Meade Infinity 102

[Ray of LIght]

46 minutes ago, Mak the Night said:

Odds are it's made by Kunming United Optics Corporation, regardless of the brand name.

Labeled Celestron, 175 US. Guess that is a good price?

[Mak the Night]

They look OK. I nearly got some of those instead of the WO. I don't think they have a tapered nosepiece, which is good. Not sure about the dioptres though.

[Ray of LIght]

2 hours ago, Mak the Night said:

They look OK. I nearly got some of those instead of the WO. I don't think they have a tapered nosepiece, which is good. Not sure about the dioptres though.

Like you said, I shouldn't spend too much at first. I have to keep looking but I bet I will not find anything for a whole lot less. I have time. The Starguider 3.2mm wil come first. 

[Mak the Night]

1 hour ago, Ray of LIght said:

Like you said, I shouldn't spend too much at first. I have to keep looking but I bet I will not find anything for a whole lot less. I have time. The Starguider 3.2mm wil come first. 

All of the smaller prism relatively inexpensive bino's are more or less the same and have the same or similar prisms, I think they're mainly similarly priced. I think the Celestron bino's are a bit more expensive for an inexpensive bino. There isn't much between any of them if you ask me.

I set up at 21:30 and waited for the cloud to clear, at around 22:50 I was just limping back up the garden path thinking of hot chocolate when I saw Arcturus. Then, lo and behold, I saw Jupiter. As the Bazooka was set to view the Mars Transit point I had to slew the EQ mount to the west and observe standing. As it started to look really clear I rotated the OTA to be able to observe seated. I had the neodymium filter in and at 250x I could see cloud detail and a very dark GRS right on the western limb. I'd missed Io being occulted but I could see Ganymede next to Jupiter just like above. Europa and Callisto were also visible.

At around 23:15 I managed to view Mars as well. I decided to try the #56 Light Green filter to make the polar cap more easily seen.

Conditions weren't brilliant, and I could vaguely see some maria, but the northern polar cap was more visible. Seeing Mars bright green is weird though lol. I got a brief look at Saturn with the #11 again and could see the Cassini Division plus some cloud detail. Saturn disappeared and I got to view a quite bright Mars briefly with the #11 Yellow-Green filter until cloud obscured it and it started to rain.

 

[Ray of LIght]

Man am I jealous! I am getting a little better but I have some way to go. I have to get the arm and shingles together, at least, and I will be out there too. In the meantime, I  ordered the 3.2mm Starguider, will get here sometime next week. I'm wondering if the 3.2 and the 8mm Starguiders will be parfocal. I think so, I will find out! So much to test! Hopefully will be a lot of fun ?!

 

[Dave In Vermont]

Oh no!! Dag-Nab-It, MTN! Now you've got me interested in bino-viewers.....

I just came inside for a bit. Our Arctic Mosquitoes - which are as big as Hummingbirds - have the 'munchies' tonight. All the n,n-Diethyl-meta-Toluamide in the world isn't phasing 'em one iota! I'm being eaten alive out at my scope! And now I'm thinking about getting some bino-viewers. Let's see - bino-viewers or mosquitoes, bino-viewers or mosquitoes, AIEEEEEEE!!!

.....back to the mosquitoes with the munchies!

Dinner is served!

Dave

[Mak the Night]

10 hours ago, Ray of LIght said:

Man am I jealous! I am getting a little better but I have some way to go. I have to get the arm and shingles together, at least, and I will be out there too. In the meantime, I  ordered the 3.2mm Starguider, will get here sometime next week. I'm wondering if the 3.2 and the 8mm Starguiders will be parfocal. I think so, I will find out! So much to test! Hopefully will be a lot of fun ?!

 

To be honest Ray, I barely got 20 mins observing in before the rain and clouds came back. I'd previously waited nearly 90 mins staring at a cloudy sky. I've also re-discovered just how difficult it is to sort filters out at night time with a red torch lol. Luckily I realised this just before I started to observe and put all the relevant filters in one container. I'd liked to have tried the Light Blue on Mars and Jupiter, and the Light Red on Mars. I may get a chance tonight, but I'm not optimistic.

[Mak the Night]

8 hours ago, Dave In Vermont said:

Oh no!! Dag-Nab-It, MTN! Now you've got me interested in bino-viewers.....

I just came inside for a bit. Our Arctic Mosquitoes - which are as big as Hummingbirds - have the 'munchies' tonight. All the n,n-Diethyl-meta-Toluamide in the world isn't phasing 'em one iota! I'm being eaten alive out at my scope! And now I'm thinking about getting some bino-viewers. Let's see - bino-viewers or mosquitoes, bino-viewers or mosquitoes, AIEEEEEEE!!!

.....back to the mosquitoes with the munchies!

Dinner is served!

Dave

Bino viewers are a bit weird. Some people don't get on with them. If you can combine the images in both dioptres they work well. It can depend on a lot of factors though, such as eye relief and focal length of individual eyepieces when and if combined with a Barlow. When it works it is quite an experience though. Jupiter and Saturn look almost 3D like and objects like M42 are impressive. Viewing the Moon with a bino and a couple of Plossls or ortho's is as spectacular as using a single wide angle EP, if not more so. Arctic Mosquitoes don't sound good, you may have to borrow Ray's .357 lol.

