Stellarvue 80mm Achromatic Refractors

Stellarvue 80mm Achromatic Refractors

I own two achromatic Stellarvue telescopes, the 80/9D and the Nighthawk that I use for visual observation. Both have 80mm diameter doublet objective lenses, with the former having a focal length of 750mm (f/9.4) and the latter 480mm (f/6). I bought these telescopes as a complement to my first telescope, a Celestron 8 inch (f/5) reflector. The Celestron is a respectable moderate-aperture telescope suitable for observing rather dim and diffuse deep-sky objects, especially at dark sky sites or when you have plenty of time for set-up/tear-down and to let the temperature of the optical tube assembly reach equilibrium with the surroundings to achieve decent views.

Siebert 1.3X Optical Corrector

The Coronado Personal Solar Telescope (PST) is a wonderful way to look at the sun in Hydrogen-alpha, and has produced a legion of new “solar addicts” in the short time since its release. One of the limitations of this scope compared to Coronado’s higher end products was its inability to come to focus with binoviewers, even with fairly significant Barlowing.

RAYOVAC Sportsman 3-in-1 Head-Lite

Not too often do we come across a very inexpensive piece of equipment that can make such a difference in the way we go about this wonderful hobby of ours. One of my least favorite aspects of the hobby is the drudgery of packing everything after an evening of stargazing. This is especially so during the months of January and February where it seems that Crockett Park is the coldest spot on earth.

Orion XT10

started looking for a new telescope to replace an ancient 4 ¼ Newtonian with an equatorial mount. My eyes drifted to those numerous wonderful goto scopes. But then I thought about how often I would be doing any photography. I also needed a telescope that was readily portable, fairly easy on a bad back and fit in a typical size car.

AP/Baader Binoviewer

I have the AP/Baader binoviewer (bv). Brought it from Company 7 last fall. Binoviewers are fun and are great for observing planets, the moon, and brighter OCs. There is a neat 3-D effect on OCs and brighter nebulas such as M41. I have used it in all 3 of my current scopes: the AP 130, 9.25″ SCT, and
TV-85.