Equipment > Spring 2005 (3)
-
They followed me home.
It was difficult to explain.
I could no longer pretend that these weren't mine.
Two new additions to start off my spring imaging campaign. The Losmandy GM 8 and big brother the HGM Losmandy Titan.
- The Titan is just awe inspiring. I know you should never wish for time to pass but I can hardly wait for the installation in the Observatory about two months away. It is a fine piece of machining and engineering. Oozes quality.
The GM 8 will do quite nicely for the 5 or 6 star parties I hope to get in this year.
-
The LXD 55's
Goodbye to old friends
A few months after I bought the fork mount LX 200, I picked up a used LXD 55 just to see how equatorial mounts worked. I am not the least bit mechanically inclined so it was quite a nice surprise to find that I enjoyed tinkering and trying to get the most out of the mount. I wasn't sure if decent images could be had from this mount or not.
I wrote three articles on this process of autoguiding the LXD 55. They are here:
My plan was to use the LXD as a grab and go but when the LXD75 came out I started to worry about availability of parts so I grabbed another used one to be sure. I was lucky. Both were good mounts. We have young relatives who are interested in Astronomy - I can't think of a better hand off than one of these.
-
The Companion
GM 8 Perfect travelling companion
After securing the Titan and knowing it would stay at home base I was looking for a suitable traveller. The GM 8 works because I can use the Gemini after the retrofit of servo motors (pictured)
This was an older GM 8 with stepper motors and 2.5" saddle plate. I have ordered side by side plates, dovetails and rings and hope to do some widefields.