[Ray of LIght]

6 minutes ago, Mak the Night said:

To be honest Ray, I barely got 20 mins observing in before the rain and clouds came back. I'd previously waited nearly 90 mins staring at a cloudy sky. I've also re-discovered just how difficult it is to sort filters out at night time with a red torch lol. Luckily I realised this just before I started to observe and put all the relevant filters in one container. I'd liked to have tried the Light Blue on Mars and Jupiter, and the Light Red on Mars. I may get a chance tonight, but I'm not optimistic.

It sounded as if you were out there a bit longer. As you once said "the universe isn't going anywhere" and that keeps me going. I received the solar filter sheet so I need to make something to fit on my dew shield. I also bought a better astronomy flashlight ftom Agena which has both red and white LED's, the white/clear feature may come in handy for breaking down or finding something I guess. My eyepiece kit is getting there. I think the 3.2mm Starguider was a good move since it will be nice to either barlow or not depending on the object and situation. A couple of higher end TV eyepieces will be nice down the road of course, lol! Back in a bit.

[Mak the Night]

8 minutes ago, Ray of LIght said:

It sounded as if you were out there a bit longer. As you once said "the universe isn't going anywhere" and that keeps me going. I received the solar filter sheet so I need to make something to fit on my dew shield. I also bought a better astronomy flashlight ftom Agena which has both red and white LED's, the white/clear feature may come in handy for breaking down or finding something I guess. My eyepiece kit is getting there. I think the 3.2mm Starguider was a good move since it will be nice to either barlow or not depending on the object and situation. A couple of higher end TV eyepieces will be nice down the road of course, lol! Back in a bit.

I was probably out for longer, but I reckon only 20 mins or so actual eyeball to eyepiece time. The rest of the time I was fiddling about with the OTA and dropping filter cases lol. I have a dual LED Sky-Watcher torch.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/red-light-astronomy-torches/skywatcher-dual-led.html

 

[Ray of LIght]

15 minutes ago, Mak the Night said:

I was probably out for longer, but I reckon only 20 mins or so actual eyeball to eyepiece time. The rest of the time I was fiddling about with the OTA and dropping filter cases lol. I have a dual LED Sky-Watcher torch.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/red-light-astronomy-torches/skywatcher-dual-led.html

 

Mine is sold as Agena but it is exactly the same! It was 20 US. It never ceases to amaze me how few manufacturers there are and how the different companies re-label stuff to re-sell as their own.

[Mak the Night]

17 minutes ago, Ray of LIght said:

Mine is sold as Agena but it is exactly the same! It was 20 US. It never ceases to amaze me how few manufacturers there are and how the different companies re-label stuff to re-sell as their own.

Yes, that's the one. I've seen them as Antares as well. There is a lot of rebranding, but the OEM's are often never known.

I bought this Pellor red light torch last year. It's a tad light sabre and can probably be seen on Mars on its highest setting lol. It's only 13cm long.

[Ray of LIght]

2 hours ago, Mak the Night said:

Bino viewers are a bit weird. Some people don't get on with them. If you can combine the images in both dioptres they work well. It can depend on a lot of factors though, such as eye relief and focal length of individual eyepieces when and if combined with a Barlow. When it works it is quite an experience though. Jupiter and Saturn look almost 3D like and objects like M42 are impressive. Viewing the Moon with a bino and a couple of Plossls or ortho's is as spectacular as using a single wide angle EP, if not more so. Arctic Mosquitoes don't sound good, you may have to borrow Ray's .357 lol.

Yeah, the .357 should do it ?! I think a bino viewer is way off in my future, even though with my eyes it would be  very nice to have. Hey Dave, try a smaller caliber first!

[Mak the Night]

20 minutes ago, Ray of LIght said:

Yeah, the .357 should do it ?! I think a bino viewer is way off in my future, even though with my eyes it would be  very nice to have. Hey Dave, try a smaller caliber first!

I think Baader are going to release their redesigned Maxbrights sometime this year. I'd like to see what they've done with them. I reckon my Pellor torch would fry some of those Arctic Mosquitoes lol.

[Ray of LIght]

12 minutes ago, Mak the Night said:

I think Baader are going to release their redesigned Maxbrights sometime this year. I'd like to see what they've done with them. I reckon my Pellor torch would fry some of those Arctic Mosquitoes lol.

I would like to see the Baader flashlight, I like Baader stuff. Any way to see the old version?

[Mak the Night]

3 minutes ago, Ray of LIght said:

I would like to see the Baader flashlight, I like Baader stuff. Any way to see the old version?

The Maxbright was a bino, sorry for the confusion. It was a choice between the Celestron, Baader Maxbright and WO bino's, in the end I went for the WO's.

[Ray of LIght]

Yeah, just looked it up, LOL! Double barreled flashlight, LMAO! Oh well, looks. very nice and expensive. Back to the Celestron.

