Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

(03-22-2019, 10:24 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-22-2019, 07:18 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]I don't know your personal financial situation, but I really think you should buy that.  When I was at Indiana University, I took an astronomy course, and I thought about majoring in astronomy until I found out about the math prerequisites, which I did not have.  One night they took us to the observatory on campus and when I looked through the telescope, what I saw was an incredibly detailed view of a globular cluster.  I'll never forget that.  

Life is short, and if stargazing is your hobby, I can't think of anything better.  You should pour yourself into it.

I hope to eventually. The combination of scopes, mounts and cameras are endless. Especially when cost is involved, which can be endless itself. It’s possible to spend in excess of $15,000 for a just a mount! However, much more affordable options are out there. 
When the confluence of affordability, priority and time occurs (the definition of never?), I’ll look into it.

Can you recommend a good entry level telescope.  Something that won’t break the bank but yet still give the “wow, look at that” feeling.  Also, do you take yours places to watch or do you just use the backyard? I ask because there lots of light pollution near me.

Along the lines of what NYC was saying, I barely play guitar but always wanted a Flying V. So my girlfriend actually bought me a fabulously expensive American model for Christmas a few years ago. Not vintage, but a real Gibson.

The thing sounds OK and looks cool, but is impossible to play unless I'm standing up. It's been a deterrent to more practice, and after 5 years, pretty much sits in its case in my cluttered office at home.

That ultrawide monitor I've had my eye on just dropped in price by about €70.

(03-22-2019, 06:14 PM)DragonFury Wrote: [ -> ]That ultrawide monitor I've had my eye on just dropped in price by about €70.

Well, are you waiting for them to give them away?

(03-22-2019, 07:18 PM)Jags Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-22-2019, 06:14 PM)DragonFury Wrote: [ -> ]That ultrawide monitor I've had my eye on just dropped in price by about €70.

Well, are you waiting for them to give them away?

But I just spent €75 on this thing.

(03-22-2019, 07:53 PM)DragonFury Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-22-2019, 07:18 PM)Jags Wrote: [ -> ]Well, are you waiting for them to give them away?

But I just spent €75 on this thing.

 I’m somehow not in the least bit surprised.

(03-22-2019, 02:44 PM)Jags Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-22-2019, 10:24 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]I hope to eventually. The combination of scopes, mounts and cameras are endless. Especially when cost is involved, which can be endless itself. It’s possible to spend in excess of $15,000 for a just a mount! However, much more affordable options are out there. 
When the confluence of affordability, priority and time occurs (the definition of never?), I’ll look into it.

Can you recommend a good entry level telescope.  Something that won’t break the bank but yet still give the “wow, look at that” feeling.  Also, do you take yours places to watch or do you just use the backyard? I ask because there lots of light pollution near me.

I don't take my telescope out of my backyard much anymore, but there is still plenty to see just outside your door. Even with light pollution, you can still see the planets, nebulae, and star clusters very easily. Before you consider a telescope, use a pair of binoculars to view the night sky. You would be amazed at what you can see with just a little magnification. An inexpensive pair like these, which I use, are ample to bring out more than you imagined. I recommend laying in a lawn chair, or on the ground, with your arms propped against something to eliminate shake. Also, download a star chart app on your phone so you can find objects to view. 

If you want more, stay away from cheap kiddie scopes that come in a box. Buy a decent used one, if you can. A quick perusal of craigslist brought up this one, which isn't a bad deal for a beginner scope. It even has a red dot finder, all for $40. The eyepieces with it are cheap, which are as important as the telescope itself, but will do for a beginner. Most folks don't realize that telescopes magnify very little, if at all. They merely bring a field of view to a focal point. The eyepieces then magnify the image at that focal point. The quality of that image depends largely on the eyepiece. I have a 2" 36mm eyepiece (which weighs almost a pound and half) that I paid $350, used.  For a refractor scope (a tube with lenses that you look through) expensive optic element materials, coatings, manufacture, and so on in the optical tube assembly improve the image, and that's where the $$ start adding up. 
Just be advised that what you see through a telescope does not resemble the richly detailed and colorful images you see from NASA. Most of what you see will be monochrome and smaller that you imagined. On a good seeing night, I can make out slight colors in the bands of Jupiter. Also, get a moon filter for when you look at the moon. It's like staring into a flashlight if you don't use one.

