Astronomy

[aintgotnun]

I've got a couple of scopes but no heating strips to control dew. I'm still a newb at the whole star gazing thing.

[N7OQ]

I've got a couple of scopes but no heating strips to control dew. I'm still a newb at the whole star gazing thing.

I'm and amateur too but really enjoy Astronomy. My scope is a 8" Celestron C8 not the best mount for Astrophotography but I try. I built a CCD camera it was very popular camera called a cookbook 245, just a black and white camera with a TEC cooled CCD chip. Had a lot of fun using it even if my stars were not round due to tracking. I then bought a Meade ccd but found out that my Canon digital Rebel took a much better picture. I now use the Meade ccd on a smaller scope mounted on the larger scope with the Canon on it. The Meade auto guides the larger scope and I get much better pictures now. The Meade CCD comes with software that is written to be used with the Meade lx200 scope so I made a interface that takes the LX200 command and converters them into commands that my scope can use. I did this with a Pic chip and it works great. I really love to build electronic projects and program pic chips. I get my best pictures while camping in the mountains.

[aintgotnun]

hijacking as we are......


I have an Orion XTI10 Dob with the COL and an Orion 4.5" StarBlast. Since both are Dobs I don't do any photography but I do enjoy looking at the stuff out there. Had some GREAT views of the comet Holmes 17p after it exploded early last month? And I enjoy crusing for the Mesier objects and planet gazing.

Hmmmmm...... May have to start a section for scope nuts. :D

[N7OQ]

Good deal on the Dob's Greg I really like Dob's for visual work. I have a friend with a 16" Dob and it is quite a light bucket, we have to get it out of the valley and into dark skies to really appreciate the views. The views are stunning, much better than what I can see form my scope. My dream scope is a Meade LX200R but that is a ways off for now.

Radio sorry about the Hijacking this thread, but sense you brought up the fact that Aintgotnun was into Astronomy I didn't think you would mind to much.

I find a lot of Hams are into Astronomy too. Camping, Ham radio and Astronomy all seem to go well together.

[aintgotnun]

Moved to "Ragchew" section under "Astronomy" to "un-hijack" the other thread

[aintgotnun]

Here are a few pics of my Dobs. I added a Telrad to the 10" after these pics were taken.

[Radio]

There's another hobby I have to live without until I get my trailer....cool toys though

[aintgotnun]

There's another hobby I have to live without until I get my trailer....cool toys though

and Mr. Dave Ramsey fan.......................


bought and paid for:D

:cool:

[N7OQ]

Very nice scopes, I tried to find some pictures of my scope but didn't find any so here some of the pictures I made with my telescope.

http://www.openroadsradio.net/attachments/photobucket/img_380_0_9084b016c3c4bb01c10f6226b7b15a11.jpg
http://www.openroadsradio.net/attachments/photobucket/img_380_1_a1b831af666c5ef47b015221921ea9aa.jpg
http://www.openroadsradio.net/attachments/photobucket/img_380_2_fb468e1f5d7e7d71c7accf8aec23c663.jpg

[AE5BI]

Me too!

http://home.earthlink.net/~snmdurbin/astro/astro.htm

[aintgotnun]

Great pics!

What objects are they? Besides the moon that is..

I may end up having to take up astrophotography one of these days.

[MomnDadHams]

WOW! Fantastic pics! I have been considering a telescope for quite a while...but I suffer from a disorder known as "fundsrlow", I will be fine as the symptoms come and go!

Can one of you guys reccomend a good scope that won't damage my needs...like eating and such.

Mike

[aintgotnun]

depends on what you want it for

if you aren't interested in taking pics and just want to looksee than a Dobsonian style scope provides the best bang for the buck as you can get a larger scope for less

when you add picture taking abilities then the toys start getting expensive. that is a ways in my future

[MomnDadHams]

Hi Greg.....

I would like to see the images like those posted on this thread, as well as other compareable ones. I tend to take on many hobbies and go from one to the next, always returning to each of them...kind of hard to explain.

I see your scopes are Orions. What models are those? Are you completely happy with them? How long have you had them?

TIA
Mike

[aintgotnun]

I've had the 4.5" StarBlast for about 1 1/2 years. The 10" XTI I recently purchased about 2 or 3 months ago. I really like them. The 10" has a COL (computerized object locator) which makes it easy to find objects.

