[Chaos-l] Getting Ready for Vacation

[matted]

I actually leave on Saturday - so I'll be there the week after the full
moon.  Not perfect, but not too bad either.  Perhaps I understated the
collimation on the scope a bit, but considering the short time until I
leave, didn't think I'd be able to get it done in time.  Having the new big
one, I set the 90mm aside and didn't think of it until actually getting
things ready for the trip.  Planets just do not come into focus very well in
its current state.  I know how nasty the salty air can be too, so wasn't
planning on leaving it out for extended periods of time (and definitely
keeping it away from the sand!)

My son got to see the very early stages of a transit of Callisto across
Jupiter a few months ago.  He really enjoys looking at the planets with the
telescope - it's hard to teach averted vision to a 4 year old :)

-Matt

On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 3:35 PM, Robert Nielsen <robertnielsen at nc.rr.com>wrote:

> Matt,
>
> You may want to wait until *after* you go to the outer banks to clean off
> the scope ... the one (and only) time I brought a scope to the coast, there
> was a little bit of salt(?) that got on the scope and optics.  It came off
> easily ... and I wouldn't let that keep you from bringing the scope with you
> ... but you'll probably want to clean it again when you get back.
>
> Jupiter right now is REALLY, REALLY good ... large, and you can see a lot
> of detail on it.  On Wednesday night (actually Thursday morning) there is
> another set of moon occultations and transits and shadows involving Jupiter
> ... it would be cool to see that and show it to your kids, although the fun
> starts around midnight.
>
> Robert
>
> matted wrote:
>
>>
>> Hi everyone -
>>
>> I am getting ready for a long-awaited vacation in a week - off to the
>> outer banks.  I've never seemed to have luck with clear skies out that way,
>> but thinking of bringing my smaller Meade ETX-90 with me which I am still
>> borrowing.  Do you think it is worth bringing, or just stick to the binos?
>>  The rental house has a deck on top of the house, which I'm thinking would
>> make a great place to setup a scope.  Just no room in the car for my 10" dob
>> if I want kids to come.
>>
>> Does anyone in the area service scopes?  Perhaps not in the next week, but
>> I would like to get it collimated as it is off by enough to tell a
>> difference - and I understand aligning everything on a Mak is a job for a
>> professional... and as long as it's getting serviced, perhaps it should be
>> cleaned, and get the goto-gears cleaned or such (they are slipping so the
>> goto does not work properly).  I tried emailing the folks at "Big Bang
>> Astro" but they never reply.  Also, any clue how much a job like this would
>> cost?  I'd like to return the scope in better condition than it was loaned
>> to me, but obviously cant spend a fortune on it.
>>
>> -Matt
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Chaos-l mailing list
>> Chaos-l at rtpnet.org
>> http://rtpnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chaos-l
>>
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chaos-l mailing list
> Chaos-l at rtpnet.org
> http://rtpnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chaos-l
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://rtpnet.org/pipermail/chaos-l/attachments/20090830/6adb964e/attachment.htm>