[Mak the Night]

1 hour ago, Ray of LIght said:

Yeah, just looked it up, LOL! Double barreled flashlight, LMAO! Oh well, looks. very nice and expensive. Back to the Celestron.

IIRC the Maxbright wasn't much more than the WO bino, I'd have probably bought the Baader but no one had them in stock.

[Dave In Vermont]

I think I'll patiently await the day I can get a high-powered green-laser - and vaporize those rotten mosquitoes! It's a dirty shame we lost over 90% of the local Bats.

The Bats were felled by a previously never seen disease - which was given to them by unthinking humans who enjoy caves and caving ('Spelunkers - Spelunking' is a common hobby for some people, I have gone caving quite a few times on scientific research - and they didn't clean and wash the cave mud off of their gears, and this spread the 'White-Nose Syndrome' to every cave they spelunked. As a result of this, all caves are protected and their entry of them is strictly controlled by scientific researchers such as myself. No good reason to explore? No entry!! And we always washed the cave-mud off with near-boiling water and detergent.

But I miss our sweet Little Brown Bats. They would be sniping bugs all around me. One needed his radar adjusted. He always managed to slap my left cheek everytime he dined of the mosquitoes. And my neighbor's always heard my middle-of-the-night shout: "C'mon - I'll pay for the optomotrist!" My neighbor's likely thought I had Bats in my belfry!

Bring back the Bats!

Dave

 

 

[Ray of LIght]

That's too bad, we also have bats and I like them very much. They are very helpful creatures. 

[Mak the Night]

I waited two hours last night outside after setting up at 21:30 as the BBC Met Office Mendacity app on my tablet assured me I'd get at least an hour clear sky at 22:00. It even rained on me! I saw Saturn with the naked eye momentarily for about three seconds through the clouds, and that was it. I was not a happy bunny.

[Dave In Vermont]

Where I live & observe, I noted an odd phenomena. Our magnetic-declination should be 15°W. Most of the area reads this on my Brunton Lensatic-Compass. But right where I am, and the surrounding neighborhood, reads at 20°W. I've walked around the area with my compass to find the extent of this oddity, and have roughly mapped the outlines. It's triangular and 5°-off. And something else that I've noted: Thunder-Storms draw a bead on this area.

We get more bolts of lightning in my neighborhood than the rest of the place. And my location is in the rough center of this 'Bullseye.' I've had the experience of a bolt coming right through my deck-door as I was on my way to close it! I'd unplugged everything except the TV, which was on at the time. I had it tuned to the Weather-Channel. How appropriate. So the bolt came through the screendoor - and blew me backward into a wall about 10' behind me. I saw a flash & heard the explosion at the exact same moment. When I re-gained my eyesight(flash-blinded momentarily) - I was flat againt the wall, leaving a lasting-impression on & of yours' truly.

The TV set wasn't on anymore. And then it flickered, and came back on! It was the only piece of electronics to survive the direct-hit. Everything else - all unplugged - was fried. Except major appliances. And myself. I surmise that I'm made out of tougher stuff than Chinese electronics.....

Between the un-accountably high number of lightning-strikes in my neighborhood, and the un-accountable 5° variation in magnetic-declination, I hatched a theory: Could there be a large iron meteorite burried in the ground in my area? Hence I got a compass and started taking readings. Thus the roughly triangular map - and that's all I know for now.

So MTN, it rained on you. Would you care to swap situations with me?  

Bullseye -

Dave

 

 

[Mak the Night]

Hmmm ... Dave it does seem like you could be near a large subterranean iron ore deposit. Unless the Kentucky Goblins have moved to Vermont. There are areas near me that seem to suffer from ball lightning often. Some think geological faults can cause some form of piezoelectric effect. Solar flares can fry entire power grids. I read somewhere that the UK electricity companies developed a way of dealing with this by turning on auxiliary grids which with the other grids then absorb any energy spiking, or something.

I just wish the clouds could be zapped, I may have to order this from FLO!

[Ray of LIght]

53 minutes ago, Mak the Night said:

Hmmm ... Dave it does seem like you could be near a large subterranean iron ore deposit. Unless the Kentucky Goblins have moved to Vermont. There are areas near me that seem to suffer from ball lightning often. Some think geological faults can cause some form of piezoelectric effect. Solar flares can fry entire power grids. I read somewhere that the UK electricity companies developed a way of dealing with this by turning on auxiliary grids which with the other grids then absorb any energy spiking, or something.

I just wish the clouds could be zapped, I may have to order this from FLO!

Hey Mak, the Ming Dynasty? Lol! Is that item really on their website? Dave, it's a wonder you're alive, for real!

[Mak the Night]

33 minutes ago, Ray of LIght said:

Hey Mak, the Ming Dynasty? Lol! Is that item really on their website? Dave, it's a wonder you're alive, for real!

I have an account at FLO, 200 quid doesn't seem like a bad price for a Zarkov. I'd probably have to fire it left handed though, so it could be a bit dangerous. I'm not too keen on the steampunk look either. Plus, Bakelite handles tend to shatter in the cold. Luckily, I don't drink a great deal of rainwater. lol