Equipment

Ramon's Astronomy Pages - Equipment

This is my "big" scope. Its a Starmaster 12.5 inch Dobsonian reflector with an f/4.8 Pegasus mirror. I purchased this scope from a local amateur astronomer in March 2004. I am now the third proud owner of this equipment, which was built in 1996. Although the coating on the primary mirror is beginning to show its age, the figure of the mirror is pretty good, and it performs wonderfully on planets and DSOs. With proper care, the mirror coating should last a couple of more years before it requires a re-coat.

This section of my site contains images and descriptions of my astronomy equipment, past and present..

This is my "grab and go" scope. It's an Orion Astroview 100mm f/6 achromatic refractor on a home-made altitude platform mounted on a bogen 3026 tripod. I purchased the OTA and homemade mount from Florian Boyd, who has an excellent review of this little scope on cloudynights.com. This 4-inch refractor performs well as a low-power sky sweeper. It gives very good wide-field views of open clusters, comets, and the brighter deep space objects. I can easily carry the whole setup outside for quick peeks on weeknights.

My newest acquisition is actually my oldest telescope (by far). I have lately developed an interest in "classic" refractor telescopes with quality optics by American makers such as A. Jaegers Optics. This venerable company ceased manufactureing of lenses in the mid-1980s, after a fire destroyed its optical shop. The fact that telescopes with A. Jaegers optics are now somewhat scarce, together with their reputation for quality, has made Jaegers refractors a sought after commodity among amateur astronomers. Below is a recently acquired "Surveyor" 6-inch f/10 achromatic refractor with Jaegers optics that was sold by Vernonscope & Co. in the early to mid-1960s. This 40+ year old telescope optical tube is currently mounted on my 2005 Atlas EQ-G heavy-duty goto mount (quite a blend of the old and the new!). Initial star testing shows that this scope has excellent, well-corrected optics and should be a fantastic instrument for planetary observing. Its 6 inches of aperture should also provide very good views of deep sky objects. For comparison,I've attached an ad for this scope from the December 1964 issue of Sky & Telescope.