St. Patrick's Day with the Telescope

I decided to take advantage of the clear night to test out the new gear.  In addition to the new Antares finder scope (#1 in the picture) and 2" diagonal (#2), I had also picked up a slightly used Hyperion click-stop zoom eyepiece (8mm-24mm, #3) a JMI "wing thing" holder for my hand controller (#5) and some Earthshine port plugs to keep dust and grime out of my unused AUX ports (#4).

The hand controller holder worked perfectly - easy to install/remove and the height is adjustable.  It holds the controller exactly where you want it, freeing up your hands to focus, change a magnification, hold a flashlight, etc.  A very good investment!

The plugs are also perfect, and I've never seen them anywhere else.  They are just plastic covers for RJ11 phone jacks, but they are well made and easy to use.  Worth every cent :)

The new diagonal performed well, even if it was rotated slightly off center.  I'll see what I can do about that for the next session.  It is very well made, and the compression rings do a great job of holding eyepieces without marring them.

Once I got the Antares finder aligned, it too performed well.  Very nice optics - and at 50mm, it can almost be used as a wide-field scope.  Almost :)  The Pleiades fit nicely inside the field of view, as did the sword of Orion.  Made finding those objects (and others, like M44, the "Beehive") a cake walk.  SO much better than a red dot finder.

The only issue that I had that night was with the new Hyperion eyepiece.  It just didn't provide pin-point stars, regardless of the magnification.  Sure, the conditions weren't perfect, so I'll blame that for part of it.  And I guarantee that my scope is not perfectly collimated (but it's close - I tested it on Sirius and got a pretty good set of concentric circles when defocused).  I compared the views in the Hyperion to my 25mm plossl, and the plossl was better.  I need to have a better look at the EP in the light - maybe it's dirty...

I decided to take a few quick views of Orion, looking at Rigel and M42.  The Hyperion could not split the stars of the Trapezium at all, while I know that I've done it with my plossls.  Hmmm.

I hovered around Canis Major, Gemini and Monoceros as well, finding some nice Messier objects in their midst.  I love me some star clusters :)

I called it a night when the combination of cold air and the neighbor's driveway lights (never usually a problem) made observing too difficult.  I hope to get another shot when I get back from my business trip to Tennessee and Georgia next week.

Clear Skies,

Todd

New Telescope Gear: Antares finder and AT 2" Diagonal

I recently place an order with Astronomics for a a few items, with some so-so results.

Due to some AAAP members' recommendations, I decided to pick up the Antares 7x50 Right-Angle-Correct-Image (RACI) finder. My current finder is a simple red dot type, and I am not a fan. I typically spend the night hunching over and contorting my body while trying to get a view of the red dot - not the best way to observe. After viewing the Antares model at a star party last year, I decided to take the plunge. I also ordered the SCT mount for the finder.

The box arrived quickly, and I received a small discount for being a member of the Cloudy Nights forums, which was a nice bonus. The items were packed well, but upon inspection I noticed that the finder's eyepiece was in pieces. It screws back together easily enough, but there was an issue. The eyepiece's crosshairs are created using tiny wires soldered to a thin brass ring. This ring was lying loose with some other parts in the packaging, and one wire was broken. Rather than send the unit back, I decided to fix it myself with a soldering iron and a new piece of wire. Since the remaining crosshair was loose as well, my fix actually made it better!

The mount was another issue - it is supposed to fit SCTs 6" and larger, and I have a 6". However, the mounting holes were not aligned to the scope, and I needed to drill out a small amount of the material in the mount using a drill and a small round file. I was scared to do this, since I risked ruining the mount, but eventually I got everything working. Mounting screws are not included, so a trip to the hardware store was needed to pick up a few metric screws.

Aligning the finder was simple enough, thankfully, and the optics are very good. Focus is obtained by moving the eyepiece up and down in the diagonal, and there is a small focus ring for fine adjustment. There is a small amount of "play" in the mount around the large thumbscrew, but it doesn't seem to affect alignment. Overall, a nice improvement, even if I did spend more time getting it all working. No more neck breaking observing!

I also picked up a 2" dielectric Astro-Tech SCT diagonal. I was using a 1.25" stock Celestron diagonal, which was not very sturdy and was of below-average build quality. I wanted something larger to use 2" eyepieces and, eventually, camera mounts.

The 99% reflectivity 2" from AT comes with a 1.25 adapter, is made from a wonderfully beefy block of aluminum, and is beautifully constructed. It features compression rings to avoid marring eyepieces, and large thumbscrews. The best part is that this particular diagonal attaches directly to the rear cell of an SCT - just remove the visual back and screw the diagonal in place. This allows the scope to be completely vertical with no clearance issues. I have yet to test it under observing conditions, but I have high hopes due to the build quality and features.

The links to all items are listed below:

Antares RACI finder

Antares mounting rings

Astro-Tech Diagonal