#601  
Old 22-03-2008, 10:46 PM
omnivorr
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Hi ajlane.. nevermind yer scope, ..it's that mount caught my eye.. is that a NASA-surplus LEM base ya got there ??

those OTA stays look pretty serious too... no flex eh??

[ya look like ya 'bout to give us 200 SAS chin-ups from its 2ndry end, ..mebe it needs it ]
..we could do with some beef around here.. far too much "ham" (apologies vegans) I reckon.. but I'm just a sardine.. mebe I'm only fishin' ..

mebe you could describe your "kit" in the " 'scopes n mounts" area for the zealously/jealously curious among us, yeah?

Cheers
Russ
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  #602  
Old 24-03-2008, 09:25 PM
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erick (Eric)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajlane View Post
ive just joined the forum and i have a couple of questions ..................also anyone living around the rowville area who,s into astronomy,as ive just got into the hobby i want to learn from someone who knows the ropes......thanks.....alan
Don't know all that much Alan, but I'm not far away from you and happy to let you pick my brain. Send me a Private Message if you want to talk more.

Eric
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  #603  
Old 25-03-2008, 04:16 PM
ajlane
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hi erick,thanks for getting in touch,im off to london this week,but i will be back around the 15 april,if it would be ok to contact you then,that would be good.....best regards....alan
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  #604  
Old 25-03-2008, 07:02 PM
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erick (Eric)
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That's fine Alan. Seems like we'll overlap for a couple of weeks before I'm out of the country for a little while as well. Eric
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  #605  
Old 07-04-2008, 06:27 PM
spikeface (Peter)
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hi!

hello astronomers... i am new! baby fresh!

and... in need of expertise...

i only made the actual telescope purchasing step about 6 month ago... a meade DS2300 (i think) reflector... 130mm apeture... and i'm already looking for more! i am astronomically insatiable!

so i'm on the hunt for a newie around $3000... i am most interested in deep space, but am very excited about seeing some REAL detail on saturn and jupiter. but i'm so confused about all the brands, products... i have A LOT of questions before i buy...

so! can anyone pretty please give me some advice on what 3 grand will get me? what questions i should be seeking answeres to when buying? i would appreciate it so much! thanks!
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  #606  
Old 07-04-2008, 07:01 PM
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iceman (Mike)
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Hi there spikeface and to IceInSpace!

Do you want a motorised "goto" telescope, or one that you push around?
Do you want one that can do photography later on, or will you be purely a visual observer?
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  #607  
Old 07-04-2008, 07:20 PM
spikeface (Peter)
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hi iceman! thanks for replying so quickly...

the goto question is difficullt... i would initially love the ease of a computer, but i ultimatley would like to be able to understand right acs/declination . etc. and find things manually... if i get a model with goto, will that effect my later aspirations? i'm also aware of a rather large price increase when electronics are applied...

and in regards to astrophotography... is it true that in order to properly see nebulas, you need to take a photo with the shutter down for a while? i would love to get into astroph, but if that affects my other viewing plans, and the overall price, then i'd rather sacrifice it...
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  #608  
Old 07-04-2008, 11:11 PM
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Hi there Spikeface and welcome to the group.

3 grand can buy a lot of decent scope so my advice would be to have a good read here, there a lot of good advice to be had.

Your second step is get along to your local Astronomical Society/Club and go along to their observing nights, that way you can see various scopes in action and talk to there owners about the pro's and con's of various models.

Also do lot's of research it will pay off in the long run. If it takes a few months to find what you want so be it but you will have a scope that your happy with and want to use and not something that will be a dust collector within 12 months. You might find that you also have some extra money saved for some extra astro goodies.

It is a wonderful hobby that grows into a passion within a short time.

Cheers
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  #609  
Old 08-04-2008, 05:41 PM
spikeface (Peter)
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hi ric! thanks for the help...

so i've done some researching... and it looks like i'm edging towards a dobsonian... say a 12 or 14"... but what i want to know is, how big can i go before i start having transport issues? will it fit in my car? (ford ea falcon.) can you take the scope out of the base easily, or does it have to stay attached? and will i be able to see ACTUAL DETAIL on planets with a 12 or 14" aperture? so many questions! it never ends!

thanks for all your help!
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  #610  
Old 08-04-2008, 10:42 PM
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Hi Spikeface, not being a dob owner I'll have to leave those questions to the dob experts and there are a lot of them on the forum they will be able to give you a lot more reliable guidance in this area.

I do believe that the scope can be removed from the base for easier transporting.

Cheers
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  #611  
Old 14-04-2008, 12:16 PM
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rodroger (Rodney)
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Cleaning Mirrors

Hi,
I have had to clean my main mirror twice in the last 3 months and had no problems if it is done correctly and it improved my view by quite a lot. Just make sure you only use luke warm water with one or two drops of dish washing detergent - see the article on this web site. But you must rinse it off thoroughly with distilled water (not DE-ionized - it is not the same and has a lot of minerals salts, it will leave a film of salts behind).


As as for how you treat it after it has dried, first remove any dust with a puffer, (you will get some no matter how careful you are with the drying process, Than, I usually give it a very light buff with a clean camera lens cleaning cloth to remove any dullness you get even with pure high quality distilled water, a little bit of pressure is o.k as most modern mirrors are coated and will not be damaged by this action - (check the specs of your mirror).
Double check your finish in different light angles to see properly if there are no smudges and buff as necessary.