(03-23-2019, 04:47 PM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-22-2019, 02:44 PM)Jags Wrote: [ -> ]Can you recommend a good entry level telescope.  Something that won’t break the bank but yet still give the “wow, look at that” feeling.  Also, do you take yours places to watch or do you just use the backyard? I ask because there lots of light pollution near me.

I don't take my telescope out of my backyard much anymore, but there is still plenty to see just outside your door. Even with light pollution, you can still see the planets, nebulae, and star clusters very easily. Before you consider a telescope, use a pair of binoculars to view the night sky. You would be amazed at what you can see with just a little magnification. An inexpensive pair like these, which I use, are ample to bring out more than you imagined. I recommend laying in a lawn chair, or on the ground, with your arms propped against something to eliminate shake. Also, download a star chart app on your phone so you can find objects to view. 

If you want more, stay away from cheap kiddie scopes that come in a box. Buy a decent used one, if you can. A quick perusal of craigslist brought up this one, which isn't a bad deal for a beginner scope. It even has a red dot finder, all for $40. The eyepieces with it are cheap, which are as important as the telescope itself, but will do for a beginner. Most folks don't realize that telescopes magnify very little, if at all. They merely bring a field of view to a focal point. The eyepieces then magnify the image at that focal point. The quality of that image depends largely on the eyepiece. I have a 2" 36mm eyepiece (which weighs almost a pound and half) that I paid $350, used.  For a refractor scope (a tube with lenses that you look through) expensive optic element materials, coatings, manufacture, and so on in the optical tube assembly improve the image, and that's where the $$ start adding up. 
Just be advised that what you see through a telescope does not resemble the richly detailed and colorful images you see from NASA. Most of what you see will be monochrome and smaller that you imagined. On a good seeing night, I can make out slight colors in the bands of Jupiter. Also, get a moon filter for when you look at the moon. It's like staring into a flashlight if you don't use one.

What type of scope do you have? This sounds odd, but I have a total of six telescopes, even more odd, I don't know how to use them that is why I still have them. 

Thanks to this thread however I took out my Meade ETX-90 and took a look at the moon. Finally was able to put some time into this and actually see the moon. I used the stock 26mm eyepiece, I had no idea that the eyepiece is the magnification piece. The next day I went out and bought two more eyepieces, 12mm and 9mm. Last night I tried the new eyepieces with my Meade ETX-125. The last time I tried the ETX-125 I could not see anything, turns out the finder and the actual scope were way off alignment so I just gave up put it away and forgot about it. After aligning both pieces during the day, we were able to see the moon in great detail, all of the little craters. I do think the 9mm is overall kill for this scope but still very enjoyable.  I think this is something that I will really enjoy and I can't wait to view different objects in the sky. 

Now to figure out what to do with the rest of the scopes. One of them is a higher end scope but I cannot get it to focus, it's like the focus knob just doesn't work, won't do anything. Any advice? Think I will be calling the manufacturer tomorrow to see about repairs.

(03-25-2019, 01:29 AM)Jagfan44 Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-23-2019, 04:47 PM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]I don't take my telescope out of my backyard much anymore, but there is still plenty to see just outside your door. Even with light pollution, you can still see the planets, nebulae, and star clusters very easily. Before you consider a telescope, use a pair of binoculars to view the night sky. You would be amazed at what you can see with just a little magnification. An inexpensive pair like these, which I use, are ample to bring out more than you imagined. I recommend laying in a lawn chair, or on the ground, with your arms propped against something to eliminate shake. Also, download a star chart app on your phone so you can find objects to view. 

