Posts Made By: Joe Conway

August 11, 2006 02:55 AM Forum: Eyepieces

Is my eyepiece damaged?

Posted By Joe Conway

Thus my mentioning the use of needle nose pliers to tighen the ring. If you find a semi sharp pair, they spread out to fit in the two grooves. I have many custom made tools for this, but the needle nose pliers work the best because they're a fit all type of tool. Mind you, slip with the tips and your flat black is toast.

I appreciate your tapping on the ep while tightening. You can't write this usually, only teach it. Tap, tighten, tap tighten until centered and tight. We usually indicate the elements on extreme centered optics, but in the case of stacked lenses in eps I can't think of any other way of doing it. If your elements keep coming loose, you need to do what I described because they're still not centered and are moving. Even then, your're not crunching down on it so it's possible for stuff to get loose, so tighten them again.

August 12, 2006 01:26 AM Forum: Eyepieces

Congradulations Floyd!!!

Posted By Joe Conway

"Congratulations" Floyd. I still crack me up. But in the spirit of this thread and the sensitivities of posting ones opinions, sweet stuff Floyd.

Joe Conway

Listed equipment

Hubble telescope and one ep.
(too big to steal and you need a rocket to get to it)

Someone stop me.

Hey folks, I hope I make you chuckle sometimes. Astronomy and this site is the best thing that's happened to me ever. Like Floyd, I had a moment and thought about keeping my comments to myself. That ain't gonna happen. Thanks and much love to you all, especially Floyd.

August 13, 2006 01:47 AM Forum: Mounts

Orion Atlas aka EQ6 vs CGE or GM-11

Posted By Joe Conway

I've tried the CG-5, CGE and now have a G11. I know the Atlas is comparable to the CG-5, but haven't seen one in operation.

Each mount and I mean EACH MOUNT has its issues. The CG-5 can't hold much weight and in my opinion, is best used for visual. I know, those using it for imaging are saying bull.

There is a forum for the CGE where all have gone to great lengths to replace the gears in the motors for better tracking. I was going to go this way, but after trying a CGE for a day and night, I realized the fit and finish of this fine mount may not hold up over years of normal use. I didn't want to have to baby it and be oh so careful to not dink the paint. Again, others will say bull, my normal disclaimer these days.

I settled for the G11. I still stop and look at the mount before a session because I love the machine work and the plating. I'm a journeyman machinist and this means allot to me. However, the mount also suffers from some stupid issues for PEC and the worm bearing block bores are not very round clinking the bearings and this has to be fixed for serious astrophotography. This is much easier to do than changing gears in the CGE. Many just buy a reamer for this and make the hole round. I'll be making new blocks out of stainless with a means of aligning them square to each other so they don't bind.

Ok, I'm still just a visual guy. My co-astronomer buddie is an astrophotographer. He has the same G11 mount that I have. He's done all of the improvements and his tracking is now in the noise. If you get the GOTO version, you get the precision worm and servo motors.

I agree with Roland. The mount is the most important purchase for those wishing to do astrophotography. Might as well buck up once. I feel your pain. I plan on doing astrophotography when I win the Lotto and can afford an SBIG camera.

Right now I'm just enjoying the stars, Mano e Mano or however it's spelled.

Money is always a factor with any hobby and some can't get to where they wish to be. I do know that the Meade mount LXD75 has a broad following and many fixes to get you where you may want to be for your first go around with this. I spent allot of time looking at this mount before I went the more spendy route. We have a CG-5 at work for field tests and I can't say I would endorse this item for your purposes.

August 14, 2006 12:36 AM Forum: Eyepieces

shiny filter threads on Meade 30mm UWA

Posted By Joe Conway

If it really bugs you, just get a fat (not flat) black sharpie and paint it. If you paint with paint, it'll just gunk up the threads. A sharpie works great in the visible spectrum for reflectivity. If you want to paint it, use a flat black epoxy. PTI company is what I use. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/cs/paint.html

May be more than you want to spend though. Best flat black epoxy out there. Krylon ultra flat black ain't and will outgas for longer than you'll own your ep. Looks really black though, but not.

I just edited this post because the link doesn't mention the flat black that I could see. You may have to call the company for that offering.


