48 replies to this topic

[PawPaw]

I was going through some of my old files last night and found my 1977 Astro cards authored by George R. Kepple.  I was debating where this topic belonged and decided since it has a picture of a classic Alt-Azimuth refractor on the first card it belongs here.  I found these very useful during my visual observations.  Thought I would share them with you. 

 

 

 

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[PawPaw]

And one of my favorites part of the "classic" night sky:

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[Terra Nova]

Interesting. I don't remember ever seeing them.

[rowdy388]

I think they are still available.  I got mine just a few years ago along with

an illuminated card holder that has adjustable red LED's.  This is as high

tech as I get.  Still with paper charts and finding things manually and only

one mount that tracks otherwise.  Nice retro-punk product for us old

school types.

Dave Y 

[Crow Haven]

I've still got my set and card lighter -- still handy!

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[Bonco]

I still have mine. I used them to observe the entire messier list. They were and are very helpful.

Bill

[bumm]

I've got a set of those in a plastic box on top of the bookcase, and this thread got me to pull 'em down for the first time in years.  Looking through 'em, I noticed that I've got set l for the Messier objects, set ll for the finest NGC objects, and set lV for the finest NGC objects part B.  I see no sign of a set lll...  Anbody know what that would've been?  Maybe double stars?  I wasn't much into those back then, but I've been developing an interest in recent years.

    They were really handy, and very inexpensive, but I've pretty much retired 'em since I usually use the Uranometria 2000, and occasionally the Great Atlas of the Sky.  Maybe I'll have to pull 'em out and play with 'em again. 

                                                                                  Marty

[City Kid]

I have set 1 and set 2.

[PawPaw]

I've still got my set and card lighter -- still handy!

I wonder if the card lighter is still available that looks very handy. 

[Crow Haven]

 

I've still got my set and card lighter -- still handy!

I wonder if the card lighter is still available that looks very handy. 

 

I've tried to find the link to them but it appears that it's no longer available, unfortunately.  All I found was an old address  which may not function any longer -- 

Astro Cards Set 1, The Messier Objects. Index card finder charts for all 110 Messier objects; well suited for use at the telescope. Astro Cards, P.O.Box 35, Natrona Heights, PA 15065; URL: http://www201.pair.c...ml/AstroCards/; E-Mail: AstroCards at aol.com Phone: +1-412-295-4128

[stevefranks]

Greetings,

 

Before the age of goto telescopes Astro Cards was the amateur astronomer's friend and companion. Easy to use at the finder using the star hop method. I have two complete sets of Astro Cards. One for field use (and very well thumbed), and the other for my astronomy library reference.

 

They used to be sold on the net at least until last year. Unfortunately, the set of double stars was discontinued a few years back. Double Stars was the set I most highly prized and used.

 

Astro Cards was one of my most popular sales item back when I was a telescope dealer in ancient times.  Astro Cards: Messier set, the NGCs (sets 1 & 2), and Double Stars. 

 

Steve Franks

[bremms]

Never used them. Burhams Handbooks, Webb society handbooks, TW Webb's Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes( Didn't use it regularly since it was a VERY early loaned copy) Skalnate Pleso Atlas Of the Heavens( The Bomb) and many years later the Tirion Atlas 2000

[PJ Anway]

When I purchased the Night Sky Observing Guides from George Kepple at Starfest in 1999, he tried to get me to buy a set of astro cards too, but I had just purchased the guides and felt they would be somewhat redundant. They did look rather interesting and certainly more portable.

[Chuck Hards]

I got into astronomy as a kid in the 60's, with an Edmund planisphere and the field edition of Skalnate Pleso.  In the early 70's I began reading S&T regularly and Walter Scott Houston's column started taking me further afield, along with Burnhams 3-volume set.  Never needed the Astro Cards.  I do know some people in our club who were enthusiastic users of them, however.

[rcwolpert]

Never heard of Astro Cards.  I learned the stars around 1960's using "The Stars" by H. A. Rey.  I still have a copy of his book.

 

- Bob

[bumm]

The nice thing about Astro Cards was that they gave a DETAILED chart of local areas of the sky around an object for very little money.  I live in a rural area, and back in the late '70's, I only knew one other guy who was  into amateur stargazing.  He lived near a town maybe 20 miles away, and he also had Astro Cards.  By coincidence, we found we both kept them in identical, plastic, fake wood grain, file card boxes. 

                                                              Marty

[PJ Anway]

While we're on the subject of astro cards, does anyone recognize these cards. I got them a long time ago and can't remember where - no manufacturer mark. Each card measures 5" X 5" .

 

[Bill Lee]

 

 

I've still got my set and card lighter -- still handy!

I wonder if the card lighter is still available that looks very handy. 

 

I've tried to find the link to them but it appears that it's no longer available, unfortunately.  All I found was an old address  which may not function any longer -- 

Astro Cards Set 1, The Messier Objects. Index card finder charts for all 110 Messier objects; well suited for use at the telescope. Astro Cards, P.O.Box 35, Natrona Heights, PA 15065; URL: http://www201.pair.c...ml/AstroCards/; E-Mail: AstroCards at aol.com Phone: +1-412-295-4128

 

 

I just bought an unused set of these complete with all of the sets: A, B, and C, still wrapped in their cellophane wrappers, along with the card illuminator on AM. At that time (early January), the web site was still up and sets A and C were available.

 

I'd been contemplating doing a similar thing with half-sized sheets (5-1/2" by 8") that I can laminate and put into a half-size three-ring binder. I might still do it. Would that be something people were interested in?

 

All of this is because I've been trying to hone my star-hopping skills.

Edited by Bill Lee, 26 February 2016 - 03:56 PM.

[Vesper818]

Hi Bill
I would definitely be interested. A simple pdf or doc file, to be downloaded and printed on cardstock would be quite welcome at the eyepiece.

[Bonco]

The set I have was the Messier list and were on index cards. I put them in an index card box, common object at the time. The back side was blank and a perfect place for drawings and notes. So when I observed all the Messier objects I had notes for each one. Even today, 40+ years later I like pulling these cards and reading my notes and viewing my drawings. I was a child geek I suppose as I bought the large version of the Skalnate Pleso when I was 12. My friends just didn't get it. LOL! Next was the complete Burnhams set. Between thosethree resources I didn't need any more. Still true today.

Bill

[JHub]

I still have sets I thru IV (Messiers, Best of NGC's, Double Stars and another Best of NGC's). There was a set V that was NGC's for larger telescopes. I never got around to picking that one up.

 

I guess they're collector's items now. There's also something nostalgic about something on index cards that looks like it was done on a typewriter. Fancy they weren't; useful, they still are.

 

John

[Rich (RLTYS)]

I might have had a set of them. The more I look at them the more it seems I've seen them before. 

 

Rich (RLTYS)

[Brian Risley]

I keep mine around for use with my dob or for looking for fainter objects in non dark skies.  The background stars make finding the objects easier, and you can flip them over and backlight them for use when your image is inverted.

Brian

[Bill Lee]

John, you must have the pre-2000 set. When look AstroCards up on the web in January, the site was selling cards he had replaced the typewritten titles with computer generated one for his year 2000 print run. Alas, the web site has come down in the month and a half since I visited it.

 

In the meantime, I'm working on producing a similar, loose-leaf atlas on water-resistant half-sheet paper that would reside in 5-1/2" x 8" three ring binders. Several people have expressed interest. I'm also strongly considering star-hopping charts in that format. Would anyone be interested in that?

[bierbelly]

Oh, I thought they were trading cards...was wondering who the Astro equivalent of Mickey Mantle would have been.