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Krish Mandal
member
Reged: 09/02/09
Posts: 40
Loc: Forest Hills, NY
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Hi folks,
It's been a while since I posted, but I've been busy. Last anyone heard from me, I was collecting info and opinions about which scope to get.
After much deliberation, much research, and lots of nail biting, I finally ordered and now have received the Meade LXD75 8-inch SCT ACF.
Here I am with my new scope...
Again thanks to everyone who helped me do my research.
The first light report can be found on my Astro blog:
nightskylog.blogspot.com
Feel free to comment here, or on the blog itself. I look forward to hints, tips and tricks from all the experienced people on CN!
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Krish Mandal
EQUIPMENT LIST:
15x70 Celestron Skymaster
Meade LXD75 8-in SCT ACF
Professional photographer and astronomy neophyte
My astronomy journal at http://nightskylog.blogspot.com
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RonBurgundy
sage
Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 271
Loc: Philadelphia
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Alright Krish!!! If I'm not mistaken, the optics you have is the same as mine. As such is the case, I will guarantee that you'll enjoy your telescope for many years to come! Tell us all...what type of eyepieces are you using? I see you state the 4000 series? How is it all working out? Congratulations on your purchase!
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Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II
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dawsonian2000
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/26/06
Posts: 573
Loc: Riverview, FL, USA
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Hi Krish!
Great scope you have there!  Welcome to the CN family! I see that you just rekindled your interest in astronomy. I also took a hiatus from the hobby. I focused on family life and rekindled my interest later. Look forward to seeing you continuing to grow in this great pastime.
Mel
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Clear Skies, Forever!
The Vega Sky Center
10" (254mm) F/5.65 Home Built Fork Mounted Newtonian Reflector
5" (127mm) F/9.4 Home Built Refractor (under construction)
3.5" (90mm) F/11.1 "Vixen-Spec Modified" Konus Refractor
3.1" (80mm) F/6 Scopos ED APO Refractor
4.5" (114mm) F/8 Tasco 11te-5 Newtonian (under restoration)
2.4" (60mm) F/16.7 Tasco 7te-5 Refractor
2.4" (60mm) F/15 Jason Discoverer 313 Refractor
http://www.vega-sky-center.com
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Dr Gonzo
member
Reged: 10/13/09
Posts: 31
Loc: S.E. Pennsylvania
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Hi Krish,
Congrats on the new scope!
It's a shame about the controller being missing, let's hope that Meade makes this right in short order.
The first thing I bought for my new scope was a RACI finder, I hope to sight it in later today.
My apologies for your bad weather. Since buying my new scope, three weeks ago, I've had zero good observing nights. The RACI arrived Tuesday......you guessed it....nothing but clouds and rain since. We may have a decent viewing window on Sunday night.
Enjoy the new light bucket.
Regards,
Marshall
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Orion XT8
Meade ETX-90
Orion 9x50 RACI
Various Plossls
2X Barlow
Lumicon Oxygen III Filter
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Krish Mandal
member
Reged: 09/02/09
Posts: 40
Loc: Forest Hills, NY
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Thanks everyone!
@RonBurgundy: The scope come with a 26mm Series 4000 Super Plossl eyepiece. As you've already noted I have the Series 4000 whole kit coming soon. I've only used the 26mm as of now, and can't wait to try out the others in the kit.
@Mel: Yes, the balancing of duties, life, and the cloudy nights (real as well as this forum) is difficult. But one thing I've heard that really hits home for me, is, "Astronomy is a patient hobby; don't worry, the universe will still be there." PS. Your partner in crime, Gary, sent me a personal email about the Vega Sky Center!
@Marshall: Yes, it's a shame about the clouds. I really thought you guys on CN were all joking about it. But wow, what a curse it is. It's still cloudy outside and has been now for 5 straight nights, even though we got some sun in the day times. I can't wait to get some more money together to buy the RACI. I just have to make sure what I get can be mounted on the OTA.