If you want more, stay away from cheap kiddie scopes that come in a box. Buy a decent used one, if you can. A quick perusal of craigslist brought up this one, which isn't a bad deal for a beginner scope. It even has a red dot finder, all for $40. The eyepieces with it are cheap, which are as important as the telescope itself, but will do for a beginner. Most folks don't realize that telescopes magnify very little, if at all. They merely bring a field of view to a focal point. The eyepieces then magnify the image at that focal point. The quality of that image depends largely on the eyepiece. I have a 2" 36mm eyepiece (which weighs almost a pound and half) that I paid $350, used.  For a refractor scope (a tube with lenses that you look through) expensive optic element materials, coatings, manufacture, and so on in the optical tube assembly improve the image, and that's where the $$ start adding up. 
Just be advised that what you see through a telescope does not resemble the richly detailed and colorful images you see from NASA. Most of what you see will be monochrome and smaller that you imagined. On a good seeing night, I can make out slight colors in the bands of Jupiter. Also, get a moon filter for when you look at the moon. It's like staring into a flashlight if you don't use one.

What type of scope do you have? This sounds odd, but I have a total of six telescopes, even more odd, I don't know how to use them that is why I still have them. 

Thanks to this thread however I took out my Meade ETX-90 and took a look at the moon. Finally was able to put some time into this and actually see the moon. I used the stock 26mm eyepiece, I had no idea that the eyepiece is the magnification piece. The next day I went out and bought two more eyepieces, 12mm and 9mm. Last night I tried the new eyepieces with my Meade ETX-125. The last time I tried the ETX-125 I could not see anything, turns out the finder and the actual scope were way off alignment so I just gave up put it away and forgot about it. After aligning both pieces during the day, we were able to see the moon in great detail, all of the little craters. I do think the 9mm is overall kill for this scope but still very enjoyable.  I think this is something that I will really enjoy and I can't wait to view different objects in the sky. 

Now to figure out what to do with the rest of the scopes. One of them is a higher end scope but I cannot get it to focus, it's like the focus knob just doesn't work, won't do anything. Any advice? Think I will be calling the manufacturer tomorrow to see about repairs.

Wow! Six scopes. I'm curious as to why you kept acquiring them. Regardless, you've got plenty to keep you occupied and I'm glad you're finally enjoying them. The ETX scopes you have are the catadioptric scopes I was talking about. Schmidt-Cassegrains, more specifically, but there's several different flavors of cat scopes. You have some nice scopes, and yes, if the finder scope isn't aligned then viewing becomes an exercise in futility. There's tons of information on line about how to get the most out of your scopes.

I have a Dobsonian, which is a Newtonian (a reflector scope which uses a mirror rather than lenses) on a Dobsonian mount. The name is confusing. It's big, heavy, and cumbersome and designed to view faint deep-sky objects, which is why it's called a light bucket, although I mostly use it for general viewing. 

The 9 and 12mm eyepieces are high magnification and more than you would typically need. I have 15, 20, and 25mm eyepieces in 1.25" and a 2X Barlow if I really want to get close. The thing about high magnification eyepieces is that while you get closer to the object, the view is dimmer and eye relief is greatly reduced. They can be a real chore to look through for long. Go with 20mm or longer with a wide field of view. Your eyes will thank you. 

Is your focuser not moving when the knob is turned? If so, it's possible you have a focuser brake that prevents adjustment if the knobs are turned. Mine has a small thumb wheel in the middle between the focuser knobs. If it's tightened down, the knobs will turn but the focuser will not move. However, I'm not familiar with the focuser on your scopes. I'm sure if you call Meade customer support, they can help you out.

One other thing. Get a concave eye patch from the drug store. For one, squinting one eye for a long period of time becomes tiring and affects focus if you want to switch eyes. Secondly, the muscle contraction from squinting one eye causes the other to partially close. If you're looking at a dim object, you want to get every bit of light coming out of the eyepiece. Plus, it gives you a reason to talk like a pirate.

(03-23-2019, 04:47 PM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-22-2019, 02:44 PM)Jags Wrote: [ -> ]Can you recommend a good entry level telescope.  Something that won’t break the bank but yet still give the “wow, look at that” feeling.  Also, do you take yours places to watch or do you just use the backyard? I ask because there lots of light pollution near me.

