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Posts Made By: Ron Hranac

December 27, 2004 04:21 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Night Sky lower light baffle

Posted By Ron Hranac
Looks good, Floyd. What material did you use to make the baffle?

Ron

December 29, 2004 05:32 PM Forum: Astro-Physics

mounting ap to tak

Posted By Ron Hranac
Does the AP mount use the same kind of dovetail plates as Losmandy mounts? If so, the Tak-to-Losmandy plate made by BT Technologies--one of Astromart's sponsors, I believe--may be a possible solution.

Ron

January 2, 2005 10:11 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Multi-purpose guide/richfield question?

Posted By Ron Hranac
A fellow member of the Denver Astronomical Society mounted one of Tele Vue's small scopes (TV-76, I think) on his 5-inch refractor. It works nicely as a finder, and provides some superb low power, wide field views.

Ron

January 8, 2005 08:25 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

O.K. ....I have a new PST....How should it be moun

Posted By Ron Hranac
Well, a Losmandy G11 probably would be overkill wink

Seriously, the PST will work just fine on a decent camera tripod, a small alt/az mount like Tele Vue's Tele-Pod, or even a small tracking mount. The latter really isn't necessary with the PST, though. Honestly, given the small size of the PST and its ability to be used effectively as a quick grab-and-go solar scope, you'll do just fine with a good camera tripod. In fact, the local telescope store here in Denver often has a demo PST out on the front sidewalk, mounted on a camera tripod.

I have the PST's big brother, the MaxScope 60, and it spends most of its observing time on a Tele-Pod. I have occasionally used it on a Losmandy GM-8 in a side-by-side configuration with a Tele Vue TV85 refractor equipped with a white light solar filter. This setup is good for providing side-by-side views in H-alpha and white light.

Ron

January 23, 2005 10:44 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Number 6000!

Posted By Ron Hranac
Floyd, I feel like a real newbie here on Astromart. I just rolled the 100 message mark.

Congrats on 6000!

Ron

January 27, 2005 06:36 PM Forum: Takahashi

New Purchase

Posted By Ron Hranac
Hi Harry,
I haven't used a Tak 128, but I do have a TOA-130. It's used almost exclusively for visual observing, and does indeed live up to its reputation. As well, I use it at the Denver Astonomical Society monthly open houses, and the scope consistently gets unsolicited comments from members of the public about its outstanding image quality.

If you do get the TOA-130, make sure you have a heavy duty mount for it (I use a Losmandy G11). The tube assembly has a lot of glass in it, and is weighty for its size.

Ron


January 29, 2005 11:03 AM Forum: Refractors

90mm Short tubr APOs

Posted By Ron Hranac
Hi Mike,
Don't forget about Tele Vue's TV85. It's real close to the 90mm you're after, is small enough to take as carry-on in the Tele Vue soft case, and is an excellent APO refractor to boot. I've taken mine on a number of business trips, and have never been questioned by airport security about it. They've never even asked me to remove it from the case, either. One time, a security screener running the x-ray machine was an amateur astronomer, and when he saw the scope in the x-ray display, he commented about it. We chatted about 10 minutes or so about our favorite hobby grin

When I do take the TV85, it comes with me as carry-on, and I usually check a Tele-Pod mount in my luggage. Nice setup for stargazing when traveling.

Ron

February 1, 2005 08:30 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

beginner needs advice!

Posted By Ron Hranac
I went through much the same decision process about a year ago. Should I get a Solarmax 60 and adapter plate for my Tele Vue TV85 refractor, or just go for a dedicated scope: the Maxscope 60?

I went back and forth on the pros and cons of each approach for some time. For instance, the SM60 & adapter were certainly less costly than the Maxscope 60. But what if I dropped it while putting it on or taking it off of the TV85? On the flip side of the coin, would it be cost-effective to get a dedicated scope that couldn't be used for anything else but the sun? That TV85 could easily do double-duty with the SM60 and adapter plate.

Hmmm...

One day while visiting the local telescope store, one of my friends who works there said they just got a Maxscope 60 in. I warned him that I'd probably buy it if I looked at it, which is what I did. 8)

In the end--despite the additional cost for the dedicated scope versus the filter and adapter plate--I feel getting the Maxscope 60 was the best choice.

I ended up making an adapter for my Losmandy GM-8 mount that holds both the TV85 and Maxscope 60. One provides H-alpha views, the other white light views (with an appropriate filter). This turned out to be a very flexible setup.

Looking back, I have no regrets on this decision.

Ron

February 4, 2005 07:50 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Re: APO cooling down

Posted By Ron Hranac
I have a Takahashi TOA-130, which is a five-inch air-spaced triplet APO refractor. That scope has a lot of glass in the front end of the tube, and definitely requires some cool-down time before critical use. I've found 30 to 45 minutes to be adequate. For instance, at the monthly Denver Astronomical Society open houses, I start setting up the mount & tripod around sunset, and put the Tak on the mount. By the time I install the finder, diagonal and adapters, get out my eyepieces and accessories, plug in the controller & battery, do a rough polar alignment, and visit with other DAS members who are also setting up, 30 minutes or so have passed and the Tak is ready to go.

I also have a Tele Vue TV85 doublet APO refractor. Cool-down time on this is a matter of a few minutes in most cases.

Ron

February 6, 2005 08:04 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

Stacking concepts

Posted By Ron Hranac
The second scenario is certainly possible, but if the filters behave like those used for RF, then stacking identical bandpass filters does result in the overall bandpass narrowing.

Ron

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