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Krish Mandal
EQUIPMENT LIST:
15x70 Celestron Skymaster
Meade LXD75 8-in SCT ACF
Professional photographer and astronomy neophyte
My astronomy journal at http://nightskylog.blogspot.com
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3616
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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Nice scope! Welcome to CN; take a look at the Baader Hyperion eyepieces later after you have received your Meade eyepieces.
Clear Skies!
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LX90 8" LNT, SV Nighthawk & TelePOD, SV 80/9D & M4 mount, ETX 90, Orion XT10i, 20x80 binoculars, SV-BV3s-- www.texasastro.org
"Great minds discuss ideas;Average minds discuss events;Small minds discuss people." Unknown
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bbcoltrane
member
Reged: 05/07/08
Posts: 45
Loc: Fredericksburg, VA
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Krish,
Congratulations on the new scope. I have an LXD-75 GEM with the AR-5 and have added a W.O. Megrez 90 & C8 on a dual saddle mount which work wonderfully together on the GEM.
From my experience, the LXD-75 mount was only assembled at the factory. There was absolutely no calibration, alignment or fine tuning done in any way. That's all up to you and the manual does NOT address most of what needs to be done. I strongly suggest you visit & join the Warp & LXD-55 & LXD-75 user groups on Yahoo and Weasner.com's LXD pages. There's a wealth of information there on how to: modify the polar alignment scope mount and then align it properly to the GEM; use the Kohab Clock for easy polar alignment; calibrate the mount for accurate Polar Home position (ignore the cast in arrows, and use your own); adjusting worm gears to eliminate backlash & play and make the movement much smoother and easier on the motors.
I would also recommend going to Scopestuff and buying some of the replacement screw & bolt hardware. Most of those components on the stock mount suck and will cause problems so do it now (this is not very expensive at all).
If you do these things, you'll get much more enjoyment out of your new rig. These are all things that can be done while the skies are cloudy and it will pay off on those good nights. Trust me, I tried using the stock mount from the factory and it was very frustrating. Bad & inconsistent goto's; motor troubles; poor polar alignment, etc.
Good luck & clear skies.
Brian
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Clear Skies,
Brian
W.O. Megrez 90
Meade AR-5
C8
LXD-75 GEM
TV 17mmT4
TV 12mmT2
TV 9mmT1
TV 7mmT1
TV 4mm Radian
Dark Sky Panels knock down observatory
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Midnight Dan
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 2768
Loc: Brockport, NY
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Hi Krish,
The scope's a beauty! You'll get years of enjoyment out of that! Just remember, when you start thinking about accessories, we stand ready to help you spend your money. It's what we do best! 
-Dan
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Scopes: Celestron NexStar 8SE, Orion EON 72mm ED/APO, Orion ShortTube 80
Mounts: NexStar Alt/Az GoTo, Orion Astroview (EQ3) w/single axis drive
Eyepieces: Baader Hyperion 36mm (Aspheric), 21mm 13mm, 8mm, 5mm;
Other: 2x & 3x Barlow, 0.63x Focal Reducer, Dew-not strips, DewBuster controller, SQM Meter
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cuzimthedad
Just Be Cuz
Reged: 04/09/06
Posts: 3725
Loc: Sonoma, Northern California
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Hi Krish and welcome to CN! I am a fan of the LXD-75 system, and for that matter the Celestron CG-5, and think you will have a fine mount once you have the controller and learn it's capabilities. I agree with Brian that you get over to the Yahoo users group and use their collective knowledge if you need to. I am getting ready to do a self hypertune of my mount which entails cleaning out the old grease and replacing with synthetic, sanding and polishing the internal parts, replacing the encoder wheels and upgrading to teflon bearings. Why do this? Just to make the mount operate better. However, I've found that if you do a good polar alignment, and center the alignment stars using both a low and then higher power ep, the gotos work extremely well and place objects near center of the fov of my Antares 6" achro with a 13mm ep every time.
I look forward to your on going growth with this scope and the subsequent reports you'll offer. Once again, welcome to the Cloudy Nights family.