I don't take my telescope out of my backyard much anymore, but there is still plenty to see just outside your door. Even with light pollution, you can still see the planets, nebulae, and star clusters very easily. Before you consider a telescope, use a pair of binoculars to view the night sky. You would be amazed at what you can see with just a little magnification. An inexpensive pair like these, which I use, are ample to bring out more than you imagined. I recommend laying in a lawn chair, or on the ground, with your arms propped against something to eliminate shake. Also, download a star chart app on your phone so you can find objects to view. 

If you want more, stay away from cheap kiddie scopes that come in a box. Buy a decent used one, if you can. A quick perusal of craigslist brought up this one, which isn't a bad deal for a beginner scope. It even has a red dot finder, all for $40. The eyepieces with it are cheap, which are as important as the telescope itself, but will do for a beginner. Most folks don't realize that telescopes magnify very little, if at all. They merely bring a field of view to a focal point. The eyepieces then magnify the image at that focal point. The quality of that image depends largely on the eyepiece. I have a 2" 36mm eyepiece (which weighs almost a pound and half) that I paid $350, used.  For a refractor scope (a tube with lenses that you look through) expensive optic element materials, coatings, manufacture, and so on in the optical tube assembly improve the image, and that's where the $$ start adding up. 
Just be advised that what you see through a telescope does not resemble the richly detailed and colorful images you see from NASA. Most of what you see will be monochrome and smaller that you imagined. On a good seeing night, I can make out slight colors in the bands of Jupiter. Also, get a moon filter for when you look at the moon. It's like staring into a flashlight if you don't use one.

Thanks for the advice.  I do have a few decent binos running around.   I’ll give that a shot first.   Although at 40.00 it’s tempting to just buy the telescope you posted.  But, I’d be another entry in this thread if I bought it for no other reason than you said it was decent and good for a beginner.  (What’s his number again..?)
Don’t get me wrong, I trust you,  but I must be better about wasting money on stuff I won’t use.  [BLEEP], i my have been able to retire last year, haha.   You’re a space nerd, I’m a space nerd as well, but not to that degree.  I’ve always been fascinated with space.  Science channel is usually on in my household.   Whether the moochers, I mean wife and kid, like it or not.  I dvr so many shows. Currently catching up on the “Einstein/Hawkin” show they’ve aired.   Just never have taken matters into my own hands.  I’ll start where you recommend.  Then, I’ll blow my DD’s inheritance on nice telescopes.  Thanks again fellow nerd!

(03-25-2019, 06:11 PM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-25-2019, 01:29 AM)Jagfan44 Wrote: [ -> ]What type of scope do you have? This sounds odd, but I have a total of six telescopes, even more odd, I don't know how to use them that is why I still have them. 

Thanks to this thread however I took out my Meade ETX-90 and took a look at the moon. Finally was able to put some time into this and actually see the moon. I used the stock 26mm eyepiece, I had no idea that the eyepiece is the magnification piece. The next day I went out and bought two more eyepieces, 12mm and 9mm. Last night I tried the new eyepieces with my Meade ETX-125. The last time I tried the ETX-125 I could not see anything, turns out the finder and the actual scope were way off alignment so I just gave up put it away and forgot about it. After aligning both pieces during the day, we were able to see the moon in great detail, all of the little craters. I do think the 9mm is overall kill for this scope but still very enjoyable.  I think this is something that I will really enjoy and I can't wait to view different objects in the sky. 

Now to figure out what to do with the rest of the scopes. One of them is a higher end scope but I cannot get it to focus, it's like the focus knob just doesn't work, won't do anything. Any advice? Think I will be calling the manufacturer tomorrow to see about repairs.

Wow! Six scopes. I'm curious as to why you kept acquiring them. Regardless, you've got plenty to keep you occupied and I'm glad you're finally enjoying them. The ETX scopes you have are the catadioptric scopes I was talking about. Schmidt-Cassegrains, more specifically, but there's several different flavors of cat scopes. You have some nice scopes, and yes, if the finder scope isn't aligned then viewing becomes an exercise in futility. There's tons of information on line about how to get the most out of your scopes.

I have a Dobsonian, which is a Newtonian (a reflector scope which uses a mirror rather than lenses) on a Dobsonian mount. The name is confusing. It's big, heavy, and cumbersome and designed to view faint deep-sky objects, which is why it's called a light bucket, although I mostly use it for general viewing. 

