The Worst Telescope You Owned/Looked Through.

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by Earl

Haven't looked through one and don't plan to, but the $79.95 70mm "525 power" refractor Kogan is flogging at the moment is isn't exactly going to give a lot of folks a lot of fun....

Cheers,

- Earl

Well, at least it's 70mm. Who knows, might be okay with some good eyepieces?

The Kogan 8X42 binoculars aren't as good as the Andrews 8X42s, but they are are lot cheaper and are quite useable.
Cheers,
Renato

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by LewisM

I have only ONE telescope now, but 3 mounts Funny that... had to "sell the farm" to buy the Takahashi - a life-time investment.

No plans offloading any of the mounts just yet.

Do you use all three mounts with the Tak?
Or are you planning on a baby Tak for one of them?
Regards,
Renato

[tonybarry (Tony)]

Hi Tony,
Very interesting the direction that you went - GOTOs. I don't own a single GOTO telescope, because I went the other direction and just bought better finders, and used them in combination with red dot finders and Telrads.

The list of K-mart Focal 114mm owners has just increased again, I think you're the fifth or sixth on this thread.

Did you ever ask Meade what the story was with those grommets?

How's life in sunny Penrith? I used to visit it several times a year when I was working. Every now and then my mouth waters when I remember the plate hamburger meal I'd get at Panthers Bistro. Unfortunately, I was always flying so never took a telescope there, but used to enjoy seeing Deneb and Cygnus with binoculars, which is tougher to see down here.
Cheers,
Renato

Hi Renato,

No I dod not ask Meade about the grommets. As it was I had to spin about 1 mm off the lower flange on the base to prevent it dragging on the upper flange, and that means it was either a one-off bad job or the whole thing was a crock. I suspect that it was a one-off, and the fix allowed the true nature of the mount to come through (which is exceptionally good at tracking).

Penrith is good. Panthers is now the size of a small suburb, and the carpark around it probably needs a shuttle bus to get people in from the periphery to the centre. I have been there a few times but not often.

The best thing about Penrith is the Penrith Observatory at the University of Western Sydney in Werrington. They are a good bunch of people and they are keen on spreading the news about astronomy to the locals. They also have a 24" RC in a Big Dome, the mirror of which is presently being recoated.

THe Western Sydney Amateur Astronomy Group (WSAAG) meets there every third Wednesday of each month.

My take on Goto hasn't changed. If you have the time and the grits, starhopping is hard to beat. If not, Goto is a big help. I do asteroid occultations, and my target fields are generally unremarkable. Starhopping is really difficult for these, and would add hours to the setup time. I have done it a couple of times on the Linden 30 before it got Goto'ed, and the pain was "astronomical". Fortunately we had Rob Horvat (WSAAG president, and strictly visual / starhopper person) to keep us on the track. But even so it was not easy.

I think for newcomers to the sport / hobby, Goto is a mixed bag. It adds to the cost, but it also adds to the success rate of finding stuff. The new Orion and Skywatcher Goto Dobs are driving the price down very well. My take is that it is worth it. Your mileage of course may vary, and it's entirely your call as to what you choose to work with.

Regards,
Tony Barry

[tonybarry (Tony)]

Hi Tony,

Yep, had aperture fever too Tony, but it is always a trade off, particularly their cost. Large apertures are big and heavy, difficult to transport, unless, you have lots of money to set up trailers etc. Saw some awesome set ups at last years Stellafane.

The other downside is getting the mirror realuminised. I need to get my 16" realuminised, but I am thinking it might be easier just buying a new mirror, particularly considering that I cannot find anywhere that can realuminise it with an overcoat, at a reasonable cost, unless I send it to the states, but then freight is an issue.

I am getting too old to lug heavy stuff around any more, so portability is the main criteria these days.

I use my 16" from my back yard, just wheel it out of the shed, in suburban Perth, but I have much more enjoyment with my 110 in a dark sky! See much more too, compared to my 16" in the city, despite the smaller size. I also use an 8" SCT in my observatory, and even this is heavy for me to lug around too, which is why I got a Sirius observatory. I would love to replace the SCT with a large Apo refractor, but that isn't going to happen, unless, a miracle occurs, like winning Lotto, but I won't hold my breath.

The 110 set up just suits me now, not hard to transport and set up, has no maintenance requirements, has very sharp images, so I just take to dark sky sight, use and enjoy. It is certainly much more comfortable sitting in an observing chair, instead of balancing on top of a ladder.

There comes a point when aperture stops being fun, particularly when you have a stuffed back.

Cheers Pete

Hi Pete,

The weight of the LX90-10" is right at the upper limit of what I can usable. It's 24kg, and tripod a further 9kg. By comparison, the LX90-8" which I owned previously was 13.5kg, with 9kg tripod. The improvement in view was (in my opinion) not worth the extra weight, cost, or reduction in field of view. But the tracking has improved out of this world. So I am sticking with the 10".

