26-08-2003 02:39									#61
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quote: Originally posted by reds4ever Look South, it's the big red dot slightly to your left

not big and not red, but there was an extremely bright dot to my left, in the south east.

since planets are usually very bright when close and visible I suppose this must have been it

	26-08-2003 20:52									#62
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bump

would that have been Mars or Sirius or what?

	26-08-2003 21:01									#63
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Mars.

You won't see Sirius at all that time of night. (when Mars is still in the SE.

	26-08-2003 23:33									#64
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Put this on your Xmas persent list

http://deepsky.cia.com.au/binocular...binoculars.html

	26-08-2003 23:42									#65
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quote: Originally posted by reds4ever Put this on your Xmas persent list http://deepsky.cia.com.au/binocular...binoculars.html

Oh yeah. Now to motorize that thing.

	27-08-2003 00:04									#66
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Motorize it? I'd have my work cut out collimating it....

	27-08-2003 00:16									#67
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He explained how they collimate one tube to the other using a 200:1 reduction gear and a "joystick" made with a bicycle handle bar.

Collimation within each tube would be a bit dicey. If it was me, I would have at least approached the primary mount differently, assuming access to a top end machine shop.

	27-08-2003 00:48									#68
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There are several motorized & computerized scopes out there. You just enter in the star you want to see and it automatically zeros in on it.

	27-08-2003 01:00									#69
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The 4.5" Newtonian (IIRC) reflector my father owns is in Montreal. Right now the best I can do is a pretty decent set of 10X50 binocs.

I was looking at some scopes the other day. God, I wish I wasn't poor...

	27-08-2003 01:02									#70
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin There are several motorized & computerized scopes out there. You just enter in the star you want to see and it automatically zeros in on it.

Some of the ones I saw were like that. They were giving away the miniature computer when you bought the scope, equatorial mount, and drive motor...

	27-08-2003 01:04									#71
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You'd still have to calibrate it properly, I think. Maybe it just let you enter your lat/long and it had an internal compass or something...

Now that would be interesting. Take it out and be up and running in 10 seconds...

	27-08-2003 01:13									#72
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quote: Originally posted by KrazyHorse You'd still have to calibrate it properly, I think. Maybe it just let you enter your lat/long and it had an internal compass or something... Now that would be interesting. Take it out and be up and running in 10 seconds...

yep, you enter your Lat/long, although the new models have their own onboard GPS equipment.

The problems are a) In a 3 grand computerized scope, only around half of the money is in the optics, the computer side costs a LOT and b) if your a newbie, how much are you learning by just typing in objects then having the scope find them for you?

	27-08-2003 01:18									#73
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I know what declination and right ascension are; I just don't want to have to do spherical trigonometry in my head every time I want to look at something...

	27-08-2003 01:24									#74
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That's what guide stars are for.

I'd rather have the money in optics than onboard GPS and anything more than a serial port to access the motor controller. I already have Starry Night Pro and The Sky Level 4, so I can do my computer guiding from a laptop, and I've got a portable GPS receiver as well, so I don't need one in the scope.

	27-08-2003 01:27									#75
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There's a certain satisfaction from finding obscure objects, plus like I say, if I spend 3 grand on a computerized scope I could've got an uncomputerized (is that a word?) one twice the size for the same money. And yes, where telescopes are concerned, size definatley does matter.

Spherical trig???? Most amateurs just use a '2 degrees left from Sirius' way of finding stuff, trig doesn't come into it

	27-08-2003 01:31									#76
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I'm more experienced in math/physics than astro, so I always attack it like a geometry problem.

Plus if you aren't set up properly then it's a real pain to keep the star in view as it turns. I like not having to fiddle with both dials at once...

	27-08-2003 01:42									#77
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The best of both worlds?

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/p...ProductID=14855

If I was a beginner looking for a first scope I wouldn't need to think twice

	27-08-2003 08:13									#78
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dern! i just went outside and can't see Mars over the horizon yet. ......sucks living in a hilly area...well, only during times like these.

	27-08-2003 12:58									#79
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hilly is nice to drive through

	27-08-2003 15:52									#80
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Did Meade discontinue the equatorial Starfinders under 12"?

	27-08-2003 16:51									#81
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quote: Originally posted by The Mad Monk Did Meade discontinue the equatorial Starfinders under 12"?

I think they got a redesign and theyre now called catchy names such as LXD55

	27-08-2003 19:39									#82
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Yeah, they discontinued those, since Meade is a little pricier than everyone else, and the market for journeyman level 10 and less Newts and Dobs is pretty crowded.

The same size ranges discontinued from the Starfinder series are in the LXD55 series, but as Schmidt-Newtonians, not straight Newts, so the optical quality is a lot better, due to the front correcting plate.

	27-08-2003 19:57									#83
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Okay, I'll look into those -- they're more compact, anyway.


Thanks!

	30-08-2003 21:57									#84
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quote: Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat Yeah, they discontinued those, since Meade is a little pricier than everyone else, and the market for journeyman level 10 and less Newts and Dobs is pretty crowded. The same size ranges discontinued from the Starfinder series are in the LXD55 series, but as Schmidt-Newtonians, not straight Newts, so the optical quality is a lot better, due to the front correcting plate.

hi ,

agreed meade costs a bit more , but you find the spare pieces all around the world if you need them , and they are just quality

have a nice day

	31-08-2003 03:33									#85
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I'm a Meade fanatic except for their eyepieces, which are ok for the money, but not spectacular. With any factory scope, though, there's some 3rd party tricking out that I'd do - JMI toys (www.jimsmobile.com), and

When it comes to eyepieces, I don't believe in any form of brand loyalty - I'll spend a lot of time (especially since I need a pair of them to go with the Televue Bino Vue ) researching specs and looking for optical bench analyses before plunking down a grand or so on a matched pair.

	31-08-2003 16:39									#86
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hi ,

any good links that you know of about camera pieces , .....

have a nice day

	31-08-2003 17:00									#87
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quote: Originally posted by reds4ever I'm only asking 'cos this is the closest to Earth that Mars has been in the last 60,000 years, so get 'em out!

I don't but my brother does. He owns a huge telescope with a lense of more than half a meter diameter.
At present, he stays at the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius, because there are the most ideal conditions for watching the Mars right now. With him his "small" telescope (only 2,50m long...) and a friend of him from Romania whom he paid the trip. He didn't do it just because he wanted to be nice, but he needed a helper and furthermore the telescope did weigh too much and he would have paid high sums of "overweight". Needless to say that my brother urged his friend to take only the most essential things with him...

	31-08-2003 22:54									#88
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quote: Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat Seeing conditions will be much more important than the difference in distance from Mars' normal close approaches.

Seeing has been crap here for two weeks. Been no point in going bigger than hand held binoculars, just magifying and brightening distortion.

	31-08-2003 23:06									#89
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Yeah, damned hurricane season makes it even worse.

Here, I've got ocean 300 meters west, Berlin-wall border lights 250 meters north extending all the way to the east, and light pollution from a metropolitan area of 4 million or so for the whole part that isn't ocean.

	31-08-2003 23:13									#90
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quote: Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat Yeah, damned hurricane season makes it even worse. Here, I've got ocean 300 meters west, Berlin-wall border lights 250 meters north extending all the way to the east, and light pollution from a metropolitan area of 4 million or so for the whole part that isn't ocean.

hi ,

and what if you take a two hour drive , .......

have a nice day