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Isn't that a bit like not paying attention and walking into the ladies' room by mistake?



- Jim

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Well...

Close but not quite. It's like going into the Boy's room instead of the Men's room...

Jon

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Isn't that a bit like not paying attention and walking into the ladies' room by mistake?



- Jim

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By mistake! ... yea right!

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I knew there was a reason why I own one reflector and one refractor.

Ed D

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It's really weird there. They talk about seeing Stephan's Quintet and the Horsehead Nebula.

Like anybody can really see that stuff.

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It's really weird there. They talk about seeing Stephan's Quintet and the Horsehead Nebula.

Like anybody can really see that stuff.

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It's really weird there. They talk about seeing Stephan's Quintet and the Horsehead Nebula.

Like anybody can really see that stuff.

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And they even do "planetary" stuff, like mapping clouds on Uranus and looking for Pluto.

Seriously, y'all are welcome on the reflector forum. We're not against tiny 'scopes.

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Good one. Kind of amusing visiting the refractor forum. Your always telling yourselves how much you like and even love your scopes. Feels like an inferiority thing to me

That said I've just ordered a TEC140.

Edited by crow (11/14/12 03:38 PM)

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The ultimate insult is to find the refractor that you love dearly being used as a finder scope on some guys 24" Newt.

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You mean like this 6 inch refractor finder on a 30 inch dob (with my 80mm in the background )

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No, but it looks as if I came here by mistake...

Better get back to the forum...

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Well played.

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I wandered over there once, but they weren't talking about telescopes, just some sort of arachnid.

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If y'all really want to get lost in a jargon-filled forum, visit the APers!

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You didn't also go into the CATs and Cass. did ya?
At least with Newts you can get great optics, SCT's now that's wishful thinking!

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Sorry - I own two...

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You didn't also go into the CATs and Cass. did ya?
At least with Newts you can get great optics, SCT's now that's wishful thinking!

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Sorry - I own two...

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Well, one is a Mak - at least it's spherical...

No fruity correcter plate.

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Actually the two boards are very similar. Both groups spend an enormous amount of time turning knobs. With us, they're called "focusing knobs." With them, they're called "collimation screws."

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But it is true that one of the strengths of the refractor is that it stays in collimation. Usually, at least.

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But it is true that one of the strengths of the refractor is that it stays in collimation. Usually, at least.

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The reason refractors stay in collimation is that they have to, otherwise they would be unusable. Newtonians have very lax collimation tolerances because there is only one curved surface so they can be collimated by the owner in the field in a moment are two. Refractors are touchier is this regard. Some apo's require centering of the elements to within a few microns. No one sends a Newtonian to the factory to be collimated, it happens with refractors all the time...

Jon

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Yes, but you can easily collimate a Dob. Collimating a refractor...good luck with that; maybe if you start now, you'll be ready by tonight....
that being said; I'm going to S&S Optica soon to purchase my Xmas Present, and Omni 102XLT; luckily it'll come collimated. Not that I wouldn't do it myself, its all part of the learning process and responsibility that comes with a scope. Just like I've never used an EQ mount; but I'll learn,of that I have no doubt. I love my 10XTi, at a dark site, I'm a happy camper. Here in town though (white zone, my front yard is boardered by skyscrapers (Denver Tech Center). I mostly want the refractor for planetary and lunar. I don't think of a reflector as any better or worse then a refractor; they're actually very complementory to each other. I propably will end up using the refractor more, just because its an hours drive to a dark site. I have no doubt I'll love both of them.

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I wander around CN because of my various scopes, but I consider this forum as home, followed by EPs.

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+1

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No one sends a Newtonian to the factory to be collimated, it happens with refractors all the time...

Jon

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Yes, but you can easily collimate a Dob. Collimating a refractor...good luck with that; maybe if you start now, you'll be ready by tonight....

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Nah, my NP-101 was nicely collimated in the daytime with an artificial star within 1 hour But that was alignment between front and back elements, similar in a sort of way to collimating the primary and secondary of a Newt.
On the other hand, I agree: if the individual elements of a doublet or triplet need to be collimated, it will be difficult, at best to do-it-yourself.

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"Newtonians have very lax collimation tolerances because there is only one curved surface so they can be collimated by the owner in the field in a moment are two."

Only if you're looking at blobs (DSOs). Even slight decollimation of a Newt kills it for planetary work. Moreso the faster the Newt.

Slow doublet refractors, on the other hand suffer the least from miscollimation errors. So long as both elements are in the same backyard, that's good enough for planetary viewing.

- Jim

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It's really weird there. They talk about seeing Stephan's Quintet and the Horsehead Nebula. Like anybody can really see that stuff.

