tidalsearch
member
Reged: 03/03/09
Posts: 12
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Ordered mine two scopes in February. Order number 1313. Live in North Carolina. No delivery or email yet.
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ixeru
member
Reged: 06/15/09
Posts: 18
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Thank you so much, Zoeff an erick!! Sorry but I am a beginner! And now I realise that I need a tripod to use the scope. Where could I buy a tripod for my Galileoscope (not very cheap :P). Thanks!
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medieval1
super member
Reged: 12/18/08
Posts: 160
Loc: Colorado Springs
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Ordered 2 in late February and they arrived last Thursday. I ordered 2 more in mid April but have not received them yet.
I'm located in Colorado Springs, CO.
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Jim West
Meade LX200-ACF 8"
Coronado P.S.T
Canon 40D (unmodified)
Meade DSI Pro II w/color filters
Galileoscope
astro.jameswest.com
Lifetime member of Colorado Springs Astronomical Society
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Zoeff
sage
Reged: 06/10/09
Posts: 252
Loc: Haarlem, Netherlands
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Quote:
Thank you so much, Zoeff an erick!! Sorry but I am a beginner! And now I realise that I need a tripod to use the scope. Where could I buy a tripod for my Galileoscope (not very cheap :P). Thanks!
As you probably noticed during assembly, the galileoscope comes with a small nut. This is using a standardized size meaning it'll fit any photographic tripod (not a telescopic tripod). When buying one make sure it can be raised very high, or else you won't be able to view things high in the sky very well.
Cheap ones costs about 25 dollars or so. 
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Telescopes: NexStar 8SE, 90ED f/5.5 doublet, Galileoscope
Accessories: Hyperion 36mm, GSO 32mm, E-lux 25mm, Hyperion 8mm,
DBK 41AU02.AS, 2x Barlow, 0.63x Focal Reducer, Solar Filter, UHC Filter
My (astro-)photos can be found on flickr.
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ixeru
member
Reged: 06/15/09
Posts: 18
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Thanks again Zoeff, I wasn't sure that I can use a photographic tripod in my Galileoscope. But that is the problem, photographic tripods usually can't be raised very high, however I hope to find a good, cheap and high tripod xD
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GregAlt
member
Reged: 06/23/09
Posts: 30
Loc: Seattle, WA, USA
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My wife just called and said they just dropped mine off (ordered March 2nd - #2298). Forecast says clear skies all night tonight. Let's see how well I can replicate Elias' Jupiter photo, and maybe Saturn.
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Orion XT8i - 8" f/5.9
Nikon Action 10x50 Binoculars
Galileoscope 50mm f/10 (20mm ep + 2x barlow)
25mm, 10mm Sirius Plossl eyepieces (1.25")
12.5mm Black Knight OWL Super Plossl
2x Knight OWL Barlow
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erick
member
Reged: 11/21/07
Posts: 77
Loc: Bacchus Marsh, Australia
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Try any good camera shop for a suitable tripod. Brands might be Velbon, Slik. If you are rich, look at Manfrotto! Take the telescope in so you can see how it mounts and handles on different tripods. Many of these better ones will raise the telescope sufficiently high.
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Elias_Jordan
member
Reged: 12/26/08
Posts: 74
Loc: Derby, Kansas
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Found out that Wal-mart does have a tripod tat actually works pretty good or the Galileoscope, its some-what sturdy( when I say that I mean, it will hold b once the wind starts hard, its gone!) its light, "cheap" costs 1 1/2 times as much as the scope. and you can get it at Wal-mart....
Then Greg, hope it works, I have sadly been to busy doing some outreach with the scope and have not had the time to do some more imaging with it, oh well...Still I love showing kids the sky, its better than imaging anyway! (wait, I just thought, maybe if I use the 50X i can get the impact plum?) Well I'll try tomorrow, anywaY I have some Research scope time! Just for the impact!)
All the best, and I hope all get their scopes! My first box just arrived today.
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StarStuff1
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 969
Loc: South of the Mason-Dixon Line
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From what I have read it takes a 4-inch or larger, 150x or higher and pretty decent seeing just to glimpse the Jupiter impact scar. I don't believe the Galileoscope is quite up to this task. Sorry.
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Tools that make objects very far away appear much closer than they actually are.
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Sarkikos
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/18/07
Posts: 1038
Loc: Suburban Maryland
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#9826 March 21, 2009. Ordered one. Received it yesterday, July 21st. Four months for delivery. I'm going to set it aside for now until I have time to put it together with my eight-year-old daughter. When I showed her the box and told her it would be her own little telescope, she giggled and was very excited. Of course, I'll do the actual construction and handle the lenses. But as I put it together, I'll ask her to hand me the different parts (except the lenses) and explain everything to her. It'll be a fun learning experience. (She already knows quite a bit about astronomy - incl. major constellations and Messier objects - and she can aim a bino at whatever I point out, especially if I use a laser point.) I have a small alt-azimuth mount that she can use. It should be sturdy enough for a light-weight 50mm scope. I've installed an Orion Slo-Mo on the mount. I'll let her try that out. She should have fun with this little scope when we go to dark sites, or even when we just setup at the side of the house. The first objects she should look at will be the Moon and Jupiter, which will be easier for her to locate in the eyepiece on her own.