As far as seeing images like those pictures.......... Not through either scope and pretty much not through any scope. Everything is black and white. Those photos have been color enhanced whether via filters or through computer enhancement. The moon picture looks un-enhanced though. I really can't speak to the photography aspect so I'll let those who know do that.

My views as stated are black and white unless I use a colored filter for enhancment. Different filters bring out different spectrums of light. As an example I will use a red or a blue or a green or a combination to bring out the different features of Jupiter or Saturn. Nebula and galaxies are more like fuzzy "balls" of light.

My Dobs are Newtonian reflectors and they are called "light buckets" as they collect the most light for the money. The larger 10" collects way more light than my 4.5" (I'm guessing somewhere around 300%, there are equations for this, I just don't have them handy) so it allows me to see more stuff and go deeper into space. Views of the moon are spectacular through either scope but the 10" blows away the smaller one on Jupiter or Saturn and the galaxies and other DSOs (deep space objects).

I gave around $200 for the 4.5" and a scosh over $1300 for the 10" with the COL and some extra goodies. Right now I am very happy just looking. I may one day want to get into the photo aspect of it but finances are not where I feel they need to be to allow for that indulgence.

greg

[jagco]

...but I suffer from a disorder known as "fundsrlow"


I suffer from the same ailment, brought on by my other ailments, leading to disability
:)

[N7OQ]

Great pics!

What objects are they? Besides the moon that is..

I may end up having to take up astrophotography one of these days.

Ops I forgot to label them The middle nebula is M-42 the Orion Nebula and the last one is M-8 the Lagoon Nebula.

[N7OQ]

What Greg said is right on the money. My Orion Nebula is the color that the camera took but the Lagoon nebula had been enhanced for red because the Canon camera had a IR filter and it causes red to look purple when I decide to buy a new camera I will then modify this camera by removing the IR filter but then I can only use it for Astrophotography.

If you want to get into Astronomy I would suggest getting a good pair of Binoculars first and a good star chart. You can see so much with a pair of binoculars and I never have a viewing session without them even with my scope. My binoculars are 7X50. Don't buy department store scopes if they sell it by power then it's probably not a good scope. I use my lowest power eye piece more than any of the more powerful eye pieces. Like Greg said most nebula's look like a gray or light green smears, I enjoy star clusters the most and there are so many of them to see.

One the things that happen to a lot of people getting into Astronomy is they get aperture fever they keep buying bigger scopes until they become much trouble to setup and then they just collect dust. I think that anything above 10" starts to get hard to handle, I have a friend who has a 12" scope and He said he used his 6" scope more often and his 12" is collecting dust because it is so heavy.

For visual viewing the scopes Greg have are the best in my opinion they have the best price to size and so easy to set up you can be viewing in minutes. I could write a book here but there are much better ones already written. Like Ham radio you can spend a lot or a little and you can also build your own scopes.

[aintgotnun]

My Orion Nebula is the color that the camera took

That is an amazing pic. And no enhancement. Great!

One the things that happen to a lot of people getting into Astronomy is they get aperture fever they keep buying bigger scopes until they become much trouble to setup and then they just collect dust. I think that anything above 10" starts to get hard to handle, I have a friend who has a 12" scope and He said he used his 6" scope more often and his 12" is collecting dust because it is so heavy.

For visual viewing the scopes Greg have are the best in my opinion they have the best price to size and so easy to set up you can be viewing in minutes. I could write a book here but there are much better ones already written. Like Ham radio you can spend a lot or a little and you can also build your own scopes.


I was dead set on getting a 12" after all it was only a few hundred more and I had the cash. Then I went to an astro shop and saw them side by side and they let me "move" them around. That's when I decided on the 10". The tube on my 10" weighs about 30lbs with the extra stuff on it. The tube on the 12" weighs over 50lbs. HUGE difference. The base on both is about 26lbs. The overall size of the 12" made it impractical for me as I want to be able to take it camping with me. It would have been a PITA to get in and out of my trailer. My 10" is no problem and it rides on the queen bed with a couple of tie-downs to keep it in place. Set up is quick and easy. If I step outside and see it's a nice clear night I can be up and looking in a matter of 15 minutes and that's with aligning my COL.

