Fred Ley

Hello Everybody, I started a page that dipicts friends of mine that are in the field of astronomy. I have posted some photographs of them and their work. You may view the page at http://www.instrumentsoflight.com/athens1 The site will be updated on occasion. Clear Skies, -Fred

Hello List, In 1995 I visited a store in order to get price quotes on tubes that appeared to be suitable for use to hold the optics for a Dobsonian telescope. The name of the tube is "Tubeotec", at least phonetically. In industry, these tubes are used vertically to pour concrete into for building applications. This is similar to the "Sonotubes" many people use here. Has anyone had any experience using this tube? Somehow, I never got around to personally inspecting one of these tubes to examine their sutiability for telescope application. The place that I visited was Xpysanthi Dhm. Kontogeopgh, Leoforos Dhmokpatias 61, Melissia. The phone number that I have, on their business card from 1995, is 803-3410. Their business card says... Eisagoges-Polhseis-Enoikiaseis Oikodomikon Epgaleion. I am certain that there other dealers for the tubes scattered around. The tubes came in 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40cm diameters. The tubes come in 118" (3 meter) lengths. In closing, if anyone has any experience with these tubes I would be interested in finding out how well suited they are for a telescope and how heavy they are. Clear skies, -Fred www.instrumentsoflight.com

Hi Niko, Yes, Fred is my name and I have been active in astronomy for 389 months and counting. I started back in September 1970 in Athens. I remeber the Mars opposition in August of 1971. Using my 2.4" (60mm) Polarex refractor, I had wonderful views of Mars due to its large disk size. We also had a total eclipse of the Moon that month which was visable from Athens. Astronomy certainly is a dynamic and everchanging field. Clear Skies, -Fred www.instrumentsoflight.com

Hi Aenaon, I just read the postings in reply to your questions. The main question that I have concerns the prices that you quoted for the two telescopes. An LXD55 8-inch for €1,624.00 and a Meade ETX125 5-inch for €1,599.00. I dropped over to the Anacortes web site to see what they are selling the models for and the LXD55 8-inch with UHTC coatings is going for $964.00 and the Meade ETX-125EC with UHTC coating is going for $990.00. I am aware that prices in Europe are high, but that high? And, yes, there are other quality telescopes on the market. But, as you know, one has to pick the correct tool for the job that you want to do. If you spend a little time and gather inforation prior to making a purchase, it will be a positive outcome in the long run. The sum of €2,000.00 is a respectable amount to invest in a telescope. Ask a lot of questions before buying a telecope. I have seen a person get bit by the "I can't wait to buy a telescope bug", and he ran out and bought what the people in the store told him to buy. He ended up spending $1,500.00 for a cheap 8-inch equatorially mounted newtonian, and that was back in the mid 1980's. Many people ask local astronomy club members what is a good telescope to buy. It is also a good idea to go to a star party and meet the owners of different telescopes and ask them questions about their telescopes and look throught them too. I don't know if there is a local astronomy club near you or if you can find a member(s) on Astrovox that are near you to meet with. If I was in Athens I would love to be able to meet with you and help you out. Aenaon, I hope that I have been of some help in your search for a good instrument. I was in your city, Kalamata, in April of 1999 and stayed at the Hotel Plaza at 117 Navarinou Street. I was driving around the Peloponnese and liked the area, even drove down to Areopolis in the morning with beautiful scenery along the coast. Clear Skies, -Fred

Hi RaQua, This sounds like a very nice event to visit. The photographs that he has taken in Australia are excellent. Maybe someone will take some ditigal photos at the exhibit and post them on the web. Clear Skies, -Fred

Hi Aristarchus, I find that the split-screen is wonderful for large objects that lurk in our solar system. The problem is attempting to focus on those dim fuzzies. That is where I prefer the flat screen on the OM1. It is the same as looking through an eyepiece, so that when I focus the image looking through the camera-telescope system, I know the image will be in focus. I need a manual camera for those one-hour exposures. I have had my camera on Mt. Parnis, near Delphi, have its shutter close on me when it was very cold as I was taking a guided wide field shot of the night sky. If you go to EBAY www.ebay.com and under Basic Search type in "canon finder" you will see that there are currently some Canon angle finders available for sale. Some are currently around the $40.00 range. I also like my A-1 because I can also place it on full auto mode which is nice. Yes, by all means, the multiple exposure aspect of the A-1 is great. You can place a images of a planet on one frame. Clear Skies, -Fred