Mike
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Celestron 10" f5 Newt on 1stBase (DSO)
Zhumell 8" f6 Newt, Bosma 6" f12 MCT (NSO)
6" f5 Newt, 130ST, 4.5" f4.4 Ball w/GLP, ST80 w/Crayford (RFTs)
C4-R (NSO/DS)
90mm f13 MCT (Luna/DS)
SkyMaster 25x100, 15x70
Zhumell 20x80
Barska XWA 10x50, 8x40
OptiView LPR 10x50
Const View 2.3x40
BV-125C
CG5, 2 drv / CG4, 2 drv, wood legs, ScopeStuff saddle / CG3, 1 drv
SV AZ / 501HDV on Bogen 055XB / P+ on Oberwerk
QuikFinder, Telrad
Orion Dynamo Pro 12, Dew-Not
Have GLP and not afraid to use it!
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ixeru
member
Reged: 06/15/09
Posts: 18
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Thanks for all, erick and Elias Jordan. I bought a tripod (18$ shipping costs included) this morning, a Hama Star tripod.
Talking about Galileoscope, I have a question about the 18x lens. I don't know if I assembled badly the barlow lens because I don't see almost nothing when I use only the 18x lens! And when I use 25x and 18x together, the image is a little worse than if I use only 25x lens. Is it normal? (I have reread all the instructions many times)
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medieval1
super member
Reged: 12/18/08
Posts: 160
Loc: Colorado Springs
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Received my second order of two yesterday. Order was placed on 20 Apr. My locale is Colorado Springs, CO.
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Jim West
Meade LX200-ACF 8"
Coronado P.S.T
Canon 40D (unmodified)
Meade DSI Pro II w/color filters
Galileoscope
astro.jameswest.com
Lifetime member of Colorado Springs Astronomical Society
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GregAlt
member
Reged: 06/23/09
Posts: 30
Loc: Seattle, WA, USA
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I put it together and set it up pointing out my living room window to try out. 25x worked great, but with the barlow in, I couldn't see anything and couldn't focus. I think it was a combination of bad lighting conditions and my tripod - starting to get dark outside but no stars visible, combined with the living room lights. I guessed that I had put the lenses in backwards, so I checked back in this thread and verified that I had indeed done it correctly.
I set the barlow aside and started hunting for Jupiter. I'm in a city surrounded by trees and streetlights, so it's a bit tricky to spot things low on the horizon.
Once it made its appearance, right between a tree and a streetlight, I took a look with the 25x eyepiece and no barlow. Focusing wasn't too bad, but my tripod is very light and shaky and when I adjust it, it tends to flex and snap back so I have to overshoot and try a few times. In a couple minutes I had it! I was even able to make out 4 moons as faint pin pricks of light.
After all that fun, I decided to try out the barlow again. I was able to focus it and center the aim at 25x and very carefully pop out the eyepiece, put on the barlow and pop it back in. A few minutes of struggling with aim and focus, and I had it! The moons were very easy to see and I think I could make out faint banding on jupiter.
I tried some pictures, but I don't think anything useful came out. I have a $20 adapter that clamps my point and shoot onto the scope. It's all light enough that it didn't cause many problems. Though it's a trick to get the barlow in, attach the camera, aim it, and focus it. It was easy to lose Jupiter completely and have to wiggle around to try to find it again. In the end, I was able to get several shots using the 10 second timer - and it took almost 10 seconds for jupiter to stop jiggling when I very carefully pressed the shutter button.
I think the pictures would have been decent except I wasn't sure what camera settings to use. I couldn't find any online guides that clearly laid out what to use for bright planets with a point-and-shoot - most were about faint deep sky objects with a DSLR.
Looks like cloudy skies today, so maybe I'll practice imaging in daylight on the ground.
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Orion XT8i - 8" f/5.9
Nikon Action 10x50 Binoculars
Galileoscope 50mm f/10 (20mm ep + 2x barlow)
25mm, 10mm Sirius Plossl eyepieces (1.25")
12.5mm Black Knight OWL Super Plossl
2x Knight OWL Barlow
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Zoeff
sage
Reged: 06/10/09
Posts: 252
Loc: Haarlem, Netherlands
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Quote:
Thanks for all, erick and Elias Jordan. I bought a tripod (18$ shipping costs included) this morning, a Hama Star tripod.
Talking about Galileoscope, I have a question about the 18x lens. I don't know if I assembled badly the barlow lens because I don't see almost nothing when I use only the 18x lens! And when I use 25x and 18x together, the image is a little worse than if I use only 25x lens. Is it normal? (I have reread all the instructions many times)
The 18x configuration is supposed to be very narrow, it's to show how Galileo observed the sky. 
