Posts Made By: Louis Marchesi

February 9, 2005 04:14 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Red-tailed hawk?

Posted By Louis Marchesi

I noticed this bird perching in the trees this past Sunday. Now I'm no expert birder, but it was obvious that he's a bit larger than even the ravens I've seen in my yard. I consulted my Peterson's and concluded that he's a red-tailed hawk. Am I right?

The only bad thing is that he was on the West side of my property and is backlit by the setting sun.

Nikon D70, 70-30mm Zoom Nikkor @300mm, 1/1600s, f/5.6, ISO200 (yeah, there was a LOT of light!)

Louis Marchesi
New London Township, PA

May 20, 2005 02:12 AM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Help with USPS!

Posted By Louis Marchesi

I'm a newbie insofar as selling here on A-mart. I have a question about shipping to Canada.

I sold an item and naively went down to the local PO and said: "I need to get this to Canada." I sent it Global Priority Mail. The buyer then e-mailed me of his disappointment that I'd used GPM instead of "parcel post" since he would have to pay a large fee to take delivery of the package.

I suppose I deserve a bad rating for shipping GPM instead of parcel post -- I can accept that. But can someone explain to me why the global priority mail option would be more costly to the receiver than parcel post?

Naturally, I won't be shipping anything outside of the USA after this experience, but I'd like to know what I did wrong.

May 23, 2005 03:29 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Chipping Sparrow

Posted By Louis Marchesi

I'm somewhat reluctant to post photos here -- you guys (and gals) are good!

Anyway, this little guy kept me company this afternoon during some trimming and weeding. Somehow I managed to "sneak up" on him and get a decent closeup without scaring him off.

Nikon D70, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/1000s

May 29, 2005 10:29 PM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Female House Finch?

Posted By Louis Marchesi

This gal was perched in my osage orange tree yesterday. At least I assume it's a gal, as in female house finch. Or is it a juvenile?

June 1, 2005 11:46 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Eyepiece marketing

Posted By Louis Marchesi

I just got Orion's new catalogue in the mail.

Now, I've gotta ask, what kind of marketing strategy is it in naming the eyepieces after clouds (Stratus) 8O

I already own cumulonimbus eyepieces and a cirrus telescope (well, they're magnets for them anyway) wink


June 28, 2005 11:24 PM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Stumped by shorebird

Posted By Louis Marchesi

This past weekend I captured this image of some type of shorebird. The wife and I were riding on the Bellevue-Oxford Ferry (Chesapeake Bay area). I only got one "good" shot of him. I did not get to see him in flight.

I've been through Peterson's ... rail, ibis, bittern, ... I am stumped as to what this fellow might be.

Can anyone ID this bird?

August 19, 2005 09:32 PM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Need help -- again

Posted By Louis Marchesi

I imaged this bird this past week in Surfside Beach, South Carolina. I think he's a sandpiper of some kind, but I don't know which variety.

My wife and I thought he'd lost a leg, but when he subsequently flew away we saw he had both.


October 19, 2005 01:00 AM Forum: Eyepieces

TV 41mm Pan or Pentax XL40W XW -- help me decide

Posted By Louis Marchesi

Well, the title pretty much states my dilemma. I was just about to order a 41mm Panoptic when I "discovered" the Pentax. Do you have a preference for one over the other and why?

Thanks,
Louis Marchesi

October 1, 2006 12:16 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

The Blue Flash

Posted By Louis Marchesi

I observed NGC 6905 last night (a.k.a. The Blue Flash), a planetary in Delphinus. At 100x, I thought I saw the central star. I also used mags up to 300x.

But, the catalog data I've seen for this show it to be too faint for my 152mm scope (mag 15.7). Of course, other data I've seen show it as mag 14. I was observing from pretty good conditions -- above average transparency and good to very good seeing.

I did see an write up on this planetary where the author states that the CS is "easy at 100x" but he is using much larger aperture (either his 13-inch or 18-inch, he didn't say).

Is there a foreground star that I mistook for the CS? Have you seen the CS in this planetary, and if so, what scope and mag were you using?


September 21, 2008 09:08 PM Forum: Reflectors

Starmaster FX scopes

Posted By Louis Marchesi

I've been looking at the Starmaster FX series of scopes (dreaming may be more accurate).

I'm weighing the pros and cons of the 16.5- and the 18-inch models.

Here is where I'm coming from: I have a 6-inch refractor that I used visually until I attached a camera to it. This rig is such a pain to set up at a star party (in fact, it's a pain to set up and tear down anywhere). So I plan to put this in a building and thus I "need" something to look through and a "travel" scope.

An observing buddy of mine has a 20-inch Obsession, but I don't want to climb a ladder. I want something with enough punch to deliver "in my face" views (compared to the six inch).

Coming from the driven six inch, though, I'm partial to tracking and goto, so those are nice to have. My friend's dob is undriven and I find it difficult to do "critical" observing that way.

What I'm looking at, then, would be the 16.5 with tracking versus the 18 without. If I went the 16.5 route, would I be leaving too many photons uncollected? Will I be utterly disappointed viewing side-by-side with my friend with the 20-inch?

Thanks for your opinions.