Louis D

Another trick to try is to round off the end of the set screw with a fine file so it creates a dimple instead of a circular scratch. Either way, you've got to really crank it down to make a mark. Just lightly thumb tighten it, and it generally won't leave a mark.

I regularly force SkEye 90 degrees off the sky with it's object align function so my phone can be cradled parallel to the tube. It seems weird that SkySafari Plus doesn't support that same functionality, or does it?

Many folks, myself included, find seated observing much more relaxing and enjoyable. In that case, you want a telescope mount that can be lowered enough to not have to be used with a tall observing chair. If your back can't take being bent over at all, then that would limit you somewhat. What is your working budget?

Many lower cost tripods use a 1/4" stud to attach the head. Others may not be removable at all. If it is a 1/4" stud, there is a low cost thread adapter that screws into the 3/8" hole creating a 1/4" threaded hole for the smaller stud.

Not quite postal delivery, but during the pandemic, Texas legalized alcohol to-go to help keep restaurants afloat. It did so well, that emergency order was turned into a law by our state legislature. Have y'all got something similar?

Isn't the internet great! Can you imagine trying to track down one of these things without it?

Someday, you may want to upgrade to Astrodon filters. They tend to halo the least of any filters out there.

Isn't there a 3/8" thread on the bottom of the standard Dob base? Couldn't you just screw this into the top of a Manfrotto or similar photo tripod? That's how I attached my DSV-2B to my Manfrotto 058B tripod. IIRC, there are grub screws on the Manfrotto underneath and around the 3/8" stud that can be screwed upward to bear against the bottom of the mount head to prevent it from unscrewing.

I take it yours came from TS-Optics. Their website images don't show the Paracor branding:

I don't see the 14.5mm or 18mm focal lengths on FLO's website.

I've seen them come up in Europe occasionally. They're the same as the Aero ED 35mm in the UK, Titan II 35mm in the US, or Sky Rover 35mm direct from China. I'm not sure which vendor is/was selling them labelled as Paracor, but I'll wager it's a continental European vendor. It does seem odd to choose a name so close to Tele Vue's Paracorr.

Did we scare him off?

I've seen the same effect here in the winter after a strong Arctic front pushes through and the sky has a day to settle. On those nights, sky-glow is markedly less, but the air is also much colder than it would otherwise be.

What??? And cover up a fine piece of modern art and/or woodworking? 😉

Glad to know I'm not losing my mind when so many keep claiming APOs are good to go right out of the case, and yet that has not been my experience. My AT72ED is a small ED doublet, and it is ready to observe in almost no time at all.

Yes, it has a built in ND3 which is only good for photography by itself. It also comes with a variable polarizing filter to screw into the bottom of your eyepiece to drop the brightness down enough for visual observing. I set it to near it darkest point and then fine tune the brightness by rotating the eyepiece in the holder since the wedge slightly polarizes the light itself, allowing for more extinction at the first of the two stacked polarizers. I've ordered a SVBONY ND3 (ND1000 in their parlance) to see if I like it better than the variable polarizer. The image is certainly sharper and contrastier than when using Baader Solar Film. The construction is very similar to the Altair Astro Herschel wedge, just in a 1.25" format and without the built-in polarizing filter. I checked the rear ceramic, and it never got even remotely hot with my 90mm refractor after 20 minutes of observing. Uniquely, it comes with a built in variable iris with many blades. I tried it out for fun, but couldn't really see any point to it. Why mask off aperture? That limits resolution. Is it safe? Seemingly so. Worst case, the prism shatters and all the light goes out the back instead of just ~92%. Size wise, it's about the same as the 1.25" Lunt wedge. It's a surprisingly heavy chunk of equipment.

If it gets to being a problem, run a strip of 3M blue masking tape over them. That stuff comes right off again with no residue and is basically waterproof as well.

😲 That's crazy bright. No wonder you drive to Mt. Pinos to observe. At least you don't have to worry about finding eyepieces or lens caps in the dark there in LA, because there is no darkness. 😁

Pretty much what I was saying from recollections of past discussions on this RDF.

A good wooden tripod that absorbs vibrations like a Berlebach costs at least $300 alone. Of course, you could make your own if you're handy, I suppose.

For refractors, I'd agree due to infocus issues with a diagonal, but this is not an issue with Newtonians. I've had good luck with long Barlows in my Dob without them protruding into the light path. In general, they've been sharper than the shorty or mid-length Barlows. The only shorty I've found to be very good and still be under $70 is a used Celestron Ultima (Parks GS) 2x Barlow. I've never tried a Klee or Dakin Barlow, but they tend to cost more than $70, which is about all I'm willing to spend on a piece of gear I rarely use.

Try putting vibration suppression pads under each tripod foot. Try shimming the foot to see if you can get it to pop up a bit.

Better than finding out you don't have enough in-focus to reach focus. That situation requires finding a diagonal with a shorter optical path length or simply going without a diagonal.

Speak for yourself. My TS-Optics (Sharpstar) 90mm FPL-53 triplet APO takes at least 30 minutes to acclimate just 15 degrees F (7 degrees C ?) before stars quit having spikes. My 8" Dob acclimates in about the same time, but to get rid of blurriness associated with tube currents. If I put fans behind the primary, I'd probably be ready to go in under 10 minutes. Low power views are fine in the Dob while waiting. Not so much with the APO. Those spikes are still plainly visible on bright open clusters like the Pleiades.

At f/2.7 or thereabouts, there is no comparison between a well figured 28" Newtonian with Paracorr II and any 28" refractor I know of.