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Dan
20" f/5 Obsession
Antares 1529
TV102
Various Naglers, Ethos, UO Orthos and TV Plossls
The Off Fisher Lane Irregulars
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The Scope Guy
super member
Reged: 06/07/07
Posts: 124
Loc: York Region ONTARIO,CANADA
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Congratulations on the new scope Krish. It's too bad we won't have much along the line of nice viewing weather now that winter is approaching.
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Marc
William Optics triplet trio: ( FLT132, FLT110, Megrez 80 F600 ) , 10" Newtonian, EQ6, CG5 GO-TO, Celestron Skymaster 25X100 binos, Meade DSI, Panoptics, Radians + other stuff
WEBSITE:http://www.marcthescopeguy.com/index
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hfjacinto
Almost got me
Reged: 01/12/09
Posts: 2096
Loc: Union,NJ
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Congrats Krish,
Nice scope and very good choice.
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C9.25 ASGT 9*50 MM Finder,FT Focuser & 2" Diagonal
Meade LXD 75 6 Inch SNT w 9*50 MM Finder
5,6,9,14.5 MM Zhummel Planetary EPs
13,17,21,24,31,36 MM Baader Hyperion
6.7,8.8 MM Meade UWA & 11 MM Nagler T6
Planetary, OIII and Narrowband Filters
Thousand Oaks Dew Control w Kendrick Heaters
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Keith
Vendor
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 234
Loc: Costa Mesa, CA USA
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another guy here saying good show on the optics, my tube is shown on my avatar.
Get a 2" diagonal and 56mm 4000 super plossl ASAP if you want to go after large diffuse neb targets such as the veil, and even orion. The 5.6mm exit pupil and 1.4deg true field works really well with an OIII filter, and Celestron's 2" OIII (by baader) is only $89. OPT has best deal on house brand 2" 99% dielectric diagonals that thread right to the SCT rear cell for $99. I think the 56mm just dropped from $89 to $69 as well. For unfiltered views, you may like the higher power and wider apparent field (similar true field) of a 30-40mm range ultrawide/superwide. The best cheap 30mm 80deg EP is the 1rpd, and I am fond of the william optics 40mm SWAN for $119 (72deg). Meade 4000 QX 36mm 70deg is $99, but has a little less true field than the WO 40mm. Being an F10 scope with reduced coma, these budget 2" max field eyepieces work well. I would not make these recomendations for a faster, less well corrected scope. If you want to keep it all on the Meade tip, the 36 and 56 make a good pair... and thats all you would need for 2"er's. The 2" diag comes with a 1.25" adapter, so you would use all of the higher power eps with the 2" diag as well, and keep the old visual back and 1.25" diag in the scope box in case you sell it in the future. The 2" mirror's 99% coatings and 1/10th wave surface will also improve the views in 1.25" eps. The 36 and 56 would certainly put your 40mm, and likely also your 32mm 1.25" plossls out of a job though.
When faced with the resistance line of "I am not at a high enough skill level to get 2" eyepieces yet", the correct retort is that 2" eyepieces make it EASIER, not more difficult. I am sure many on here will agree, but I warn you to ignore the ones who will say your 1.5" scope baffle will vignette 2" eyepieces, as it is only true on PAPER to someone thinking you need 100% edge illumination for visual use. Even a C6 with 1" baffle lights up a 2" maxfield EP just fine =) (I used to do it when I had an orion 127mm Mak as well). The nay sayers are not enjoying the brighter, wider field views that a 56mm eyepiece can deliver.
Keith
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Cats (tubes): C11xlt, 8"LX"R". Orion Apex90
Newts: GSO 10"f5dob, Starhoc8-4
APOs: TV101 AT66ED
ACHROS: C102, C80 f11, 60f9, A&F20-60x60
Mounts: G11G, GM8G, CG5-RA, SV M1GG
Apogee U8300M Optec IFW
SBIG: ST1001E, ST7ABG, ST8EABG, Pixcel255
DSIpro DSIc
handfull of binos, 5 cases of EPs
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Krish Mandal
member
Reged: 09/02/09
Posts: 40
Loc: Forest Hills, NY
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Hey guys, thanks for the collective slap on the back and to Brian for the insights to hypertuning and Keith for the suggestions on the eyepieces.
