly less than the 1.5 pound 22mm Nagler, definitely not as heavy as one would think given its physical size.

Looking through the Ethos in daylight, I did see some pincushion distortion, but this is not apparent at night. Very little lateral color (my target for this was the Moon). Easy to focus in all scopes tried so far (Tak TOA-130, TEC 140, TV85, etc.), crisp images, some *slight* reduction in that crispness toward the edges.

The AFOV is, simply put, amazing. 8O

Lots of positive comments from some of my fellow Denver Astronomical Society members who had a chance to look through it in my scope or theirs during Saturday night's DAS monthly open house. It certainly had lots of wow factor.

I'm definitely looking forward to trying this new EP under dark sky conditions, with fewer clouds and better seeing. Also looking forward to hearing users' comments on the Ethos.

Ron
Equipment Forum co-moderator

Hi August,
If you're in a location with available AC, then a quality regulated power supply that provides the necessary DC output to match your scope & dew heater. For example, Astron has a fairly diverse line of regulated DC power supplies in several output current ratings.

For battery power, I think a 17 amp-hour deep cycle battery is about the minimum. There are batteries in the 35 amp-hour range that might be more suitable, and the size/weight is a fair compromise compared to batteries in the 60+ amp-hour range.

For DC distribution between my power supply and/or battery and my astro accessories, I use a West Mountain Radio Rigrunner (five outlet). Connectors are Anderson Powerpole.

You should be able to find out more info about all of these by doing a Google search.

Ron
Equipment Forum co-moderator

Hi Ivan,
When my wife and I went on S&T's eclipse cruise last year, we hand-carried two refractors -- a 60mm Coronado H-alpha, and a TV85 -- and assorted eyepieces. No problems with security in any country, although security officials did look at the scopes a couple times. For mounts, I took two TV Tele-Pods, and checked them in my luggage. Not the most stable mounts, but certainly fine for casual observing on the trip. If you do something like this, be sure to check the mount's hardware. I found that a couple screws & knobs came loose while enroute.

Ron
Equipment Forum co-moderator

It's certainly cool technology. The SkyScout uses GPS to to determine its location, time & date, and other sensors determine which direction it's pointing in both azimuth and elevation. That information is coupled to the internal database of celestial objects, and it all comes together to locate or identify objects in the sky. By the way, SkyScout works in daylight, too, although it's difficult to see the pointing arrows (I cover the far end). Great for finding Venus and similar objects during the day.

Ron
Equipment Forum co-moderator

James, it looks like surface mount resistors R21 and R22 got cooked, too. If you compare them to R11 & R12 next to the other chip (RA chip?), the color difference is obvious.

Ron
Equipment Forum co-moderator

I have the Baader coma corrector, and it works as advertised. I use it with a 12.5 inch PortaBall. I first tried Tele Vue's Visual Paracorr, but it required more back focus than the PortaBall has available (plus it was pretty heavy when combined with big eyepieces).

The Baader is not as convenient to use as the Tele Vue coma corrector, but the Baader does not require additional back focus on the PortaBall, and adds very little weight to each eyepiece.

Ron
Equipment Forum co-moderator

I just picked my 8mm Ethos up at a local dealer today (Saturday). Next stop, under the stars--assuming Mother Nature cooperates.

Ron
Equipment Forum co-moderator

A favorite SW radio? That's a tough call. I still have an Icom R70 that has provided many hours of listening enjoyment since I acquired it in the 1980s. I also have a Sony ICF-SW100, a pocket-size SW receiver that I've taken on a number of business trips abroad over the years. It was especially nice in some overseas destinations where the only link to English-language news was that little Sony.

Modern amateur transceivers often have decent general coverage receivers. A favorite in that category is my Icom 756PRO (first generation). I think Icom is up to the 756PRO-III now, which has some performance improvements over the earlier PRO rigs.

73,
Ron (N0IVN)
Equipment Forum co-moderator

I call plural Ethos a lighter wallet.

Ron
Equipment Forum co-moderator