ngc4565

Hey Fred, For many years I have wondered the same thing. Always had fun explaining it to my fellow collegues. I have noticed however that Greek Easter always falls one week after (Jewish) Passover.

- Felicitations στον κύριο Ηλιόπουλο !!

Φιλε konpan, Σ'ευχαριστώ για τα ευγενικά σου λόγια. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι εδώ στον Καναδά (και Αμερική) δεν είναι τόσο ακριβα όσο στην Ελλάδα και την Ευρώπη γενικά - Μερικές φορές κοιτάζω (browse) Internet sites στην Ευρώπη και δεν μπορώ να πιστεψω τις τιμές - Συνήθως περίπου 5 ή 6 προσοφθάλμια (+ Barlow) είναι αρκετά. Εξαρτάται από το τηλεσκόπιο και εάν είναι Public Starparty ή έξοδος με φίλους.

Παναγιώτη, κοιτα αυτό. http://www.astromart.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=455 Online JMI Catalog: http://www.jimsmobile.com/buy_focuser_acc.htm

- Here is a link of a fellow who owns 3 Classic Unitrons. Some of these images are quite interesting, there is one that clearly shows the weight drive setup on a pier. http://www.vintagejukes.com/thestars/unitrontelescopes.html Enjoy!!

Found this in my Archives .... Looks Familiar? No Electricity required.

Καλορίζικο Δημήτρη - Από αυτα που έχω διαβάσει είναι καλή επιλογή. http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1667 http://excelsis.com/1.0/entryvotes.php?sectionid=12&entryid=186 http://www.astromag.co.uk/pdfs/omc-140.pdf

Fred, The Unitron Rotary eyepiece holders were way ahead of their time. I remember drooling over the catalogs of the 3in Unitron when I was much younger and could not afford it. The only thing was that these were setup for .965 eyepiece formats which were the standard back then and I believe they had one slot allocated for a 1.25" ... nevertheless they were (and are) extremely well made and sough after. Fred hold on to that scope!! Wonder why we have not seen any Chinese spinoffs of this wondeful Rotary design. Here are some more images of different Classic long FL Refractors Enjoy!! Classic 5inch Alvan Clark Refractor - This fellow did an amazing job restoring this Refractor - it probably looks nicer than when it was new!! Another nice example of a classic Restored Refractor Here our friend has an older brass classic 3in refractor with a Herschel Wedge.

A few years later in 1976 I found and bought a used 77mm Swift model 831 EQ Refractor from 1963 - This has a fl of 1000mm which makes it f/13 - color correction is very good and it has a Japanese lens. It is actually a 79mm lens but has an effective diameter of 77mm. Needless to say I was a happy camper !! This telescope is well used - In 1978 I even brought it to Greece one summer while I was there on vacation. I still have this Swift 77mm telescope and as it turns out these Telescopes are also quite rare. See the article at the following link: http://www.rca-omsi.org/news/gazette06/2006_07.pdf Swift 77mm f/13 Model 831 Refractor -

Hey Fred, Unitron Telescopes were perhaps the pinnacle of perfection in their days. For many Unitron set the Standard while others followed. Your POLAREX 60mm from 1971 is actually a collectors item. The fact that you have added all the accessories actually make it unique. Congrats!! I have seen and used a 3in Unitron and they are indeed extremely well built telescopes. My first scope when I was 12 years old was a Towa Refractor. This scope had a 60mm Objective with a 900mm (f/15) see image below: Towa 60mm f15 Refractor - my first telescope !!

- Here is an image of my Tasco 76.2mm 10TE Refractor - This telescope is a 3in f/15.7 classic long FL refractor which was sold as the Tasco 10TE Planetary Refractor in the mid 1960' and early 70's. I also have a 6in F/12 doublet Brass Refractor which was manufactured in Britain in the 1950's I will have to take an image of the 6in f/12 and upload it for this group. Enjoy!! Tasco 10TE Planetary Refractor This is a 76.2mm f/15.7 from 1966 -

Hey Fred, Thats a really nice Cave 6in f/15 that you have. Where do you presently have this telescope setup? Personally for these classic long fl Refractors I think the pier is much better (and sturdier) than the field tripod - Well done!!

Φιλε Παναγιώτη ναι δικά μου .. Αυτα τα προσοφθάλμια είναι τα 1.25" Star Party Collection. Μετά από τόσα χρονια έχω συλλέξει τη σειρά Televue + Celestron Ultima Plossls. Υπάρχουν επίσης μερικά Brandon και διαφορετικά παλαιά series 4000 της Meade (Japan). Έχω και την γραμμή Celestron "volcano top" Kellner - (Japan). Έιναι και μερικά παλαιά Brass προσοφθάλμια από την (early) δεκαετία του '60 και τη δεκαετία του '70 - Αυτα προσφέρουν excellent εικόνες στα "long" fl τηλεσκόπια - Για πολλα έκανα ανταλλαγή - μερικά τ'αγόρασα - Ανάλογα το τηλεσκόπιο θα επιλέξω και τα κατάλληλα προσοφθάλμια to use. -

Για τα μικρότερα και less expensive προσοφθάλμια αυτα τα plastic containers είναι μια καλή λύση. Here are 2 inexpensive containers to keep your eyepieces origanized and dust-free. The whole set can easily be taken to your favorite Observing or Starparty site.

Very interesting topic. As one who has never built an EQ mount but has spoken to numerous people who have - I must say that one of the most important things to remember is that besides having an excellent design (and there are many out there) another MUST is to have a good experienced machinist who CAN execute the work as per specifications. A good design and an experienced machinist are the keys to building an excellent mount. Below is a sample of a 16in telescope and its EQ mount that was built completely from the owner. The construction is comprised mainly of wood and metal - the EQ shafts are steel. This is a HUGE telescope project and setup. The man at the edge of the picture gives you an idea of the scale. - Home made telescope and Equatorial Mount - Very Nice!!

- Συγχαρητήρια και καλή συνέχεια!

Σωστα Φιλε Σπύρο. Εντούτοις ενα μειονέκτημα (at f25) είναι ότι δεν έχουν lower power wide field views. Ένα 4.25" @ f/25 (2700mm fl) και με ένα προσοφθάλμιο 32mm μας δίνει 84x Επίσης το maximum χρησιμο magnification για οποιαδήποτε 4,25" τηλεσκόπιο (καλής ποιότητας) είναι περίπου 200x - 250x ανάλογα με τις ατμοσφαιρικές συνθήκες.

Hi Fred, Good stuff. I checked back and at the Stellafane 2000 convention there was indeed a 8" f-20 Buchroeder Tri-Schiefspiegler on a Dobsonian Mount that was entered in the competition. It was entered by John Biretta, Jeff Hutton & Dick Wessling. This telescope won 3-rd place for mechanical design. http://stellafane.org/post_conv/2000_conv/2000_all_scopes04.html There was another 4.24" F-26 Schiefspeigler on Equatorial Mount presented by William Cheng in the 2004 convention. http://stellafane.org/post_conv/2004_conv/2004_all_scopes02.html I never got to see these telescopes because (they were presented on EVEN years) and this is when we are on vacation in Greece. I am curiously anticipating a Yolos entry sometime soon. - http://www.astrovox.gr/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=5727

Φιλε Ilias, Πολύ ωραιο τηλεσκοπίο του Wes. Hi Fred, Another wonderful Scheifspeigler telescope, thanks for sharing. Παιδιά προσδοκώ για να δω ένα Yolos και ένα Tetra-Schiefspiegler τηλεσκόπιο Fred have you ever seen one of these?