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Posts Made By: Stuart St. Clair

June 23, 2006 05:08 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Meridian Telescopes Spiders

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

Has anyone used a spider from Meridian Telescopes? They are about 1/3 the price of the Protostar spiders. If you have used one, please let me know how well it worked. Was it easy to collimate, and did it hold collimation well? Thanks.

April 4, 2007 06:01 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Meade 16" Mirror Thickness

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

I've gotten conflicting information on this question. Does anybody know what is the thickness of Meade's 16" parabolic primary mirrors? Thanks.

April 5, 2007 03:59 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Meade 16" Mirror Weight

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

Thanks for the info on the thickness of Meade's 16" parabolic primary mirrors. Now I need to know the weight, if anybody happens to have that info. Thanks!

April 25, 2007 01:34 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Clearance for Azimuth Encoder

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

I'm building a 16" f/4.5 dob. Eventually I want to put DSCs on it, but I don't have the money to buy them right now. How much clearance should I leave between the mirror box and rocker box to allow for the azimuth encoder?

Thanks!

April 27, 2007 03:40 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Focal Plane Placement

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

I'm building a 16" f/4.5 dob. NEWT recommends placing the focal plane at 1/4" below the top of the focuser when fully racked in. I'm looking for confirmation of this recommendation, or alternate recommendations. Thanks!

April 28, 2007 01:20 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Focal Plane Placement

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

I'm building a 16" f/4.5 dob. NEWT recommends placing the focal plane at 1/4" below the top of the focuser when fully racked in. I'm looking for confirmation of this recommendation, or alternate recommendations. Thanks!

May 1, 2007 12:44 AM Forum: Telescope Making

Eyepiece Focal Plane

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

Related to my previous question, is there any way that I can figure out where the focal planes of my various eyepieces are?

May 14, 2007 07:27 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Chop Saw Blade

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

A friend loaned me a chop saw to use for cutting aluminum tubing. It has a 6" aluminum oxide cutting wheel. From what little I've been able to pick up on the internet, I'm getting the impression that that wheel is not the best thing to use for cutting aluminum tubing. Can anyone tell me what kind of a wheel/blade I should buy? Thanks

May 14, 2007 11:54 PM Forum: Telescope Making

End Pieces for Sonotube

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

Does anyone know where I can get some plastic u-channel pieces to put on the ends of cut sonotube to make them look better and last longer? Thanks!

January 31, 2008 05:11 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Canon Image Stabilized Binoculars

Posted By Stuart St. Clair

I'm thinking of getting some Canon IS binos. I'm having trouble deciding between the 12x36 and the 15x50. I know the 15x50 will see more, but they also weigh more (and cost more). A lot of my observing is done in my backyard in the middle of a city of 1/2 million people, so light pollution is a factor. I do get out to dark skies once in a while.

Any input from people who have used either or both of these binos, or another IS bino, will be very welcome. Thanks.