Hi Pantousis, Don't forget to make certain that the camera does not require power from the battery in order to keep the shutter open for prolonged periods of time. It is fine for short exposure photography such as lunar, solar (WITH THE PROPER FILTERS), and planetary photography. The batteries are expensive and do not retain their charge as long in cold weather as in warm weather. My Olympus OM1 and Canon Ftb do not need batteries in order to keep the shutter open. My Canon A1 and AT1 do require the battery to power the shutter. I like the OM1 as it has allowed me to change the focusing screen with a flat screen (a simple procedure). The flat screen makes it so much easier to look through and focus, and it give one the same appearance as looking through an eyepiece. I also use the Olympus right-angle finder. Hope this info helps you out in selecting a camera. Yasas. Clear Skies, -Fred

Hi Sergios, I understand that you want a compact telescope-ok. I guess that the next step is, do you want a compact system in aperture and/or tube length? If, for example, you want a 10-inch Dobsonian f/4.5 system at a 45-inch (1,143mm) focal length, it would allow you to see a lot of deep sky objects from a dark sky site. Of course one needs to take into account what size instrument one's vehicle can accommodate. Also, if you live in an apartment, will it fit in your elevator? If you buy a 8-inch f/10 Schmidt Cassegrain, with a 2000mm focal length, it will allow you to see the Moon, planets, double stars, variable stars and Deep Sky Objects. But then again you are talking about 8-inches of aperture. Naturally with an 8-inch SC you have the ability to track objects, take planetary and deep sky photographs, observe the Sun (WITH THE PROPER APPROVED FILTERS) and add a lot of accessories to the telescope. Mind you, as you know, that accessories can transfer to a bigger telescope in the future, should you decide to get something bigger. The 8-inch SC has a wide popularity world wide due to its compactness and aperture size. The Dobsonian offers one a big mirror without the equatorial mount and clock drive capacity at a cheaper cost. But then, when you are hunting those dim fuzzies, you will be glad that you have the extra aperture. I guess the bottom line is if you want to dedicate yourself to deep sky objects exclusively, it can be done with both types, but I guess that you will have to weight the merits of each system before you make a purchase. Get a few other opinions too, the more information that you have, the better prepared you should be. Oh, yes, don't forget to take the weight of the telescope into condsideration too. If the telescope weighs to much it may not get as much use as a smaller telescope. Let me stop here before I end up writing a novel. I hope my different thoughts have been of more help to you than to confuse you. If I can be of any further help, let me know. Clear Skies -Fred

Hi Sergios, As Aristarchus stated, with an 80mm short focus refractor you will be confined to the brighter extended objects, basically the "M" Messier objects. If you have a real interest in the dim fuzzies, you will neeed to get a light bucket commonly known as a Dobsonian. It will, obviously, give you a brighter image and better resolution. You may want to look through different telescopes at a dark sky star party and make notes of the different types of views through the telescopes. I hope that you read English, if I attempted to write this in Greek, nobody would understand what I wrote. Clear Skies, -Fred

Hi Antonis, OK, here is the info. The stuff is called "Instapak Packaging Foam" their web site is at www.sealdair.com and the telphone number in Hellas is 30-2620-32551. Clear Skies, -Fred

Hello Antonis, Off-hand I am not familiar with a place that sells diced foam. I do know that Pelican, located nearby in Torrance sells excellent cases and you can buy the foam inserts separately. Their web site is www.pelican.com and they have a dealer for the EEC located in Spain. Also the Maison Astronomie in France sells cases, they are at www.maison-astronomie.com. The cases they sell are for commercial made telescopes. I do not know if that is exactly what you are looking for. I do not know how much success you have had looking in the Athens area for diced foam. Praktiker might have it, or they can order it for you. Don't forget that many times companies will usually order items that they can sell quickly, but they do have access to a much larger stock of items. As a last resort you could buy the amount of foam, as a solid block, that you need to fit your case. If you need more than one piece you could glue the pieces together and then cut them with a razor blade (do be careful at this point). I know that using the diced foam is a lot easier in the long run, but if you are putting together a case for an OTA the solid foam may work out too. Oh yes, there is a company that makes a form fitting foam and I believe that they have an office in Greece. I can't locate the bookmark off hand, but will get the information to you when I find it. With this foam you simply take the box that one has made and fill it with the foam and then place the object in the box and it will displace the foam and one ends up with a nice tight fit. What size instrument are you looking at making a case for? Clear Skies, -Fred

