Post by Steven C on Jan 14, 2015 19:40:29 GMT -5
It holds 4 eyepieces and acts as a diagonal (prism).
I really like the contrast that this gives me with my OTA's. All I have at present are Schmidt-Cassegrains or a Schmidt-Newtonian. One day, I will acquire a really nice refractor especially since the C11 is kind of like a boat out of water here in SW Florida light polluted skies. Nearest really dark skies are near the Georgia-Florida border in the Apalachicola National Forest. The Winter Star Party is locally dark but still suffers from significant light pollution from Key West, et al.
I moved here from the middle of the U.S.A. There were a few really exceptional public locations in Missouri that offered a Bortle Class 1 experiences and living in the Saint Louis metropolitan area, I visited them often! I also enjoyed traveling to the Texas Star Party on the "Rude and Crude Prude" ( (it was much darker in the early '90's compared to 2009 on my last visit), the Okie-Tex Star Party (Camp Billy Joe and it was much darker before 2009 as well) and to Rocky Mountain Star Stare (Colorado). In the '90's, I used to travel to the top of a clear cut mountain in Colorado in the Red Feather Lakes Region - That was DARK. In the 2000's, I made several trips with telescope(s) to Chile north of Santiago in the Atacama and to Australia and Western China and those places were exceptionally dark. In the Atacama, the Milky Way caused me to cast an ephemeral shadow and the Gegenschein and Zodiacal Light were truly annoying. In 1993, I traveled to the top of Dolly Sods in West Virginai on a wet and rainy night (but Dolly Sods was above the overcast!) and photographed dozens of bolides during the peak of the Perseids. A pervasive weather system socked almost all of the North East and East Coast with steady rains but Dolly Sods was above the clouds and COLD and AMAZINGLY CLEAR. I no longer have the will to travel to those dark skies or star parties. TSP would be 3+ days of hard driving and Okie-Tex would be 4+ days of hard driving (From Saint Louis, both were only 2-2.5 days of steady driving). Seeing is often unfavorable and this year's dry season has been very wet and cloudy indeed. 4 years ago, I had a wife, companion and friend to help with the drive and the setting up and taking down of the campsite (we did a lot of tent camping). Now that I am solo, I just don't have the stamina and budget to afford such long trips to dark skies and have the energy left over to enjoy the destination. I would love to find a new companion to make those trips again. I have attended major star parties regularly from the mid '80's until 2010.
In some ways, my move to South West Florida was great (a warm climate year round) but as astronomy goes, not so much! These days I mostly look at the sun, planets, the moon and the brighter objects in the sky. It is wonderful to step outside in the middle of the night in shirt sleeves and see Orion in all it's splendor (even if washed out by light pollution). I don't miss the below freezing and sub-zero nights. I am lucky that I live in a neighborhood without street lights!! It is locally dark but the skies are still washed out with light pollution.
I would appreciate any comments or comparisons with other turret style ocular holders!
I really like the contrast that this gives me with my OTA's. All I have at present are Schmidt-Cassegrains or a Schmidt-Newtonian. One day, I will acquire a really nice refractor especially since the C11 is kind of like a boat out of water here in SW Florida light polluted skies. Nearest really dark skies are near the Georgia-Florida border in the Apalachicola National Forest. The Winter Star Party is locally dark but still suffers from significant light pollution from Key West, et al.
I moved here from the middle of the U.S.A. There were a few really exceptional public locations in Missouri that offered a Bortle Class 1 experiences and living in the Saint Louis metropolitan area, I visited them often! I also enjoyed traveling to the Texas Star Party on the "Rude and Crude Prude" ( (it was much darker in the early '90's compared to 2009 on my last visit), the Okie-Tex Star Party (Camp Billy Joe and it was much darker before 2009 as well) and to Rocky Mountain Star Stare (Colorado). In the '90's, I used to travel to the top of a clear cut mountain in Colorado in the Red Feather Lakes Region - That was DARK. In the 2000's, I made several trips with telescope(s) to Chile north of Santiago in the Atacama and to Australia and Western China and those places were exceptionally dark. In the Atacama, the Milky Way caused me to cast an ephemeral shadow and the Gegenschein and Zodiacal Light were truly annoying. In 1993, I traveled to the top of Dolly Sods in West Virginai on a wet and rainy night (but Dolly Sods was above the overcast!) and photographed dozens of bolides during the peak of the Perseids. A pervasive weather system socked almost all of the North East and East Coast with steady rains but Dolly Sods was above the clouds and COLD and AMAZINGLY CLEAR. I no longer have the will to travel to those dark skies or star parties. TSP would be 3+ days of hard driving and Okie-Tex would be 4+ days of hard driving (From Saint Louis, both were only 2-2.5 days of steady driving). Seeing is often unfavorable and this year's dry season has been very wet and cloudy indeed. 4 years ago, I had a wife, companion and friend to help with the drive and the setting up and taking down of the campsite (we did a lot of tent camping). Now that I am solo, I just don't have the stamina and budget to afford such long trips to dark skies and have the energy left over to enjoy the destination. I would love to find a new companion to make those trips again. I have attended major star parties regularly from the mid '80's until 2010.
In some ways, my move to South West Florida was great (a warm climate year round) but as astronomy goes, not so much! These days I mostly look at the sun, planets, the moon and the brighter objects in the sky. It is wonderful to step outside in the middle of the night in shirt sleeves and see Orion in all it's splendor (even if washed out by light pollution). I don't miss the below freezing and sub-zero nights. I am lucky that I live in a neighborhood without street lights!! It is locally dark but the skies are still washed out with light pollution.
I would appreciate any comments or comparisons with other turret style ocular holders!