I kinda wanted a 2" diagonal, and 2" eyepieces, and other extra eyepieces, but the funds right now are a bit tight. I'll have to be very careful with my money for a while, but when I get back on my feet, I'm definitely going to look into these things. Hopefully, that won't be too long, as I'm thinking the first thing I need is that RACI finder, and then I can cruise for a bit, till the next must have.
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Krish Mandal
EQUIPMENT LIST:
15x70 Celestron Skymaster
Meade LXD75 8-in SCT ACF
Professional photographer and astronomy neophyte
My astronomy journal at http://nightskylog.blogspot.com
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David Pavlich
Postmaster
Reged: 05/18/05
Posts: 8687
Loc: Mandeville, LA USA 30.22 X 90....
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Congratulations! You've got a very nice piece of hardware.
David
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Proud Member; PAS NOLA,
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research..."
A. Einstein
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akman1955
sage
Reged: 09/07/09
Posts: 379
Loc: Alaska, USA
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 Nice scope krish!! BAD weather curse AWAY!!  Hope this works. John 
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Keith
Vendor
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 234
Loc: Costa Mesa, CA USA
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Instead of the RACI, which will cost at least $100, I recomend a telrad or rigel quikfinder, these only cost $40 and are a good companion to your visual finder. Once you have the goto working, you will find the telrad is the fastest finder for simply nailing the alignment stars, and once the goto is alligned you wont need to look through the finder anyway. For many DOB users without goto, the 1-2 punch is a telrad and RACI finder, using the telrad to get in the zone, and the RACI to spiral search for the fuzzy spot. A RACI on its own is the most annoying thing to use, because when you are looking through the finder, your head is not looking at the sky, so getting your bearings straight is even HARDER than it is with a straight finder.
I found that once I got my 10"dob (former main DSO scope), I would JUST use the telrad and then spiral with my widest field 2" EP, and not even bother mounting the finderscope. With my 8" "R" (pre-lawsuit designation of ACF) OTA, I put a basic red dot finder I had laying around on it because telrad bases were out of stock at the time, and wound up never upgrading. When I got my 11" OTA, I had the telrad base I purchased for the 8" (but never got around to installing it), I put that on the 11" and I have not remounted the 50mm finder since then.
$60+ saved on that investment (more if you were to get a new finder bracket) will almost cover the 56mm, but you would still need the diagonal. 56mm makes sense as your first 2" ep for many reasons, it is the least expensive, it will not duplicate any of the magnifications you have in your 4000 set (and it completes the whole set of 4000 super plossls), and it will have the same 52 deg field that most of the 4000 plossls have (except 40mm which is 44deg, same area of sky as 32mm at 52deg). This will not only give you an exit pupil worthy of narrowband filters, or unfiltered views in dark skies, but it will also POSTPONE the tempation to upgrade to superwides and ultrawides. The moment you upgrade that 32mm or 40mm range EP to a 2" with wider field, thats when it all starts to go downhill, and you start getting more and more widefields and your plossls end up for sale.
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Cats (tubes): C11xlt, 8"LX"R". Orion Apex90
Newts: GSO 10"f5dob, Starhoc8-4
APOs: TV101 AT66ED
ACHROS: C102, C80 f11, 60f9, A&F20-60x60
Mounts: G11G, GM8G, CG5-RA, SV M1GG
Apogee U8300M Optec IFW
SBIG: ST1001E, ST7ABG, ST8EABG, Pixcel255
DSIpro DSIc
handfull of binos, 5 cases of EPs
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Jimmy2K63
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/26/09
Posts: 1193
Loc: Kentucky
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Good report.
I am also a fan of the LXD75 mount, even with all it's little issues it seems to be a pretty decent little unit. It's like anything else, if you look after it, it will look after you.
