You've got a few "gadgets" there, Bob.

What specifically do you do with all of them?

 

I used to have an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain. Sold it to help pay for college.

One of these days, when my daughter is old enough, I'll be getting something similar to yours, I think.

 

Deb,

Yup.... they're Magneplanar MGIIIa speakers. Tall but very thin, they generate sound both to the front and rear. Obviously they're not known as having high WAF (wife approval factor) given the way they can dominate a room. Mine are biamplified with a custom 18" subwoofer augmenting the bottom end. To my ears they sound fantastic

--Bob

 

Jonas,

That's a 5" f/8 Intes-Micro maksutov-newtonian. Its optics rival comparable sized APO refractors. On the table is a monitor for use with an Astrovid StellaCam II camera that will auto stack 256 images in near time for viewing by groups next to the scope. It's like looking through a scope 4 or 5 times as large as my 5 incher too.

I recently picked up a vintage 6" f/8 Dyanscope RV6 that performs surprisingly well. The optics in some of the older scopes (Dynamax, Cave, etc) are very good. Keep your eyes open and you might find one quite cheap.



--Bob

 

Mine was a Dynamax 8. Sigh.......

JonasM

 

Lainey,

Well I relax to great music with the stereo setup. I enjoy dial twirling to listen to everything from amateur radio chats to foreign broadcasts. Been doing it since my pre-teens. Its always interesting hearing how other countries/cultures share and view things. On good nights when the skies afford great "seeing", looking at the heavens reminds me just how small and insignificant I/we are. The beauty to be found there never fails to amaze me.

I also enjoy handloading and target shooting with centerfire and rimfire rifles and pistols. I've long since finished with custom cutlery and things horological In decades past I had my own color darkroom. These days I'm content with a pocketable point n shoot digital camera.

--Bob

 

Ouch! You say "was" so no doubt its long gone. I got the RV6 by driving 5 hours to Denver and paying $250 for it and an ATM 6" complete OTA which employs an excellent A. Jaegers super parabola mirror. That one needs rings to mount on an old EQ mount I have. The thoughts were to have that available for neighborhood kids who want a "peak." Alas finding suitable rings has been a pain and I'm not that handy at DIY. I have seen guys make wooden ones for tubes like this. Heck if you were close enough I'd give you that OTA so you'd have something decent to play with

--Bob

 

I could ask my friend where the scope is now - I still see him from time to time.

My second scope was a homemade 4" (not built by me - it was a coworkker of my father's), so I can somewhat relate.

I've been considering a large-aperture Dobsonian, but I've never used anything other than a good EQ mount. I learned quickly that size does matter, though transportability goes down fast, too. Of course, things have probably changed a lot since I last looked, and will probably change again before I'm ready to buy.

JonasM

 

Jonas,

The reason I selected the MN56 6 years or so ago was that I considered it an optimum trade off between aperture and portability. Plus the outstanding optics made it the bang for buck on the market. I started with an EQ3 mount which was a bit of a stretch and then upgraded to the great SynScan EQ6. But since then I've suffered a heart attack which makes the heavy (80+ lbs) EQ6 a bit of a chore to haul out and set up. The lighter RV6 is much easier but the views in the MN56 are still tops.

When you get ready do be sure and check out the maksutov-newts. I think they offer a lot of advantages over schmidt-cassesgrains. Were thing different I'd have a MN76 no question Big dobs are fun too but they have their limitations. Lots of folks get huge light cannons but then find that set ups are a pain. And many of the big guns require a ladder to get to the eyepiece.... not my cuppa! Great APO refractors can be had but duck when you see the prices for >4 inchers.

--Bob

 

I often wondered what people did in SD, now I know.