[Leica] Santa came!! Meade ETX-70

[shino at panix.com (Rei Shinozuka)]

looks like a nice site.

i bought an ETX70 in the summer for my son's 8 year old birthday
since someone knowledable about such things deemed the ETX
amenable to astromorons such as myself.  if you can 
locate one or two stars, the computer can find all the others.
in a fit of towering overambition, i also acquired the requisite 
t-adapters and such for astrophotography.

of course, i embarrassed myself in front of my kids by
failing to locate a single star, fumbling in the dark over 
a starfinder wheel.  by the time i developed a hypothesis of
where a star might be, i'd have
to rotate the wheel up another hour.  it also did not help 
that despite living in the same house for 25 years, i had
no strong sense of which direction was north.

if the moon were out, i would probably have failed to find it.  i
was so depressed, i set up the thing to point out the window
for my son to spy on the neighbors.  this spring i will summon
up the courage to try celestial adventuring again.  

-rei


On Dec27 09:50, Mark wrote:
> Everything you need to know about the ETX line of telescopes is here
> 
> http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html
> 
> A lot of good info about how to use the ETX for photography.
> 
> Mark
> 
> On Dec 26, 2005, at 5:34 PM, Don Dory wrote:
> 
> >Douglas,
> >Because the camera is hanging way out the back, you will also need  
> >to use a
> >mirror lock up or self-timer to keep the shake down.  You have the
> >equivalent of an 1100mm lens or so; you will want the highest possible
> >shutter speed and the steadiest support you can drum up.  Manfrotto/ 
> >Bogen
> >used to and may still sell a long lens support that I have found to be
> >pretty useful when the focal length gets over 600mm.
> >
> >Enjoy the view.
> >
> >Don
> >don.dory@gmail.com
> >
> >
> >On 12/26/05, Douglas Sharp <douglas.sharp@gmx.de> wrote:
> >>
> >>Thanks Don,
> >>the aluminium tripod that came with it is like trying to use it on a
> >>stormy sea, I think I'll take alook at Meades field tripod, it  
> >>looks a
> >>lot more stable.
> >>cheers
> >>Douglas
> >>
> >>Don Dory wrote:
> >>
> >>>Douglas,
> >>>Yes, you will find it to be a wonderful lens.  Do however have a  
> >>>very
> >>sturdy
> >>>tripod. :)
> >>>
> >>>Don
> >>>don.dory@gmail.com
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>On 12/26/05, Douglas Sharp <douglas.sharp@gmx.de> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>Santa dropped off here too - has anyone ever used a Meade ETX-70
> >>>>telescope for photography (terrestrial or astronomic)?
> >>>>Douglas
> >>>>

-- 
Rei Shinozuka shino@panix.com
Ridgewood, New Jersey