Hello Timepasser, As Yiannis made mention of having a good chart showing the Polar region, if you need one, I could send you one by e-mail. It is from the AAVSO atlas of variable stars and does show quite a few stars in the Polar area. Let me know if you need it. You can drop me a note at fnley@qnet.com Clear Skies, -Fred

Hello Pantousis, I am not aware of any sites in Hellas that are dedicated to the construction of telescopes. Did you have any specific questions that you need answered? I can read Greek, but I can not write it-well, maybe at a child's level. So, feel free to write back in Greek. I will attempt to help you the best I can. The only telescope that I built in Greece was a 6-inch f/10 Dobsonian. I purchased a black plastic tube, particle board, teflon, springs, screws, paint, and nuts and bolts locally and assembled the telescope. A friend of mine in Athens recently assembled a truss tube Dobsonian using a commercially bought 16-inch mirror. It looks nice. If you are contemplating a Dobsonian telescope, I could ask him if he would be willing to assist you with your questions. Let me know. Clear Skies, -Fred

Hello Pantousis, Let me add to the discussion, if I may. Do not forget to take into account the atmospheric seeing conditions at the time the you are observing. If the seeing is bad, even the lowest power eyepiece will be of no help. Many times one has to be patient and wait for moments of good seeing at the eyepiece when everything snaps into focus. The steadiness of the atmosphere at the time of observing dictates how much magnification we can comfortably use. Also, as you know, check your collimation from time to time and remember if you take a telescope out of a warm room into the cold air of the night, the glass needs some time to adjust to the temperature difference. When observing Jupiter, my favorite filter is the medium blue filter. Of course that is my humble opinion. Oh yes, remember that Jupiter has no sharp "edge" to it like the Moon does. I always focus on the moons of Jupiter instead of the gas giant itself-makes life a little easier for me. I hope that I have been able to help you a bit. Clear Skies. -Fred

Hello, Perhaps a camera body can be purchased from a member EEC nation at a good price. As I understand it, there is no taxation on goods that pass between EEC member nations. Correct me if I am wrong. Just trying to help out with a solution. Clear Skies, Fred

Yes, it is a big tragedy. I used to watch it when it landed at Edwards AFB, on the West Coast. I have a nice North view from my house and can see it coming in for a landing from the front door. It came by to the North of me yesterday morning, a friend of mine video taped it as it passed by. My apologies for the English, ta Ellinika mou den eivai polu kala. Clear Skies, -Fred

Hi Nakis, I tried to take a prime focus image of the Moon with a 16-inch Meade Dobsonian and was unable to achieve focus. So I would have to conclude that the same situation exists for all of the Dobsonians. But, the Meade equatorial mounted Newtonians can be used for photography, from what I have been told, as I never got around to personally check it out. I guess that the logic is that the Dobsonian is simply for looking and that the equatorial, by having a drive on it, is inclined towards astrophotography and looking. One would conclude that some people would like to start out with a less expensive mount for a telescope and perhaps at a later date upgrade to an equatorial. The only remedy for this is to replace the focuser that comes with the scope with a low profile focuser. If you decide to replace the focuser, there are various types of low profile focusers on the market, from inexpensive to expensive. I hope that this has been more of a help than a confusion. Clear skies, -Fred

Hello Astrokt, The ETX90 is a very nice telescope. The first time that I looked through one, it was through an office window at Meade on a hot day at some hangars and I was amazed that although the image was "boiling" due to the heat of the day, the image focused sharply. As you know, depending on what you intend to do with a telescope, aperture does play an important role in light grasp and resolution. Of course we have to always deal with how stady the air above us is. Perhaps you might purchase an optical tube assembly to start with, provided that you have a mount that will accept it. Of course, buying anything at one component at a time makes it a lot more expensive in the long run. If you buy a Meade 6-inch Dobsonian, I need to point out that, unless the specifications have changed, you can't use it to take prime focus photographs. You would need to use a low profile focuser on the tube. I apologize that this posting is in English, as I don't know how to write in Greek-if I did I would probably get into trouble. I can speak the language though. Elpizo oti auto to stagona plhroforia borei na sou bohthisi kapos. Clear Skies. -Fred www.instrumentsoflight.com (photos of telescopes)

