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Duck Dodgers
journeyman
Reged: 06/09/09
Posts: 7
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Hey All,
Well, first off I'm new to this forum, but not new to amateur astronomy. About 12 years ago I bought my first scope, a 10" Starfinder (Dob). I had a lot of fun, but it's big and not that portable. Then, we started a family, and it collected dust for several years. A month ago, I picked up a used ETX-90. Since then, I've been piecing together an Autostar and I also made an adapter so I could mount it to my photo tripod (yeah, I'm cheap...but the wife oversees my money! LOL).
Anyway, tonight was the official "First Light" of my ETX. I prepared by training the drive and getting it set up in the Home position, as I've been reading diligently on Weasner's ETX site. Prior to that, I checked it over seeing as it was used, and aside from the declination lock not working (someone must have over-tightened it prior to me) all is well.
This was my fist time using a GOTO system. One word: WOW! I think I saw more things (clusters) in a half hour than I did in several nights of viewing with the dob! I did the Easy align, and from that point on, the GOTO performed better than I had hoped! Everything came in within the field of view, with my 26mm eyepiece in place. I had to bump it a bit to center, but I must say I was impressed!
M57 came in nicely, as did M13.
M51 and 101 didn't come in, but I blame that on aperature and light pollution (I live about 20 miles from a metropolitan area. But I did see M92 for the first time, as well as a few others (the double cluster in Casseopaea, I think).
Anyway, just thought I'd share my joy and wonder! OH! And a satellite passed through while I was observing the Wild Duck cluster! Such fun!
Mike
(Now, to figure out what to sell off so I can pick up an ETX-125! I guess my Ducati piggy bank will end up lighter!)
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Treehopper
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/29/08
Posts: 582
Loc: Upstate NY
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Welcome to CN, Mike! Your story is a familiar one, insofar as having the hobby wax and wane over the course of our lives. I was super serious about it back in the late 80's, let it go for a while, and then just got semi-serious about it again last year. I managed to pick up the ETX-125PE when they had a huge sale on them last year (and am I glad I did...the prices have gone up considerably since then!)
The 125 is awesome, and I've gotten some jaw-dropping views of planets with it. Jupiter is just amazing, and you can on a good night not only discern the major banding but can clearly identify the belts, bands, and zones along with clearly defined festoons and whorls in the various strata! All this at modest magnification too (around 175x or so as memory serves.)
Nevertheless, don't discount what your 90 is able to see just yet! I've been bowled over at some of the high-quality photos I've seen through the 90! For a small scope, it's pretty big on performance!
Best of luck to you as you rediscover your hobby. Clear skies!
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Tim
Champion of small aperture scopes everywhere!
Meade ETX-125PE
Meade ETX-80
Celestron FirstScope 76mm Mini-dob
 Updated: 09/16/2009
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JT5
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/08/07
Posts: 582
Loc: Ozarks of Missouri
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Hi Mike, stick around and you should meet a lot of new found friends. I can relate to the problem of hauling and setting up a large scope. But now you have a good friend. Get the family involved and have them share the joy of discovery.
Keep on looking up!
John
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My wife shares my love of the night skies and tolerates all of my other hobbies.
Televue Pronto w/Starbeam pointer and Televue tripod
Meade 2045D, ETX-125PE, 12" Lightbridge
Celestron: 7Amp PowerTank, 15X70mm binoculars
Meade, Swan and Televue Lenses (33, 26, 20, 15 & 9mm), Televue Barlow
Catsperch Observing Chair
Member: Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri
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Duck Dodgers
journeyman
Reged: 06/09/09
Posts: 7
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Thanks folks,
I think the thing I like best about my ETX (and the reason I got it, hoping it would work) is not only the GOTO ability, but moreso the automatic tracking. I pointed it at Arcturis, left and came back 15 minutes later (after it got a bit darker) and it was still dead center! I was pretty amazed with that.
I was concerned that the fact that the declination lock was not working would hinder it, but it hasn't. There's enough grab inside where the slewing/tracking works fine, but I can still move it manually if need be.
My kids are only 6 and 7, and with that big dob they had a hard time trying to balance on a chair to see without holding onto the tube for support. I'm looking forward to August when the sun goes to bed sooner, so the kids can take a peek through the scope. It's not dark enough for viewing here until almost 10:30.
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