August 17, 2006 01:46 AM Forum: Eyepieces

Eyepiece Cleaning - Inner Elements

Posted By Joe Conway

Do a search on vacuum cleaning of eps that I wrote in the ep forum. Like I said, a pair of needle nose pliers to unscrew the retention ring and several well layed out pieces of cloth to drop the ep elements onto when removed. Use a small vacuum with a piece of thick wall surgical tubing attached to it. Use a pair of dykes to cut the end of the tubing so you always use a fresh clean end, then use this vacuum tube to reach down into the lens barrel assembly to suck up one lens at a time. Lay out the sheets in order of disassembly and while one lens is sucked up and out, move it over to the top of the first sheet and pinch the tube to release it. Only handle one lens at a time and always keep the top of the element facing up in order. If you're concerned, take a ultra fine sharpie and put an arrow on the side of the lens showing which direction the top is. Do this marking while still holding it with your vacuum tube before releasing it onto the soft cloth. Take your time. Do not ever blow into a stack of loose lenses in the barrel with a duster can after you have removed the retainer ring. The air can turn over a lens. Never blow with a duster can up close because you run the risk of getting small duster gas particles on the lenses. Do this from a distance with light trigger pulses.

There is more detail on this in my first writing. Be careful when cleaning the eps if you marked them since any solvent may remove your mark on the side. Make a drawing if need be showing the detail of the lens. However, some lenses look the same top and bottom, so be careful to always keep them in order. When in doubt, if you have a small microscope which I find my best tool, some of the separator rings will leave small circles in the coatings showing where the lens seat is. In other words, you can see a ring mark on one side of the lens and not the other.

August 26, 2006 02:14 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

2" Dielectric Refractor Diagonal

Posted By Joe Conway

Thanks to all that responded. As usual you can count on this site.

One comment you see when folks talk about 1/10th wave mirrors, if they truly are, is no discernable difference when swapping.

So in the long run it comes down to the mechanics, alignment and quality of the build.

The AP diagonal looks like it has some very interesting baffling and high quality flocking.

So thanks again and I'll be picking up the Stellarvue next weekend. Going to the toy store, yippie.

September 5, 2006 02:39 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

stolen eyepieces

Posted By Joe Conway

Most likely someone knows this scum in your area. What's the chances of someone just driving by and seeing something and doing a grab. If you set up in the same place each time, in an area where other neighbors can see you, then probably someone let these junkies onto this. This sort of thing has happened to me twice, not telescope though.

First set of junkies were my neighbors and actually told me they were sorry. Can you imagine junkies with heart feeling sorry for ripping you off then telling you? They're doing life for knocking out the mailman and stealing his mailbag.

Second time a junkie got 2 years because I was stupid/smart enough to leave my check book home while on vacation. Left a paper trail and they got caught. When on vacation, leave your check book on a table in plain sight. Stupid junkies like to forge checks, but someone has to cash them.

What am I trying to tell you here? Junkies end up in prison. Whether you get your stuff back or not, the scum that did this is going to prison, you can count on it.

September 23, 2006 03:46 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Focuser Knobs - Rubber Grip Issues

Posted By Joe Conway

Ozone causes rubber to degrade. Also, the solvent evaporates in the rubber. Those of us too cheap to spend $5 on new windshield wiper blades wipe them down with a solvent like Berrymans or whatever. The rubber absorbs the solvent buying you some time. This is done about every 4-6 months. This explains why rubber stored in cases or dark places still corrodes.

Orion should move to a polymer or silicone based replacement.

Corrosion 101

October 23, 2006 02:39 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

North America Nebula, hard to see?

Posted By Joe Conway

Thank you all for answering. We did find the gulf, which was the area that allowed us to know we had part of the nebula in the field. I'll try panning around it the next time.

November 4, 2006 06:48 PM Forum: Celestron

Moving up to a 9.25"

Posted By Joe Conway

Make sure you check it out real good. I'm on my second 9.25 (new) and sent back the first for replacement. The first one had bad astigmatism and Celestron said the secondary was over tightened causing this. I never touched the secondary and the interferometric test we ran on the scope showed something different with the primary being bad.

Look into the baffle tube to make sure it's not full of grease. Also look hard at the paint on the inside tube surface. Be real hard on them for workmanship. You paid good money for this scope so make sure it's not a blem.

My second scope is light years better than the first. The first scope should never have left the plant. Still, you need to get rid of the secondary screws right away. The secondary mirror is real susceptable to over tightening and you can induce astigmatism. I bought McMaster Carr screws.