If you don't get a decent image in the 50x configuration then you might have assembled it incorrectly, see this image here to be sure: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolune/3742837942/in/pool-galileoscope
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Telescopes: NexStar 8SE, 90ED f/5.5 doublet, Galileoscope
Accessories: Hyperion 36mm, GSO 32mm, E-lux 25mm, Hyperion 8mm,
DBK 41AU02.AS, 2x Barlow, 0.63x Focal Reducer, Solar Filter, UHC Filter
My (astro-)photos can be found on flickr.
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PiperKev
super member
Reged: 12/19/06
Posts: 161
Loc: Grafton, OH
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Finally got mine today!! Originally ordered 2/19, Order #70, had to re-order on 3/25, Order#11093 to Grafton, OH!!
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Orion SkyQuest XT6 Classic
Sears 4-6333 60mm f/15 refractor
50mm f/10 "Galileoscope" refractor w/Daisy Electronic Point Sight finder
TeleVue Plossls: 32mm, 11mm
Orion Sirius Plossls: 25mm, 20mm, 10mm
Astro-Tech Paradigm 15mm
Celestron Ultima 2x barlow
Orion LaserMate Deluxe + Meade 126 2x barlow
Telrad
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ixeru
member
Reged: 06/15/09
Posts: 18
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I think I have assembled it corretctly, the problem is only that is more difficult to focus in the 50x configuration xD I can't believe that Galileo observed the sky so! Thanks Zoeff
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johnpd
member
Reged: 04/13/08
Posts: 61
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Got mine today in southern AZ. Order# 409 on February 20. You definitely need the enhanced assembly instructions from their website.
Edited by johnpd (07/22/09 10:03 PM)
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senske
sage
Reged: 01/10/09
Posts: 360
Loc: Spokane, WA
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If you're interested in an inexpensive tripod for the Galileoscope you might want to check out this one at Amazon for under $16 delivered: TR-60N Tripod.
This is the one that's pictured on the Galileoscope website.
I just got three of them (from Amazon, not from the 3rd party seller that's currently selling them), but I don't have any Galileoscopes yet. I think it will be a very suitable tripod, though.
I'm amazed that it's possible to have a 50x refractor on a tripod for around $35.
Can't wait for the scopes to arrive so my kids can put them together!
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Andrew
Orion SkyQuest XT10 Intelliscope with Orion 9x50 and Telrad Finders
Orion WorldView 10x50 Binoculars
Celestron NexStar 8 SE with GSO 8x50 and Red Dot Finders
Galileoscope
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erick
member
Reged: 11/21/07
Posts: 77
Loc: Bacchus Marsh, Australia
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I've had a further opportunity to work with the GS (="Galileosope") one early morning.
Once I had the lenses around the right way in the 18x eyepiece, the 2x barlow performed much better. The distortion I had in the outer FOV was much reduced.
On the crescent Moon, I did't see any chromatic aberration worth talking about - nothing like on a budget pair of binoculars - no purple fringe.
With the 25x eyepiece and also doubled to 50x with the barlow, the Crescent Moon was a good sight with craters and mountains readily detected. In fact, the terminator was lighting crater Gassendi very nicely.
I turned to Jupiter and the two major bands could be seen on the planet. Inexperienced observers may take a while to notice them, since they will be so excited looking at the Moons. I think in good conditions, with patience, a shadow transit near the equator would be visible.
I turned to Venus. Though at low elevation, I could detect the gibbous phase - that was pleasing.
I tried balancing my laser pointer on the front "V" gunsight. I could balance it, could press the button and still was able to move the scope around on the tripod to point the laser beam to target. However on early attempts, I didn't see end of beam in the FOV. I'll have to experiment a bit more and might need some fine adjustment (read - filing! - perhaps some soft compound instead - "blu-tac"?) to the angle of the gunsight! You need a diagonal in place to do this unless you are a contortionist? Earlier I showed how a diagonal with a prior 2x barlow lens allowed focus to be reached (in the "Gallileoscope Fun" thread).
Next step is to move the GS onto a small fork base I have - it's an old Meade base with clock drive for tracking when mounted on a wedge. I think it will be more stable than the tripod and I'll have slow motion controls and tracking.
GS is fun! GS rocks! 
(OK, I'm still not swapping my 12" and 8" reflectors or C8 for it!)
Edited by erick (07/23/09 01:22 AM)
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Tim A.
sage
Reged: 09/19/07
Posts: 235
Loc: 40 30'N 105 3'W
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When I assembled my Galileoscope, I did two extra steps to eke out its best:
· I masked off the edges (and any other parts that meet) of the primary tube, front hood/dew-shield, and focuser tube, and spray-painted the interior with a flat black paint.
· I used a “Sharpie” to blacken the edges of all the lenses.
Both steps are intended to minimize stray reflected light, and should give me slightly better contrast than I’d otherwise have. It would be interesting to put my scope head-to-head with a “stock” Galileoscope to see how much (if any) improvement I got.
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Starbuckets 12.5" Dob
Celestron CPC800
Celestron CR-150 HD on CG5-GT
Galileoscope
Oberwerk Deluxe II 20x80 & Ultra 10x50
Celestron Regal LX 8x42
Bio-binoculars 1x6
"Me? Crazy? Oh, yeah. Crazy like an ox!"
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