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Date: 03 Sep 2007 10:00:09
From: AM
Subject: New scope here
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Sorry for any rain Fri, or Sat, but Fri. I picked up
a Meade DS 10 (vintage 1987) that has been very well
kept, and maintained ! I am now the fifth owner,
and from the paperwork the original owner got this
from Co 7 :) Very clean primary, and secondary. Came with
Meade 9x60 finder scope with .96 diag, and EP with
helical focusing. Nice clear and sharp finder.
The previous owner lubed all the mount bearings,
and in general tweaked this scope as much as it could be,
and it shows ! It moves as easily or more so than most
Dob's out there. Drive works well also.
First light was Sat, and it was already well colliminated
and ready to go after a little under an hour
of cool down. Just looked at the usual suspects
in the MW, and Jupiter, and the Moon. M 16, just
looked *cleaner* and brighter than I've seen in a
long time.
I was surprised at the nice contrast views, and how
it snaps into focus. I love the FOV !!!!!
Except for not having the 2" focuser adapter I
have nothing to complain about.
This is my first journey into the fast newt world,
and I am loving it !
--
AM
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Date: 03 Sep 2007 10:41:07
From:
Subject: Re: New scope here
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On Sep 3, 8:00 am, AM <sctu...@comcast.net > wrote:
>
> This is my first journey into the fast newt world,
> and I am loving it !
Congratulations!
I never met a telescope I didn't like. Each tends to have its own
personality, its own set of strengths and weaknesses. A good
Newtonian is a good telescope.
Bill Greer
To sketch is to see.
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Date: 03 Sep 2007 10:36:43
From: Steve Paul
Subject: Re: New scope here
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"AM" <sctuser@comcast.net > wrote in message
news:9u2dnavEZ4L3jkHbnZ2dnUVZ_hmtnZ2d@comcast.com...
> a Meade DS 10 (vintage 1987) that has been very well
> kept, and maintained ! I am now the fifth owner,
> and from the paperwork the original owner got this
> from Co 7 :) Very clean primary, and secondary. Came with
> Meade 9x60 finder scope with .96 diag, and EP with
> helical focusing. Nice clear and sharp finder.
> The previous owner lubed all the mount bearings,
> and in general tweaked this scope as much as it could be,
> and it shows ! It moves as easily or more so than most
> Dob's out there. Drive works well also.
Congrats on a great find. I'm still relatively new to the classic newtonian
on a GEM myself having been primarily a Dob and SCT (fork and GEM) user over
the years (hey, as others go around here, I'm still just a neophyte scope
owner/user).
I put together this 6" F5 on CG-5 when I divested of all my more expensive
gear because I knew I could never give up on observing completely.
Sometimes a man needs to be forced into a situation before he learns to
value what others have experienced. I am very happy with this setup and can
easily see myself using a larger newt on a larger GEM.
Finding stuff to look at isn't all that hard with a GEM and a straight
through finder and I really have always preferred a clock driver over
nudging. (Not that I don't understand and appreciate the value of nudging in
order to use a large Dob without a lot of expense. I had a 10" and then a
12.5", all manual.)
Something like a 10" F4.5 Starfinder with AC clock drive is completely
alright with me now and I wouldn't mind coming across one somewhere for a
nice low price. Especially since I could set it up within easy reach of the
electrical outlet at the south side (back) of the house, and just keep it
under cover most of the year where it's out of sight from the street and any
would-be thieves.
Enjoy!
-Steve
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Date: 03 Sep 2007 11:11:09
From: AM
Subject: Re: New scope here
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Steve Paul wrote:
> Something like a 10" F4.5 Starfinder with AC clock drive is completely
> alright with me now and I wouldn't mind coming across one somewhere for
> a nice low price.
Hi, and thanx.
I actually got this complete setup for $250 !!!!
A local club member posted this on craigsist, and
our private elist at the same time. I just happened
to see, and respond within 1/2 hour, and was the first
to do so.
Funny story on it's history...
Members from our club were out in the country working
on the clubs roboscope project, and called it quits early
one day. They went into the local town (Lovettsville VA)
for eats, and ran across a local flea market in full swing.
From f.a.r. away one member saw the Blue Tube sticking up,
and a short time and few $$ later owned this rig.
He got on the net and posted his find, and a club member
out in the country related how he was first owner, sold it
etc. and came up with paperwork on it. In the meantime
before I got the scope, it was cleaned, relubed, optics
aligned (*can* be a real hassle with DS 10, whole nother story)
and in general everything tweaked. Even the finder was dead
on even using a 13mm EP. What more could one ask for ?
The mount is as smooth as my G 11, I'm not kidding.
(BTW anyone know of a schematic/parts breakdown of mount ?)
I am now the fifth and final owner 8-)
I already have an AP drive corrector, and a friend is
rebuilding an old Meade unit for me.
To run off 12v in field, AC inverters are NOT the way to go !!
if there is a need, my friend will build new drive
correctors for old 120v AC drive units, or rebuild
old one's let me know.
I need to get the focuser issue dealt with soon, I
will probably go with a JMI unit. (EV2nM) Then it's
off to get a 35mm Pan and a few other things.
I cant believe how lucky I got. I am in telescope heaven !
(ok so I'm easy to please, just any pretty girl lol...)
And as if it couldn't get better, another friend gave me a
laptop, still another gave me a notebook hard drive, and
now today I finally have one out of three laptops that
actually has a working battery, CD burner, USB 2.0, etc.
Just got through loading CDC, K2CCD, Astroplanner, Registax,
I am ready !
--
AM
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