December 2003 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: 15x70mm binos
by Chuck Hards 10 Dec '03

10 Dec '03

Big 5 still has them, but the sale is over. Now $119.99 + tax. The ship has sailed. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/

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15x70mm binos
by Chuck Hards 10 Dec '03

10 Dec '03

Heartland America has sold-out of the Barska 15x70mm. Does anyone know if Big 5 is still selling them locally? Thanks C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/

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Fwd: check this out!!!!!
by Chuck Hards 09 Dec '03

09 Dec '03

Glen Warchol found this: http://www.opticsplanet.net/meade-9x63-roof.html The Barskas ARE roof prisms, and the Meade version sells for $130!!! I just ordered another pair of the Barskas at $40, plus I used a $10 coupon. My 10% membership discount effectively offset shipping costs. Hurry, they are going fast. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/

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Barska 9x63mm price drop
by Chuck Hards 08 Dec '03

08 Dec '03

Heartland America's latest catalog has the Barska 9x63mm binos now clearance priced at $39.99 + shipping. Members can invoke additional discounts. Item No. YZ-59924 1-800-229-2901 www.heartlandamerica.com It may have different letters in the online stock number but the digits should be the same. It is on the Clearance Page, limited quantities so order fast. At that price, and assuming you don't get a lemon, I would strongly endorse this binocular IF you aren't up to the 15x70mm, and your pupils can open to 7mm. They do again claim porro prisms in the catalog. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/

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Re: Very inexpensive laser
by Chuck Hards 08 Dec '03

08 Dec '03

It arrived. Cheap, yes, but well worth the $2.75 price. I got 6 of them to justify the $5 shipping charge. Once my wife and daughter saw the interchangable holographic heads, I had one left. (They project your choice of a Christmas tree, I "heart" U, Happy Birthday, or a heart with an arrow through it.) I doubt that you could find just an unmounted laser module for that price. Some of the holograms were mounted backwards in their heads. The reason they are in surplus, no doubt. This will work well as a collimator light source. I ordered 10 more as stocking stuffers and spares. They come with 3 LR-44 batteries, some were leaking in the units I bought and had to be replaced. Its the same battery that my illuminated-reticle eyepieces use, so I had some spares on-hand. As soon as I regain the use of my right hand, I will make a prototype collimator and post the results. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/

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15X70 Binos
by Jim Gibson 08 Dec '03

08 Dec '03

If anyone missed the great sale at Big 5 (it may still be going on) on the 15X70 Barska (a twin of the 15X70 Galileo only in black) for $59.95, the Buyer's Club has the Barska on sale for $69.97. The part number is NX3K-79507. To order call 1-800-458-3006. Before you call, check with Big 5 first to see if there sale is still going on. Jim --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing

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Cassini picture of Saturn
by Patrick Wiggins 08 Dec '03

08 Dec '03

For those who have not seen it already (I mentioned it in News) Cassini just sent back a very nice picture of Saturn. If it's this good now, think how it'll look in a few months. I just hope that during its many orbits around Saturn, Cassini will get far enough away from Saturn to get some nice wide field shots of the planet and rings. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04913 Carpe Noctem! Patrick

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Re: Huygens probe
by Patrick Wiggins 08 Dec '03

08 Dec '03

Chuck Hards chuckhards at yahoo.com wrote: > I've read variously that the Huygens probe was > designed to send data from the surface of Titan for > only one to three minutes. Can this be true? > Patrick, can you shed some light on this? > I'd think that at least an hour would be required to > make sure good data is recovered. As Ken stated in his reply "officially" there will not be much time for science on the surface. However, unofficially I'm hearing folks on the project feel they'll probably get more than a few minutes. Of course, there for a while it looked like we might not get anything. Seems someone forgot that two separating spacecraft will encounter old Mr. Doppler's shift and so did not allow for that in the transmitter or receiver. Happily they seem to have come up with a work around. Let's hope they got it right. And let's also hope that when the orbiter's mission comes to an end and Cassini takes a one way trip into Saturn, all of that nasty nuclear material it's carrying doesn't cause Saturn to go critical and explode.... (hey, that's what folks were telling Art Bell would happen when Galileo hit Jupiter.) :-) Patrick

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Re: Huygens probe
by Chuck Hards 07 Dec '03

07 Dec '03

Done a little surfing. You know, this takes a lot of time on a slow modem, and especially if one doesn't bookmark many sites! Now, I'm all for space travel, but I don't wear a NASA jumpsuit or rubber-stamp my appoval on every press release that comes out of NASA or JPL. As a taxpayer, though, I've got a right to question, even at this late date. Apparently the lander has no camera! It is a ESA craft, only the orbiter section's design and constuction was NASA managed. I had many problems even loading some of the ESA pages, but couldn't find anything on surface imaging. The entire lander science package is geared toward atmospheric measurement. There was one link that didn't work that said something like 'surface science'. Good luck, folks, you've got maybe 180 seconds, so get it right! Heck, I'd trade weather data for pictures or video on the first mission to any planetary or "dirt" target, any day. I'm also reminded that the entire lander sequence has been re-scripted since launch because it was discovered that at the relative speeds of the two craft after separation, they could'nt communicate with each other. Seems that the bandwidth on the orbiters receiver is too narrow to receive the Doppler-shifted transmitions of the lander! No kidding! So the new separation scenario calls for a much slower approach. C'mon, this is basic engineering for spacecraft. How could they have botched this? A project manager should have lost his/her job for that one. And the cost of the mission deducted from their check! And with the power situation being as tightly budgeted as it is, there won't be a second chance to transmit the lander data. Joe, the lander only has batteries, no nuke fuel. I really hope this mission works as advertised. After what I've read today, though, I'm not quite as optimistic as I was. Have we sent a K-car to Saturn? my 3 cents (and all typed with one hand!). C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/

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Re: Barska 9x63mm
by Chuck Hards 07 Dec '03

07 Dec '03

Local bino guru Glen Warchol stopped-by yesterday and tried out the Barska 9x63mm binos in daylight. He feels that they are probably roof prisms, due to the slenderness of the housings; the tiny offset of the eyepiece axis from the objective axis. He also thought that the imagery was above average. He confirmed my impression of a fairly flat field with minmal distortion. He noted color, but again not bad, especially considering the price. He thought that due to their heft, either there are some monster prisms in there, or they are cast metal. All things considered he gave a good pronouncement and is considering getting a pair for himself, despite the non-retractable eyeguards. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/

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