With general Astronomical observation you can get away with a bit of dirt on the mirror, so you should leave it alone, .......

.......but if you are doing high power double star observations with close pairs you need to have everything spotless and and the optics tightly collimated.

If in doubt - leave it alone!!
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  #612  
Old 23-06-2008, 06:14 PM
mellotron
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Hi All,

I am new - it's great to find this site, I have already picked up lots of advice with just a couple of days looking through the forums. I have always been fascinated by space and have read lots over the years but never owned a telescope. I have recently been taking pics of the moon and Jupiter with my DSLR with reasonable results - I am amazed that you can see some of Jupiter's moons with only a 300mm lens. I would love to see with my own eyes what is up there with a bit more power.

I would like to get a good quality telescope that is suitable for astrophotography - planets and nebulae, etc. I don't want to spend too much as I will probably have to stop everything for a while pretty soon - I have a new baby on the way in a few weeks!

I am thinking a small-ish goto like the Nexstar SE range would be best as I would like to get set up pretty quickly. Are these systems suitable for imaging, or will I end up being frustrated and wish I had bought something larger, smoother, shinier, etc?

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  #613  
Old 30-06-2008, 08:15 AM
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rodroger (Rodney)
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Hi Mellotron

Hi Mellotron,
If you are wanting to get serious into astrophotography, I would suggest a scope on a EQ Mount. The nextstars and the majority of other scopes mounted on a wedge will actually turn the image as it tracks through the sky causing problems with long exposures. There are some software and hardware out there that will help fix this problem but at an expense. I would avoid the goto scopes if you are limited in funds as the goto EQ mounts are reasonably expensive. You are best of finding your own way around the sky as I have, the use of setting circles helps quite a lot once the scope is properly polar aligned. I have purchased a 150mm Reflector f/5 on a EQ3 mount from E-bay for about $340. It did need to be collimated properly and I have taken the slop out of the focuser which was easy to do. I also had to buy a motor for the mount, a single axis job (a must for photography and high power observing of binary stars), a dual motorized mount would be better. Don't buy a Dob as are not made with Astrophotography in mind.
Even a Cheap Canon digital camera will get some results as Digital camera that cost me $99 from E-bay.
I have some shots I have taken on my Web site at....
http://www.rodroger.com/rr/rodrogers...ts_Astro1.html

Here is one of them, hope this info helps you in your purchase, you will achieve far higher quality Superior images with your camera than I have here

http://www.rodroger.com/rr/images/As...t_27-05-08.jpg
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  #614  
Old 08-07-2008, 06:35 PM
fishinglizard (Fishinglizard)
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Hello, Just brought a telescope it will get it here in a couple of days, where do you think I should point it first??
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  #615  
Old 08-07-2008, 07:31 PM
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erick (Eric)
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At the sky?

OK, how about starting with the Moon. You can get started soon after sunset. Should be a nice view now - along the terminator. Easy to find, lots to see and experiment with - different eyepieces.

Then search for Saturn and Mars - on 11th July you might even get them in one field of view!

Then Jupiter a bit later in the evening.
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  #616  
Old 09-07-2008, 10:56 PM
fishinglizard (Fishinglizard)
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Well the telescope arrived today, haveing not ever owned a telescope I was pretty suprised at how big the box was, and then I fell over laughing when I saw how big the thing is, (8 inc reflector), I was expecting it to be a bit smaller, and I pointed it at the sky, started with the moon, I was pretty stoked at how good it looked, both my wife and I were blown away, then we pointed it at Jupiter I think, unbelievable, then the moon went behind a tree so we picked the scope up and shuffled up the back porch, (I had visions of taking the scope with us in our caravan, Ill have to buy another more portable one!) Then it took us forever to get the moon in view again, for it to go behind the trees again. So we decided to bring it back in and read the instruction book, tomorrow night will go a bit smoother I think.
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  #617  
Old 10-07-2008, 09:05 AM
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erick (Eric)
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Somewhere in the instruction manual it will probably tell you to cut down all the trees around your observing location

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Lucky you didn't order a 16"
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  #618  
Old 14-07-2008, 05:50 PM
fishinglizard (Fishinglizard)
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can you look at the moon unfiltered when its nearly full?? i think i put this question somewhere else now i cant find it!!
its through an 8 inch newtonian.
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  #619  
Old 14-07-2008, 06:06 PM
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iceman (Mike)
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Absolutely. But it's really bright
Just concentrate on the terminator - the area where day meets night on the moon.
Use a high-power eyepiece and your pupil will eventually contract and it won't be blinding any more
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  #620  
Old 15-07-2008, 05:57 PM
fishinglizard (Fishinglizard)
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Thx for the advice, another question for you, I set my scope up last night before dark, wife and I had tea cleaned up kiddy to bed ect, then went out to the scope and it was like it had been hosed down it was that wet with dew, The cover was on, should I be covering it (the hole scope) with something to stop this?? Also the EQ5 mount I have, the leg with N on it to face to North, but my father reckons that should point south in the southern hemisphere?
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