Posts Made By: Evan Reed

Hey. My situation is this: I have completed my "dream setup" for astrophotography. I've got the perfect cameras, the perfect scope, along with the perfect guide scope all on the perfect mount. Now what I need to know is what kind of film do I use, what targets can I take, and what exposure times i should use for what, and other little pointers that could help me out with diving into serious astrophotography. I might be asking questions that can only be answered by experimenting with my equipment and lots of trial and error, and knowing what I have to deal with, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Thanks.

Evan

I was wondering if anyone knew the weight limit of the Meade LX-3 fork mount, or has ever loaded a lot of weight onto this mount, and seen how it has behaved. Let me know what you know! Thanks.

Evan

I am building a Dob mounting for a Newt OTA so i can bring it to college with me. I don't want to haul my large GEM with me. Since I have never owned a Dob, and have had very little experience in using them, a few pointers would be greatly appreciated. I have an experienced woodworker helping me with the construction of the base, but some of the things I need to know pertain to the motion. What is good to make the az axis with? Would a lazy susan bearing work, or will I want to look for something with smoother motion...and how about the altitude bearings? Thanks for your time.

Evan

I was ponding today why nobody has tried a different setup for a dob. Instead of having the 2 large altitude bearings, have one of the large altidude bearings on one side, and on the other a single point, pivot, or bearing. I figure if you are resting the weight of the OTA on 4 points in the altitude, and suppose that one of your teflon pads wears faster than the rest, what will result is your scope tilting to one side to compensate for the wear. Why not use the inherent stability of 3 points in the altitude...much like a tripod, or the 3 points of contact used in the az bearing. I figure someone must have thought of that by now (I looked, but didn't find it) unless there was a reason why it would not work (I can't think of one). Some input would be greatly appreciated as to why this setup would or would not work. Thanks!

Evan

Okay. I got my hands on a nice little hunk of tefloon. The only problem is that it is a bar about 3/8 x 1 x 6 inches, and it is pretty inflexible. for the az bearing, would it be best to try to cut a smaller piece off of that and curve it to the round bearing, or should I leave it flat, and only have the 2 points of contact? I imagine that leaving it flat might give me too little friction, and any little nudge of the scope will move it way too much...and how to make a curved surface out of a flat bar? Thanks for the advice.

Evan

I have a Meade 90mm maksutov/telephoto lens, and I'm looking for a more ridged way to couple it other than with a camera adapter. Is there such an adapter that goes directly from the thread on the back of the mak (1 3/8 in OD... < 20 tpi - I have seen this thread on the back of other places too) to a T thread, or is this something I need to turn to my machining guy for? Thanks for any leads!

Evan

Would someone owning, or in possesion of a Meade EXT 90, 105, or 125 please do me a huge favor and measure the OD of the threads of the visual back of one of these scopes. Is it the same as a SCT visual back? Thanks for your time.

Evan

Would someone owning, or in possesion of a Meade EXT 90, 105, or 125 please do me a huge favor and measure the OD of the threads of the visual back of one of these scopes. Is it the same as a regular SCT visual back? Thanks for your time.

Evan

Last night I had the pleasure to go with my class and experienced a wonderful night (and morning) underneath true dark skies with nice equipment. We brought along the college's LX-200 GPS and older C-8. While the LX expereinced technical difficulties, (mainly the focuser failing to do...well anything, and batteries failing) the trusty old C-8 was wonderful to view through as always while the LX was packed way early. Before retiring for the night, however, the LX was able to provide great views of several galazies, namely the Whirlpool, and Sombrero. This was the best view I have ever seen of these 2 guys. Me being one of 3 'experienced' observer's there, it was a wonderful treat to show people all the jewels that the night had to provide, including Jupiter, Saturn, the crescent moon, the Herculese globular cluster, other various nebulae, and of course, the Milky Way. I never get over the "ooh"s and "ah"s when people view these things for the first time. Looking at dim galaxies was almost humorous while the experienced people were really thrilled, the most common reaction by the rest of the group was something to the effect of "you mean its the fuzzy thing to the left?". Being a real nut, and staying up with a few people, we cooked some 2 am burgers. Most everyone went to bed at that point, but I so rarely get a chance under a true dark sky, I wasn't turning in without getting everything I could get. After scanning the Milky Way around Scorpio and finding some nebula, and many clusters and finding several 'faint fuzzies' throughout the sky, it was time for the night (morning) to come to an end - and what better way than the Andromeda Galaxy rising to the East. Always a thrill, I pleasured myself with that view until I noticed the East starting to lighten up. That was my sign to turn in finally. From about 9pm until 4:30 am, it was truly a great night to be viewing. Thanks for letting me share my expereince with you.

Evan

I was wondering about the nature of Schmidt Newtonian optics. Are they parabolic, and usable without the corrector lens? I'm asking because I have a really nice 8" Schmidt Newt primary, with no corrector lens, and I wanted to put it to use, rather than it sitting around. Any info on how a setup with the primary combined with a newtonian secondary would work would be appreciated. Thanks!

Evan