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I stumbled in there a couple of times. I whistled and snuck out real fast.

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Reflector owners are not embarrassed by discussions of size.

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By mistake? NO.. but I have gone there to escape the numerous "whats the best refractor for under $XX.." threads that keep coming up.
Rex

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"F15 refractors need quite a mount, and can be like using an long reflector with ladders and or contortions."

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Not so much, really. A 4" f/15 works just fine on a CG5-GT with the 16" Orion pier extension. A smaller f/15 or slower works well on pretty much any mount.

4" f/15 on a CG5 with pier:

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The photo pretty much proves the point that a 4 inch F/15 requires a substantial mount and may require contortions and a stool. Just how high is the eyepiece when viewing the horizon? To my eye, it is not quite as nimble as an NP-101 or Traveler on a Portamount.

Jon

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I just went to the Reflector forum thinking I was in the Refractor forum and I'm thinking, "Man, there are a lot of new post I didnt see an hour ago." And then I started reading a new post and after a few lines I was thinking, "What am I reading?" Looked up and saw I had accidentally gone into the Reflector Forum. Thought that was funny and just wonder if anyone else had done that and how long did it take to realize. I'm in the wrong place.

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Yeah, I've done that before. Started reading about collimation and coma and I'm like, what are they talking about? They really should separate those two forums on opposite sides of the web page.

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Just remember, they come over here looking for finderscopes.......

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Zowie!!! You need a cherry picker to observe with that. I bet that pulls in some detail.

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You know, it is possible the big dob is the finder for the little one...........might have a wider FOV.....

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True, but IMHO it belongs on its own mount. It looks to me like using it in its current position to find things for the main scope would be an ergonomic nightmare. A finder would be better off near the eyepiece IMHO. Also, the finder there probably has a focal length of a whopping 1500 meters. That would limit its use as a finder. Why not a 4.25" or 6" Starblast tube near the eyepiece....

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I can't believe that I miswrote the finder focal length as 1500 meters! Zounds! I meant 1500 millimeters! I corrected my post in that respect.

Well, Jon, you make some good points, as usual. I still believe a 4-6" short tube reflector would make a better finder with a capacity to get a 3-4 degree field of view with a reasonable eyepiece. A magnifying finder in the back would best be a reflector for comfort.

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You know, it is possible the big dob is the finder for the little one...........might have a wider FOV.....

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Of course it would. It's got a bigger opening to allow in more field of view.

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You know, it is possible the big dob is the finder for the little one...........might have a wider FOV.....

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Of course it would. It's got a bigger opening to allow in more field of view.

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It's got the bigger field to mow, that for sure... One thing that is not so obvious about such scopes is how much room the require. A 25 inch F/5 covers a circle about 20 feet in diameter, you don't want anything inside that circle or it may get hit. A 40 inch F/5 covers a circle about 10 meters in diameter or 33 feet...

Jon

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I camped next to a 40 inch home made dob this summer at the Oregon star party. The guy made the mirror out of fused plate glass. It weighed about 800 pounds and he needed a wench to load or unload it from the trailer. Fun to look through but we ended up mostly on very faint objects that were still on the edge of perception. He was looking for a permanent dark site to keep it at. It was a little too much hassle to transport. The ladder was a 16 foot Tallman astronomy ladder modified to have wheels to easy positioning.

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.... He was looking for a permanent dark site to keep it at....

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Let's stay on topic in this thread,folks. At present it's about the 40 inch dob from the previous few postings.

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Exactly!
I don't have to visit reflector forum. It's right here.

Seriously, I go there on purpose to see how they store and cover their Reflectors when they take out refractors for most of the visual observing.

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It breaks my heart when I read threads in one forum ripping apart the other. Variety is the spice of life, and I enjoy everything life and a limited budget have to offer.

Have fun!

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Though a good deal of the banter posted here, (this thread is a good example) is tongue-in-cheek, this is not the case far too often. Most of us suffer from the "my telescope is the best one" syndrome to a greater or lesser extent but in reality, all telescopes can provide enjoyable, satisfying views.

I consider it a virtue to have the attitude and skills to enjoy the night sky irregardless of ones equipment, be it a 60mm refractor purchased for $50 at Walmart or fancy telescope costing thousands of dollars.

I don't get the refractor only or the reflector only thing... they both have their place.

Jon

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"...be it a 60mm refractor purchased for $50 at Walmart..."

Whether for someone returning to or just starting out in the hobby, or for their child, the funds would be best spent on a slightly larger reflector, and available from numerous online vendors; Orion Telescopes, for instance.

Alan

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It gets us all out under the stars and have camaraderie and make new friends as well as old ones we have made through this hobby

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And that's the bit that counts...

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