Kosmos, I came across some information on Celestron's web site about the NexStar Plossl Eypieces 1-1/4". They make mention of a recent review in Sky & Telescope, that, unfortunatly I have not read. The only other point that is of interest is that the top of the eyepiece is "white" in color and not black. It would appear to be a bother to look throught the eyepiece with that "white" ring on the top of the eyepiece. But, it ultimately depends on the viewer if the "white" ring is a bother. Stay away from .965" eyepieces, they usually have a narrow apparant field of view. Hope this has been of help. -Fred http://www.celestron.com/access/eyep.htm NexStar Plössl Eyepieces: 1-1/4" In a recent Sky and Telescope review, Celestron's Plossl eyepieces were rated as top ranking, and found to outperform many similar, but more expensive eyepieces. An exceptional value! Celestron offers these premium eyepieces at affordable prices, yet they're among the best designed and corrected eyepieces available. They’re multicoated for enhanced contrast and all of the 1-1/4" models are threaded to accept Celestron colored eyepiece filters. NexStar Plössl Series 1-1/4" Focal Length Item # 1-1/4" Eye Relief Apparent Field 3.6mm 93307 6mm 40° 6.0mm 93308 5mm 52° 8.0mm 93309 5mm 52° 10.0mm 93310 7mm 52° 13.0mm 93311 8mm 52° 17.0mm 93312 13mm 52° 25.0mm 93313 22mm 50° 32.0mm 93314 22mm 52° 40.0mm 93315 31mm 46° [ 30 Δεκεμβρίου 2002: Το μήνυμα τροποποιήθηκε από: Fred ] [ 30 Δεκεμβρίου 2002: Το μήνυμα τροποποιήθηκε από: Fred ]

Yiannis, You may also want to go to a star party and speak with telescope owners about their instruments. They can tell you strong and weak points about their instrument. Other points to look for are... 1. Can I afford it. 2. Will it fit in a car, if you want to take it out. 3. Can I pick it up? Don't laugh, if it is to heavy, you may not use it as often as you would like to. 4. Should I buy a new or used instrument? These are some of the questions that you may want to address when thinking about making a purchase. Hope this is of some use. Clear Skies, Fred

Hi Yiannis, I enjoyed looking at your image of the crater Fracastorius. The Moon certainly has a wealth of detail to show an observer when the angle of the Sun is low on the lunar horizon, and at various other altitudes in reference to the lunar surface too. My favorite has always been the small craters in the crater Plato. They are a bit of a challenge. The other neat thing is that the shadows on the lunar surface are reversed after the Moon passes full phase. Of course this means getting up late at night or early in the morning. I enjoyed your web site too. Clear Skies, Fred

Hi Grigoris, The display here was not a very good one. Quick and bright meteors were seen near the North horizon and a few bright ones in the West, about 40 degrees above the horizon. There were a few overheads ones too. I guess the Kalamata and Sparta area was a good place to be as you described. I set up a camera with a 24mm lens and stopped the lens down. I took a few short exposures since the Moon was out. Oh well, at least the coyotes were howling and the dogs in area all started barking. I am in the High desert here in Southern California. Clear Skies, Fred

It is 0205, Tuesday, did see a bright meteor near the North horizon. Should expect things to pick up here.

It is 2010 hours here in Southern California. I have a few more hours of waiting to see, I hope, a good Leonid performance. Our projected time is between 0200-0400 hours. Did any of you get to see a good performance in Hellas? I am at 34.6713N and 117.8242W and 2,600 feet (792 meters) in elevation. Clear Skies, Fred Ley

Hi Yiannis, I just read your posting. I too use a scanner to scan my slides and negatives. The scanner I have is a Polaroid Sprint Scan 35/LE. It offers a resolution of 72-1950 dpi (optical) and 72-3900 (interpolated). It has a few other features that also help out. Over the years I too have had the experience of the film developers cutting up my astrophotography negatives. I know of two persons in the Athens area that also do quite a bit of astrophotography. One is Dimiti Kolovos at 248-0807 and the person is George Nikolidakis at 613-4935. It just dawned on me that I am not aware if you read English, if so my apologies. My writing of Greek is rather poor. Clear Skies, Fred Ley www.instrumentsoflight.com