I no longer carry mine with the counterweights on, I just think it's better on it not to strain it.
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http://astronomyguy63.blogspot.com/
LXD75 SN6-UHTC
Cave Astrola 10" f/5
Garrett 15x70/FarSight
Canon XS (1000D)
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BRCoz
sage
Reged: 10/21/05
Posts: 431
Loc: Moreno Valley, CA
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Congrats. You will have many years of enjoyment with that scope. Another item you might look at getting is a focal reducer. That will take your scope from f10 to 6.3. I have one for mine and I don’t take it off very much. I hope the weather lets you use the new scope soon.
Bruce
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60mm AP guide scope
WO ZS80FD 10th Anniversary
FS102, AR5, APM/TMB 130
102 Apex, 8" Meade LX10, C11
PST
GM8, G11 & ASGT
Denk Standard, 25x100 binos
30D, 10D, AE-1, OM1
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Krish Mandal
member
Reged: 09/02/09
Posts: 40
Loc: Forest Hills, NY
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John, you did it!
The "bad weather go away" anti-curse did it! Sunday we got clear skies for a number of hours here in the NY area, and combined with the clocks setting back an hour, evening arrived earlier, and I got in a few hours of seeing, though under the light of the full moon.
Keith, I'll have to look at a Telrad, I'm still uninitiated as to how it works and why it's useful, but that's my research to do.
Thanks everyone!
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Krish Mandal
EQUIPMENT LIST:
15x70 Celestron Skymaster
Meade LXD75 8-in SCT ACF
Professional photographer and astronomy neophyte
My astronomy journal at http://nightskylog.blogspot.com
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bbcoltrane
member
Reged: 05/07/08
Posts: 45
Loc: Fredericksburg, VA
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Krish,
Get the Telrad!!! It's about as easy as it gets. I agree with Kieth, you won't even need the RACI or even the straight one that came with your scope; especially when you get your GOTO working well.
If however, you do want a RACI, then I'd say get a big one (70mm~80mm) and use as a piggyback scope. IMHO, 50mm in suburban skies doesn't see squat. You need that extra aperture to see anything, and having 80mm actually CAN see DSO's, and open clusters look fantastic. In fact, I would argue that you should spend your $$ on a decent 80mm piggyback scope instead of long FL EP's for your CAT. You can then get double duty out of your medium FL EP's by using them in the 80mm for low power, wide angle views.
Regarding EP's, barlows and reducers: don't buy anything new. There's great deals to be had in the used market on CN or Astromart. You only need about (3) good EP's and a 2x barlow to see most anything. And, if you get the F/6.3 focal reducer as Bruce recommends (I totally concur) you essentially would have three mags per EP, not including what other mag you would get with an added piggyback scope.
I know this is a lot of info to digest, but that's what this forum is all about.
Good luck, and clear skies.
Brian
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Clear Skies,
Brian
W.O. Megrez 90
Meade AR-5
C8
LXD-75 GEM
TV 17mmT4
TV 12mmT2
TV 9mmT1
TV 7mmT1
TV 4mm Radian
Dark Sky Panels knock down observatory
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Shawn H
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/16/07
Posts: 3008
Loc: Southern France 43°56'N-4°50'E
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Krish
Good looking scope! But the guy standing next to it  The Telrad is good kit! Look into it! With its 2° & 4° bullseye rings it sure makes starhopping easier under clear sky's! But if you have a lot of light pollution GO TO is the only remedy or else your stuck observing planets & stars! 
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18" David Lukehurst truss Dobson with Sky Commander flash 4 DSC's & Moonlite CR2 focuser & Astrocrumb filter slide
Orion xt10i fully flocked with Telrad on 4" risers & Feather Touch focuser & huge Boston Red Sox decal
The original Orion StarBlast & 15x70 Celestron Skymaster binos & Ethos & Naglers & Dobs oh my!