I've discussed with other members of the club (WSAAG) and a number of us feel that with the availability of the Evans 30" goto dob at Linden Observatory, there is no need for big scopes. Anything we might be able to afford is not going to measure up against this monster. So our personal scopes should be mainly good and light.

Yes health concerns are very important. And keeping the weight down on the back is a big issue.

Regards,
Tony Barry

[LewisM]

Originally Posted by Renato1

Do you use all three mounts with the Tak?
Or are you planning on a baby Tak for one of them?
Regards,
Renato

The FSQ 106 weighs in at 7kg by itself, WITHOUT finderscope, CCD, guidescope, rings, bars... my 2 Vixen mounts are rated at 10kg photographic on the GPD2 and 12kg photographic on the Sphinx.

By the time you add rings, bars, finders, guidescope, focal reducer, dew shield and a CCD, you go over 10kg (almost 12), and I do NOT want to risk my beloved GPD2 for that. I COULD try it on the SPhinx, which I plan doing, but for now, the NEQ6 will suffice.

Will lighten the rig as much as possible (already using a modified Takahashi 7x50 finder as a guidescope) and see if my GPD2 won't smoke at the bearings

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by tonybarry

Hi Renato,

No I dod not ask Meade about the grommets. As it was I had to spin about 1 mm off the lower flange on the base to prevent it dragging on the upper flange, and that means it was either a one-off bad job or the whole thing was a crock. I suspect that it was a one-off, and the fix allowed the true nature of the mount to come through (which is exceptionally good at tracking).

Penrith is good. Panthers is now the size of a small suburb, and the carpark around it probably needs a shuttle bus to get people in from the periphery to the centre. I have been there a few times but not often.

The best thing about Penrith is the Penrith Observatory at the University of Western Sydney in Werrington. They are a good bunch of people and they are keen on spreading the news about astronomy to the locals. They also have a 24" RC in a Big Dome, the mirror of which is presently being recoated.

THe Western Sydney Amateur Astronomy Group (WSAAG) meets there every third Wednesday of each month.

My take on Goto hasn't changed. If you have the time and the grits, starhopping is hard to beat. If not, Goto is a big help. I do asteroid occultations, and my target fields are generally unremarkable. Starhopping is really difficult for these, and would add hours to the setup time. I have done it a couple of times on the Linden 30 before it got Goto'ed, and the pain was "astronomical". Fortunately we had Rob Horvat (WSAAG president, and strictly visual / starhopper person) to keep us on the track. But even so it was not easy.

I think for newcomers to the sport / hobby, Goto is a mixed bag. It adds to the cost, but it also adds to the success rate of finding stuff. The new Orion and Skywatcher Goto Dobs are driving the price down very well. My take is that it is worth it. Your mileage of course may vary, and it's entirely your call as to what you choose to work with.

Regards,
Tony Barry

Hi Tony,
Yes, I tend to forget the learning curve with starhopping, mainly because I used binoculars for about 10 year. Though I still suspect many interesting sights would be missed with GOTOs.

A friend did drive me by an observatory in that area years ago, but I don't recollect which it was.

Panthers always used to amaze me with each visit over the years. How much more can it grow?

I wonder how many other had the problem you had with your Meade, and still haven't solved it?
Cheers,
Renato

[Stardrifter_WA]

Originally Posted by Renato1

Hi Tony,
Yes, I tend to forget the learning curve with starhopping, mainly because I used binoculars for about 10 year. Though I still suspect many interesting sights would be missed with GOTOs.

Hi Renato,

Dialling up those hard to find objects is such a breeze. I would rather spend time on the object, rather than on the time finding it.

However, that doesn't stop you from just wandering around the sky. I do that a lot. Using the hand control, I just sweep back and forth across an area. Have found some interesting asterisms that way.

Having said that though, doing starhopping does teach one the sky more easily.

Cheers Pete

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by Stardrifter_WA

Hi Renato,

Dialling up those hard to find objects is such a breeze. I would rather spend time on the object, rather than on the time finding it.

However, that doesn't stop you from just wandering around the sky. I do that a lot. Using the hand control, I just sweep back and forth across an area. Have found some interesting asterisms that way.

Having said that though, doing starhopping does teach one the sky more easily.

Cheers Pete

Hi Peter,
I can see the advantages of what you describe, and many at my club attest to it. And I can see that it would be especially handy if one was viewing from home, with a dark sky. But there seems to be an awful lot of stuff to lug around and set up if driving to a dark site.

I guess for me, the main thing missing would be the thrill of the hunt.

Anyhow, to each our own.
Cheers,
Renato

[Stardrifter_WA]

Originally Posted by Renato1

Hi Peter,

I guess for me, the main thing missing would be the thrill of the hunt.

Anyhow, to each our own.
Cheers,
Renato

True that Renato.

Just because you have a goto, doesn't mean that you can't still enjoy the thrill of the hunt. After all, that is why I still have the latest in star charts. Not everything is listed in the goto catalogue!

Cheers Pete