Posts Made By: Ed Ashton

May 7, 2003 03:35 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Celestron vs. Meade SCT's... your opinions?

Posted By Ed Ashton

I don't own a SCT, so perhaps I'm not fit to comment on this topic, but the impression I get from all of the scope review and user web sites is that both Meade and Celestron produce optically excellent telescopes, but Meade's quality control is inferior...meaning buying a Meade is something of a crap shoot. Since I'm not a gambling man, I'd go with the Celestron. Their 9-1/4" instrument consistently gets raves everywhere you look, apparently due to it's unique optical design, and if I were in the market for a SCT, that's what I would buy.

May 9, 2003 07:51 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

8 OR 10" DOB??

Posted By Ed Ashton

Even though the 8" f/6 system would allow a smaller secondary for improved contrast, most people seem to agree that aperture always wins. If the secondary is 20% of the aperture or less, the loss of contrast will not be great enough to be significant (I'm told).

June 12, 2003 04:27 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Straight Correct Image Finder

Posted By Ed Ashton

You would have to fabricate a finderscope mount for it, but I always thought the EagleEye 8x32 monocular sold by Orion would make a good finderscope:

http://www.oriontel.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=224&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=5&iSubCat=16&iProductID=224

July 3, 2003 03:04 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Speaking of Mars..... Uhhhh Ohhhh!

Posted By Ed Ashton

NOOOOO! My 10" Portaball I've been waiting for for a year and a half won't arrive for several more weeks!

July 8, 2003 03:32 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

TeleVue Nagler Zoom 3-6mm/Pro or Con?

Posted By Ed Ashton

I have one and have never regretted the purchase. It is so darned convenient not to have to change eyepieces and have the ability to instantly match the magnification with the seeing conditions. In terms of it's sharpness, the only other high-power lens I own is a Meade 4.7 Ultrawide, and it is at least as sharp as that.

August 21, 2003 03:00 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Celestron New Advanced Series CG-5--Improved?

Posted By Ed Ashton

I, too, am interested in these mounts. I have not been able to find much information on the Celestron version, but Company 7 has a very detailed write-up of the Orion Skyview Pro version, which I think is very similar. These new mounts sound like a big improvement over the old CG5's they replace.

http://www.company7.com/orion/mounts/orionsvpmount.html

August 22, 2003 05:28 PM Forum: TeleVue

TV102, Mars, and Gibraltor Mount

Posted By Ed Ashton

Yes, using the Gibraltar for high-power viewing is an exercise in frustration, teflon bearings or no, it's motions are just not smooth enough. I'm going to try the vibration supression pads, but I'm thinking of buying an equatorial mount for my TV 102 and using the Gibraltar only for low to medium power viewing. I'm thinking of selling it, but I have the Skysensor option, and from the astromart ads I've seen thus far, they don't hold their value well at all.

September 2, 2003 04:54 PM Forum: TeleVue

Purchasing a TV-102 and mount

Posted By Ed Ashton

I recommend that you try to get your Gibraltar used on Astromart. They do not hold their value well, and it's not unusual to see ads asking 30 to 40 percent off the retail price.

September 3, 2003 04:16 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Planet Killer Recommendations

Posted By Ed Ashton

Here's Todd Gross's list of "Best Planetary Scopes" (I don't know why the name of the 1st scope was left out of his web site, but I suspect it was another Zambuto-equipped Starmaster):

1. 14.5"
2. 16"  & 18" Starmaster w. Zambuto and Pegasus optics 2. 12.5" Portaball from Mag1
3. 10" Teleport w. Zambuto optics
4. 8" Portaball with Zambuto optics
5. Takahashi FS-152mm & Currently Testing FCT150mm
5b. 6.1" D155 f/7 Astrophysics EDF
6. C-14 SCT (not 100% positive, needed better seeing to confirm, brief test only, use this with skepticism)
7. C9.25" SCT Celestron SCT
8. 7" Starmaster with Zambuto optics, and 7" Teleport with Zambuto optics
9. Ultima 2000 8" SCT
10. 5" Takahashi refractor FS128 & 5.1" Astrophysics EDF (planets not avail. when FC125 was used)
11. Intes MN56 Mak-Newt (5" f/6)

The Celestron 9.25 came out a very respectable #7. It probably represents the most bang for the buck.

September 5, 2003 03:25 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

TV NP-101 the closest thing to the perfect scope?

Posted By Ed Ashton

I think it probably has better color correction than the TV 102, although differences at the eyepiece may be slight. I can't vouch for the Tak or the AP, though.