Celestial poorhouse...just SHOOT ME!!!
Observing notes and comments from Thursday, January 26, 1996
Why, oh why, do astronomy/telescope items cost so much???...and why, oh why, do I feel the NEED to buy them???!!!
I'm buying the Lumicon UHC filter. I've heard nothing but good stuff about this filter, and since my backyard has moderate light pollution, I decided that I NEEDED that filter. Of course, later on I'll find that I NEED the O-III filter and any other ones they have. I'm also wanting to get a basic set of color filters. I looked at Mars last spring through a guy's refractor with a color filter and it really did make a difference. It brought out a polar cap really nice. But for now, the UHC filter is going to have to do....until you read the next paragraph!!!.....
In a moment of complete insanity, I bought a Meade 10" Equatorial Reflector last night (Thursday)!!! No, not a brand spanking new one, but a used one that a guy was selling about 60 miles from my house. It's about 3 years old and it has a little wear. There are some scuffs, some stripped screws, and few holes drilled all over it (from where he had a guide scope). But, overall, it's in good shape. The mirror seems to perform nicely. In testing the scope, we looked at the Little Dumbbell (first for me), M35, M45, M42, Castor, and the double cluster in Perseus. Now I have a 10" lightbucket (f/4.5). Oh, and by the way, he showed me a couple of pictures he had taken with the scope of globular clusters.....pretty nice!
I guess I better put my money (what's left of it) where my mouth is and start planning a Dobsonian mount for it (like I always suggest for other owners). I also want to get a power inverter so I can operate it from DC power, but that can wait a while.
I was really hoping to use it tonight but now the skies are all cloudy and the forecast is for rain (after such a clear night last night). Anyway, I thought I would inform you of the "new additions" to my family, and to ask you to please, please, just shoot me before I buy again!!!
Jeff Polston