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Astronomy StuffI became interested in amateur astronomy in mid-2004. This is some of the equipment I use. This is my primary observing telescope. It's a 5" (127mm) f/9 achromatic refractor mounted on the LXD55 mount - a computer controlled german equatorial design. It produces nice, contrasty images that are relatively bright. The highest theoretical magnification is supposed to be 250x, but I've pulled 305x with almost no degredation (it was just out of sharp focus). Meade makes a good scope. :) I'm quite happy with the telescope, but the tripod leaves something to be desired. It's a lightweight aluminum tripod that seems somewhat flimsy to be putting so much weight on. My AR-5 is fairly light - I can't imagine what it'd be like with one of the larger scopes in the LXD55 line. I plan on either buying or building a replacement wooden tripod to reduce vibration and damping time, and eventually it'll be pier mounted which should all but eliminate the eeeeevil vibrations. Since my apartment isn't conducive to astronomical observation, I have to transport my equipment every time I want to use it. At first, I was using the box that the telescope was packed in but that was quite cumbersome and I knew that it wouldn't hold up for long term use. I started looking for an inexpensive solution and came across this page over at LXD55.com. It's a great solution for transporting the OTA, but I was left without a solution for transporting the mount. I posed a question about my problem on the LXD55 Yahoo! group and was given the perfect solution. There's a pistol case sold at Wal-Mart for $8 that includes padding and is just the right size for the LXD55 mount. Problem solved. I've also added an electronic focuser from JMI. Finding focus now only takes a few seconds, instead of a minute or two! And it does it without the frustration of having to wait for the vibrations to settle after making an adjustment. The JMI focusers seem a little on the expensive side, but I was convinced of its value after my first time using it. This was the first telescope I bought, before I knew anything about astronomy. I got an itch after watching Stephen Hawking's Universe and started looking for a good deal on a scope after doing a little research on the different designs. The DS-2114 is a 4.5" (114mm) f/8.8 newtonian reflector. They managed the 1000mm focal length in a scope half the length by installing a 2x barlow (they call it a relay lens, but it's actually a barlow) in the bottom of the focuser. Being a reflector, the images aren't quite as contrasty as those of the AR-5 due to the obstruction of the light path by the secondary mirror. The DS series is also computer controlled, with a single fork alt/az mount. The Autostar they include is the 494 model, which is the bottom-of-the-line Autostar. It's firmware isn't upgradable, although you can add things like asteroids and comets. Unfortunately, the cable required to hook it up to a PC can't be made as it has some electronics built into it, so I had to shell out the forty bucks for it. Like the AR-5, the included tripod leaves a lot to be desired. It's pretty unstable but it does the trick. Since this is a starter scope that I got for a low price, it's not too surprising that some of the components aren't of the highest quality. Meade 4504 I bought my 4504 OTA (optical tube assembly) as a replacement for the 2114 tube. It's the same diameter as the 2114, so I can use it in the DS mount. It doesn't have the built in barlow and the tube is twice as long, so it has roughly the same specs. While it works great with the DS mount, I'm thinking about building a dobsonian mount for it. More on that if/when I do... Accessories Eyepieces
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