Orion Ultrablock narrowband filter & Astronomik OIII line filter
Tele Vue 2x Barlow & Antares 1.6x (2") Barlow
CATSEYE collimation tools, TeleGizmos Dob covers
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Krish Mandal
member
Reged: 09/02/09
Posts: 40
Loc: Forest Hills, NY
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Brian, thanks, good advice about the use EPs. I was actually thinking about getting a nice 80mm scope as my piggyback finder, which I could use as a travel scope later. I agree that the 50mm isn't good for much at all in suburban skies, esp. in Queens, NY.
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Krish Mandal
EQUIPMENT LIST:
15x70 Celestron Skymaster
Meade LXD75 8-in SCT ACF
Professional photographer and astronomy neophyte
My astronomy journal at http://nightskylog.blogspot.com
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hfjacinto
Almost got me
Reged: 01/12/09
Posts: 2096
Loc: Union,NJ
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Krish,
I had a telrad and didn't find it useful in NJ/NY skies. I go along with the RACI finder.
The thing you will need is dew control. Especially now, I checked NOAA and the next couple of clear nights humidity at 12AM will be in the 70% and shoot up to 90% by 2-3AM. Without some type of dew control, you will maybe out for an hour or 2. A 2" diaganol is also good. I am not a Plossl fan,(FOV is more limited than I like) you have try the Hyperions. Next Friday is supposed to be clear, I might take my scope to Sperry, if you want to meet a couple of us there, just let me know and feel free to try out the Hyperions.
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C9.25 ASGT 9*50 MM Finder,FT Focuser & 2" Diagonal
Meade LXD 75 6 Inch SNT w 9*50 MM Finder
5,6,9,14.5 MM Zhummel Planetary EPs
13,17,21,24,31,36 MM Baader Hyperion
6.7,8.8 MM Meade UWA & 11 MM Nagler T6
Planetary, OIII and Narrowband Filters
Thousand Oaks Dew Control w Kendrick Heaters
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hfjacinto
Almost got me
Reged: 01/12/09
Posts: 2096
Loc: Union,NJ
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Krish, btw I have the same mount but different scope (looking at the pictures, you can tell who is the professional photographer
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C9.25 ASGT 9*50 MM Finder,FT Focuser & 2" Diagonal
Meade LXD 75 6 Inch SNT w 9*50 MM Finder
5,6,9,14.5 MM Zhummel Planetary EPs
13,17,21,24,31,36 MM Baader Hyperion
6.7,8.8 MM Meade UWA & 11 MM Nagler T6
Planetary, OIII and Narrowband Filters
Thousand Oaks Dew Control w Kendrick Heaters
Edited by hfjacinto (11/02/09 04:46 PM)
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hfjacinto
Almost got me
Reged: 01/12/09
Posts: 2096
Loc: Union,NJ
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See how I artfully placed the chandelier to give an effect like I can't take pictures And the plates on the wall being cut off.
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C9.25 ASGT 9*50 MM Finder,FT Focuser & 2" Diagonal
Meade LXD 75 6 Inch SNT w 9*50 MM Finder
5,6,9,14.5 MM Zhummel Planetary EPs
13,17,21,24,31,36 MM Baader Hyperion
6.7,8.8 MM Meade UWA & 11 MM Nagler T6
Planetary, OIII and Narrowband Filters
Thousand Oaks Dew Control w Kendrick Heaters
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gnowellsct
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/24/09
Posts: 733
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Krish your view of Jupiter may have been soft because of the collimation issue. You may profit from this:
http://www.astromart.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=718
incidentally if the scope is tracking well you can use any bright star but one neat trick is to collimate on one of Jupiter's moons. Make sure the moon you choose, not Jupiter, is in the CENTER of the field. Scope position affects the mirror tilt which affects the collimation process very slightly. Since your most "sensitive" objects for details are Mars/Jupiter/Saturn, it makes sense to collimate as close to them as possible.
Image softness is (a) seeing and (b) collimation much more often than it is (c) the eyepiece, unless you're using muddy glass from the muddy glass factory.
