Posts Made By: Keith Proctor

Thanks for the feedback. Your advice has convinced me the Dob is the way to go. Is a 10" too large to take to dark sky gatherings? I am a healthy individual so 50 - 60 lbs is not much to move for me, but is it a scope better left at home to use?
Jon, your image from the 10 is the clincher for me. That is the type of clarity I would enjoy.
Would anyone recommend a paticular brand Dob over another?
Would it be possible to attach a 35mm Minolta XG-7 camera for moon & planet shots directly to the eyepiece? It is an old camera and this mostly is for my amusement and curious nature to try it out later on. I have read of the connecting rings for this purpose but with the age of my camera I was not sure the mount would be compatible. Ok..I think I have reached my limit on questions for this posting!
Thanks for reading.

I have an opportunity to pick up an ETX70AT at a good price. I am not very familiar with this scope, but it will also possibly be my first real scope. Any pros and cons on this item? Is it a good starter? Thanks for reading!

Just a quick question, mostly because I am not sure. To use 2" eyepieces on the Orion XT8, I am assuming all one needs to do is unscrew and remove the adapter that is placed in the focuser for 1.25" pieces. Is this correct? The manual is not clear on this part. It would be nice to have one 2" piece in the bag.

Having purchased my first Dob and getting familiar with it, I am beginning to plan my eyepiece purchases. I bought a 3x barlow and have used this with my 25mm and 10mm EP. With the 25mm I could see much better than the 10mm. Actually the 10mm was almost useless. I am using an Orion XT8 with 1.25" EP. I want EP's that give me more veiwing area. The 10mm just seemed too "tight" to look thru. Maybe its me and the small hole in the EP.
Would love some suggestions on 1 or 2 good EP's to purchase and have in the case. Also need a moon filter...or do i?
Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

Keith

I will admit my limited knowledge of the sky. Last nite I seen what I think was a star to my WNW here in North Carolina. It even seemed to change color as I was viewing it thru both binoculars and the scope. Even to my naked eye I could see color shifts. Thought it was very beautiful. Anyone tell me what this was? It was a little bit above the tree line here. I wish I could be more helpful in location, but I am learning!

Keith

I just recieved a new Telrad finder for my Orion XT8 Dob. I was looking at mounting positions and trying to decide where is the best spot. I don't really want to remove my 90 degree 9x50 if I I can avoid that. The Telrad will not fit between the focuser and the 9x50. I was thinking of going to the other side of the 9x50 or moving down the OTA body and mounting it between the focuser and 9x50 only moved toward the axis of the scope. Any experiences doing this or suggestions?

Thanks!

Keith

I have an opportunity to get an Meade ETX go-to scope to just kind of play around with shooting some images through. Nothing serious, just something to get my feet wet and see if this is something I want to dive into deeper as time goes on. Can the ETX-70 and up with the go-to feature give me some results? I dont expect anything dramatic. I know this scope leaves a lot on the table in this application, but just for something to goof with and for less than $250 it sounds like a fun thing to try. Any input from the forum on this idea?

Anyone know where I can buy one of the Autostar 494 controllers for my ETX70AT? Picked one up really cheap since it was missing the controller. Scope looks like it has never been used. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Keith

I have been going round and round with Meade for over 3 weeks now on a simple question concerning my ETX70. I have gotten conflicting answers from a few places so I was going to the "horses mouth" so to speak. Problem is...the horse doesnt seem to want to talk. Actually, I cant get anyone to talk to. Phone calls go unanswered, messages left with no return call. I even have the number of the Vice President Brand Community and Consumer Solutions and I still cant get a reply. Well..I should say he did return my call once and left a message when I was out, but my attempts to contact him back (6 times I might add) have not been successful.
Thinking maybe I should have bought the Orion instead at this point.
Sorry to vent....but I do feel better now.

Anyone out there ever add digital setting circles to an Orion XT8 SkyQuest? I expect it to cost around $400 or so to do it. Maybe more...just a guess on my part. I know I can buy the Intelli scope and forget it all, but this sounds like it may be a fun project to try. Just curious if anyone else may have done this. Would love to hear from you if so.

Thanks!

Keith
kd4avp_at_charter_dot_net