The 9 and 12mm eyepieces are high magnification and more than you would typically need. I have 15, 20, and 25mm eyepieces in 1.25" and a 2X Barlow if I really want to get close. The thing about high magnification eyepieces is that while you get closer to the object, the view is dimmer and eye relief is greatly reduced. They can be a real chore to look through for long. Go with 20mm or longer with a wide field of view. Your eyes will thank you. 

Is your focuser not moving when the knob is turned? If so, it's possible you have a focuser brake that prevents adjustment if the knobs are turned. Mine has a small thumb wheel in the middle between the focuser knobs. If it's tightened down, the knobs will turn but the focuser will not move. However, I'm not familiar with the focuser on your scopes. I'm sure if you call Meade customer support, they can help you out.

One other thing. Get a concave eye patch from the drug store. For one, squinting one eye for a long period of time becomes tiring and affects focus if you want to switch eyes. Secondly, the muscle contraction from squinting one eye causes the other to partially close. If you're looking at a dim object, you want to get every bit of light coming out of the eyepiece. Plus, it gives you a reason to talk like a pirate.

I have so many scopes because I flip things. I basically buy just about anything that I can get for below market value knowing that I will profit from it, hence the Rolex collection, I have a lot of everything and most of it is very high end. These scopes have been in the "Need to get to it" pile. They're not something that really lose value over time so I've been ok with just sitting on them. I currently have the two that I mentioned, a Meade LX90 (the one that I can't get to focus), A Daystar SR127 Solarscope, a small Orion, and my latest purchase is a beauty, it's a Pentax Classic 85. I picked it up at a yard sale for dirt cheap. These were made in the late 70's, early 80's. Well made, Japanese scope. Apparently collector's go crazy for these things. They're difficult to find a price for but it seems to be $1,000 scope all day. 

When I turn the knob all the way on the LX90 eventually it will come off the thread, it seems to be no good as the focus just doesn't change. I spoke to Meade about it yesterday and they are willing to fix it for $300, so not bad considering the retail price. 

Very exciting! I was able to se Jupiter last night. It was right behind the moon shining very bright. As cool as it was just a little disappointed that it was so small. Even with the 9mm and the 12mm, I could just barely make out the red lines. I suppose at different times of the year when certain objects are closer better views can be had.

Y’all write WAY too much about some telescopes!

(03-28-2019, 04:49 AM)Bchbunnie4 Wrote: [ -> ]Y’all write WAY too much about some telescopes!

You should see how much the right one enhances things!

(03-28-2019, 04:49 AM)Bchbunnie4 Wrote: [ -> ]Y’all write WAY too much about some telescopes!

My optical tube assembly is raging towards zenith!

(03-28-2019, 04:49 AM)Bchbunnie4 Wrote: [ -> ]Y’all write WAY too much about some telescopes!

(03-28-2019, 10:18 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-28-2019, 04:49 AM)Bchbunnie4 Wrote: [ -> ]Y’all write WAY too much about some telescopes!

My optical tube assembly is raging towards zenith!

It does and you’ll clean it up Mister!

My dad is the undisputed king of this. I WISH he was buying TVs and telescopes.

This springs buys include a 3-wheel tractor "in case there is a tractor pull" (our city briefly hosted a few in circa 2000)

and a self driving cherry picker "in case we need to do stuff." 

I just returned from a 2 hour ride. Yeah, I need a new motorcycle. Will it happen soon? No. But still, it's official.

(03-30-2019, 07:07 PM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]I just returned from a 2 hour ride. Yeah, I need a new motorcycle. Will it happen soon? No. But still, it's official.

You’re too needy!

(03-30-2019, 09:37 PM)Bchbunnie4 Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-30-2019, 07:07 PM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]I just returned from a 2 hour ride. Yeah, I need a new motorcycle. Will it happen soon? No. But still, it's official.

You’re too needy!

I should have married an old sugar momma. She'd be dead by now and I'd be frolicking on a shiny new motorcycle. Stoopid life choices!