Posts Made By: Alfred Zoppi

March 31, 2004 03:14 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Hand controller---reality check!

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

Am I hallucinating or should the East/West buttons on a GEM controller control the R.A motor, and the North/South buttons control the Dec. motor? My Konus EM-10 mount hand controller's East/West buttons control the Dec. motor, and vice-versa.

August 3, 2005 02:05 AM Forum: Telescope Making

Rustoleum Chalk Board Black paint

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

I came across this paint in my local Home Depot today. Has anybody tried this paint to reduce stray light inside a scope OTA? This paint creates a coating that can then be used as a chalk board, as the name implies. (I paid the $4.77 and sprayed some on a piece of scrap wood. It looks pretty flat)

Al

September 5, 2007 04:20 AM Forum: Maksutovs

Scopestuff has SCT thread adapters for Orion Maks

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

I just ordered an adapter ring from Scopestuff (these just appeared on their website, or at least I just noticed them there) that adapts the odd threads on the rear of the Orion (and similar clones) 127, 150, and 180 Maks to SCT threads. The adapter adds .6" to the rear of the scope. I also ordered one of those GSO low profile SCT 2 speed focusers to upgrade my Orion 150mm Mak. I can't stand the mirror shift when focusing my 150mm Mak. The optics in my Mak are excellent and I'm hoping to make it useful for photography.

September 20, 2007 03:59 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Orion Sirius EQ-G mount swishing sound

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

I just bought an Orion Sirius EQ-G mount. It seems to work fine except when tracking (at normal speed, not slewing) there is a slight swishing sound (it sounds like something on the motor shaft rubbing on something). Anybody out there with a Sirius EQ-G, is this normal?

September 24, 2007 05:10 PM Forum: Maksutovs

MN65 secondary offset

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

On the Intes-Micro MN65, there is a slight offset of the secondary mirror. Is this offset supposed to be directly away from the focuser?

August 4, 2004 01:01 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Orion Optiluxe 32/40/50mm?

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

I have the 32mm Optiluxe and am very happy with it. I use it with an MN66 and the views are like being on a "spacewalk", with a very well corrected field.

Al in Gilroy

June 30, 2005 04:02 AM Forum: Maksutovs

Intes MK66 DX with GM8 Mount

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

I have seen GM8s used and in excellent condition go for $1100-1300. The standard quality 150mm Maks usually go for $550-650 or so used, depending on the condition. Deluxe versions for maybe $100 more. If you have a certification of the optical quality of the scope you should put this info. in any ad you place to sell it (Especially if the numbers are very good). Keep checking the ads to get an idea of what these items are going for these days. Good luck.

Al

April 7, 2006 04:31 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Mak/Newt vs. Refractor

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

I have an MN66, and I am amazed at the pinpoint sharpness against a very dark sky. The internal baffling of the MN66 does a very good job of cutting down the stray light. As an example of the sharpness of the MN66, the attached photo of Saturn is through an MN66 with a DSLR camera (Canon EOS 20D). This was a quick and dirty shot (just playing with the camera), single exposure with no processing other than adj. of brightness and contrast and cropping the picture.

July 4, 2007 05:10 AM Forum: After Dark

Jup. Trans. tonight 2100 hrs ~ 2300 IO

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

I've been watching it for the last hour or so from nice clear skies here in Gilroy, Ca. through my Orion 8" f/4.9.

September 5, 2007 04:12 AM Forum: Maksutovs

Vixen SP-DX and MN-76?

Posted By Alfred Zoppi

I used to have an MN76, and I put it on a Losmandy GM-8. It was a bit on the unstable side (the MN76 was a little too long for the GM-8 and caused too much settling time) The GM-8 is rated to hold up to about 30 lbs. I'm not sure about the SP-DX, but I think those are a bit smaller than the GM-8. The G-11 would be the ticket for use with an MN76.