The Pleiades will always look "empty" in a large aperture scope. But you've gained access to thousands of dimmer open clusters that are even more beautiful. Try NGC 7789 in Cassiopeia.
I take it that the RACI is important because you are not using go-to due to the paddle problem with Meade. Once you have go-to you will find that you'll just let the go-to system handle the zenith positioning. But you'll find that the RACI is impossible to use as you tilt lower to the horizon.
I've used an SCT for ten years on a GEM and I use a straight through finder. I think it's the best choice. The mirror reversal is a problem but you get used to it. In any case once you're dialed in with go-to or digital setting circles it becomes a moot point. You can also use manual setting circles to navigate at the zenith. Or give things an extra hour to pass overhead a bit, which is what most Dob owners do (they call straight up "the dob hole").
good luck,
Greg N
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"Aperture will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no aperture."
featuring selected astrojunk:
bunch o' widefield eyepieces
bunch o' narrowfield eyepieces
couple o' Barlows
couple o' scopes
couple o' mounts
couple o' tripods
and a pier 'n' stuff
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Krish Mandal
member
Reged: 09/02/09
Posts: 40
Loc: Forest Hills, NY
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Hi everyone, thanks for the input. I forget who said it, but yes, I'm having to use the scope manually because of the lack of a hand controller for the meantime. But I don't mind really, I like the idea of having to get to know the skies manually, though I think the learning may be enhanced if I can get the scope to point and learn with it, kinda like cheating on tests...as you write something down on your hand to cheat with, you've actually absorbed it and find that you've studied! LOL. OK, bad example. Still, the straight through finder is hard on my neck.
@Shawn: yeah, not the best pic of anything there. It's done off my 5MP phone-cam propped up on my mac laptop from work. So yeah, I didn't do the scope or myself justice. My camera is sitting right here on my desk, I just got super lazy.
@HFJacinto: You took a great pic of your stuff, better than mine. You must actually be the pro photog, cuz I think I dropped photography to play with my scope the last few weeks! Anyway, you're absolutely right, I think the first thing I have to look into now that the nights are getting colder is that dew prevention system. I had to fan the front of my corrector plate and the eyepiece several times to get rid of the dew two nights ago. Eventually I got so tired of it, I gave up and dragged all the stuff inside and went to bed (I was tired anyway). I've been looking for dew controllers online and they're not really cheap either, what with the controller and the bands. I've said it before, astronomy's like starting all over in photography again, you gotta buy all the things that make the experience and productivity better, after you've spent some hard cash on the main instrument. Oh well.
You and I will have to get together sometime when we both can afford to be out later at night with no school the next day, and that invitation for next Friday sounds like the right time. I'll give you a shout on the phone soon. I'm looking forward to seeing the difference between the Plossl and the Hyperions and meeting you and your compadres.
@Greg: I think you're right about the collimation. I may do that very soonm, like this Saturday. I'm also thinking of replacing the collimation hex-screws with the thumb screws from Scope Stuff, since I may be collimating on a regular basis. At this point, that's the cheapest thing to try to get for my scope (haha). But seriously, the collimation may be off, since I continuously drag the whole kit and kaboodle in and out to the backyard each time I want to observe. Boy am I glad I didn't get anything larger.
I'm thinking that the RACI/Telrad problem is better solved by using a short FL refractor, maybe even an APO which is sort of affordable, after I get some money in my pockets again. That would kill two birds with one stone, I'll have a grab and go for when I want to just do some quick sessions. But I might get a Telrad, just to play with, since they're not too expensive, used.
So my needs are now prioritized as follows:
1) Replacement collimation screws
2) Dew prevention setup (I think at least 4 inputs needed)
3) 2" diagonal / Crayford focuser replacement
4) Short tube refractor for dual use as finder
5) Other EPs as warrant
Thanks guys.
--------------------
Krish Mandal
EQUIPMENT LIST:
15x70 Celestron Skymaster
Meade LXD75 8-in SCT ACF
Professional photographer and astronomy neophyte
My astronomy journal at http://nightskylog.blogspot.com
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