And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
I'm a telescope maker. I've ground mirrors, 6" and 10", built them into telescopes and built the mounts. Then I bought a Celestron 11" (NexStar GPS for you geeks who will remember that). While my 10" homemade scope gave a better image when the skies allowed it, that 11" Celestron was still the most useful and user-friendly scope I ever used. I'm sorry I sold it.
The 5" won't give as detailed an image. That's physics. But I'd bet it's a very good beginner's scope.
Sometimes I stand astounded at the breadth of skills and experience displayed by our readers. So many I'd like to share a beer and BBQ with, and just talk.
My dad had one, pre-computer, and Saturn still looked pretty small. But anybody who hasn't seen Saturn through a telescope needs to put it on their bucket list. Even the moon looks amazing.
I had a cheap 6" ($150) reflector I got for my birthday long ago and even that gave some amazing views. But tracking and trying to keep the object centered isn't easy.
I have both this scope and a Meade 8" LX200GPS. The Meade gives better images (after an hour of alignment and looking up guide star names in Uranometria and waiting 10 minutes for a GPS fix...) but the Celestron with its "find 2 bright objects, doesn't matter which ones they are, and voila, the scope's aligned" makes it by far the most user-friendly scope I own, except for binoculars. I do wish I had a Celestron 11", and skies dark enough to use it. (Somewhere like near the Grand Canyon)
Worth the cost simply for the automatic tracking.
ReplyDeletealways wanted one, now I'm going to get one.
ReplyDeleteI'm a telescope maker. I've ground mirrors, 6" and 10", built them into telescopes and built the mounts. Then I bought a Celestron 11" (NexStar GPS for you geeks who will remember that). While my 10" homemade scope gave a better image when the skies allowed it, that 11" Celestron was still the most useful and user-friendly scope I ever used. I'm sorry I sold it.
ReplyDeleteThe 5" won't give as detailed an image. That's physics. But I'd bet it's a very good beginner's scope.
Thanks for that. MF
DeleteSometimes I stand astounded at the breadth of skills and experience displayed by our readers. So many I'd like to share a beer and BBQ with, and just talk.
DeleteMy dad had one, pre-computer, and Saturn still looked pretty small. But anybody who hasn't seen Saturn through a telescope needs to put it on their bucket list. Even the moon looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteI had a cheap 6" ($150) reflector I got for my birthday long ago and even that gave some amazing views. But tracking and trying to keep the object centered isn't easy.
ReplyDeleteYou'll be amazed how fast the earth turns.
DeleteI have both this scope and a Meade 8" LX200GPS. The Meade gives better images (after an hour of alignment and looking up guide star names in Uranometria and waiting 10 minutes for a GPS fix...) but the Celestron with its "find 2 bright objects, doesn't matter which ones they are, and voila, the scope's aligned" makes it by far the most user-friendly scope I own, except for binoculars. I do wish I had a Celestron 11", and skies dark enough to use it. (Somewhere like near the Grand Canyon)
ReplyDeleteWhoops, mine isn't the Schmidt-Cassegrain, it's the Maksutov.
Delete