And like Steven, I use my low power eye pieces more than the high power as you can get more "stuff" in view. About the only time I break out the high power ones is for planetary viewing. And then it becomes a challange to show people what's in view as everything moves soo fast. At 200+ power, Jupiter will stay in view for less than 2 minutes before I have to "bump" the scope to line it back up. But it's all good. It's a fun hobby.

Whatever you do. DO NOT buy a scope from a department store like wally world. You will use it only once and probably never again. Goto an astro shop and look around. IMO my little 4.5" StarBlast is a great intro scope. About $200 with a couple of eye pieces and easily portable. Set it up on a table and start looking in just a couple of minutes. I don't have any binos yet but they are next on my list.

[Dizzy-Dick]

The larger DOBs can be dis-assembled to make them easier to handle. I take the main mirror out of mine and pack it separtetly in a carton with styrofoam all around it. Made a sling for the tube. The base, I just man handle. It is a 16" Meade and weighs in at over 200 pounds (shipping weight was 265 lbs.).

When I had my travel trailer, I had a weather proof cap on my pickup truck and every thing fit in there nicely except I put the main mirror on the back seat for an even smoother ride. Snice I have recently switched to a class C motorhome, it may be a problem. I have a tow bar for my Jeep Liberty, and believe that if I put the seats all down, the tube and base will fit in it. Not sure yet. Of course the main mirror will ride on the bed.

If you want to see a picture of my scope (and some of my trips a few years ago) you can go to my website at www.4r-enterprises.com and at the bottom of the first page there is a link to my personal pages. Select it and pan down to where other options are shown. You can find my telescope there. If you want to go further, just pick on some of the trips, etc. By the way, I wrote the html form scratch and don't know what I am doing, so when you pick on a small picture to enlarge it, you must use your browsers BACK button. If you don't you will leave the site.

Happy camping,

[aintgotnun]

WOW! That is a monster!

[N7OQ]

That scope is a real beauty. After you take it apart and reassemble it how long does it take to collimate the mirrors?

[Dizzy-Dick]

When I take it apart, I leave the secondary mirror (the little one that is about 4" dia.) in place. If the tube is handled with care, it usually stays in place. When the primary (16" dia.) mirror is removed, it goes back together exactly as it was. (It can only go together one way) Therefore, it may not need to be collimated. When I went to one star party, it must have got bumped, had to adjust the secondary. Took about 20 to 30 minutes, if my memory serves me. I had no laser, so just tried to get my eyeball centered in the secondary. Seemed to work. It is a lot more forgiving than my smaller scopes.

[w6pea]

I gotta quit looking at these pictures you posted, I' jealous;)

[kg6rzc]

Newb Here, I have a MEADE ETX-125EC with an imager that I haul around and connect to a Shuttle PC and 14" monitor/TV. The first time I took it out on a trip in my trailer, I had just installed Windows XP on the Shuttle box a couple of weeks previously, and forgot to activate the software. When I got to the campsite, beautiful full DARK sky, only two other campers nearby with me, set everything up to show it all off to my friends, the shuttle would not work so I could not get to the imager software. Telescope worked ok, but no pictures that trip!

73 de hank

[Dizzy-Dick]

Welcome aboard kg6rzc. Since I don't have a motorized scope, I have not tried to take pictures, but maybe very short exposure times would work out ok.

I would love to see some of your astro-pictures. Maybe you could post some.

Just thinking (I know, that could be dangerours), since there seems to be a lot of us with radios, RV's and telescopes, maybe we should have Rv-Ham-Star Party. I have been to a couple of Star Parties and there was a surprising high proportion of of hams attending.

And again, welcom.

[Andy N1ORK]

I'm not into astronomy, but I enjoy looking at the sky with binoculars. So when I retired from AT&T, I chose the Celeron VistaPix IS70 as my retirement gift. I won't give the specifics, you can google it, but it's a lot of fun and I've taken a few good moon shots with it. I'll post it in the photo section.
73

[aintgotnun]

I've taken a few good moon shots with it. I'll post it in the photo section.
73

just saw the photo

Nice shot:cool2:

[Andy N1ORK]

It should read Celestron, not Celeron. Opps!?