Meet Micro Hubble...

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Micro Hubble

 

I recently purchased a Meade ETX 125 as a fun scope and something to take with us when we camp.

Here is a page dedicated to my experiences with this scope.  I have no plans to replicate The Mighty ETX Page by Mike Weasner.  However I will document my relationship with this little scope.

 

First & Second light....

13 May 04  We set the scope up Thursday night and proceeded to learn that we didn't know enough about the scope to use it effectively.  Gotta read the damned manual!  Jupiter was awesome though!  The combination of the ETX's Maksutov optical design and the Televue Panoptics made for some incredible views.

15 May 04  Saturday night the EVAC (East Valley Astronomy Club) had a private start party for the members of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum just West of Superior AZ. The club does this a couple times per year and it always introduces a lot of people to the Astronomy hobby.  Being the optimist for once I packed only the ETX and the needed accessories and under high thin clouds we headed out to the arboretum.  The sky looked real iffy right up until dark, when a few holes opened up and allowed us to put on a pretty decent show for the guests.  Later in the evening there was a large hole of good seeing that lasted for about an hour, just enough time to get thoroughly jazzed at the quality of the optics.  The GOT on the Autostar is scary accurate despite my initial attempts at training.

18 May 04   I seem to suffer from the lower speed drive problems and spent a little time over the past few days playing with Drive Tuning and adjusting the RA  drive percentages.  A clicking noise from the RA drive that experienced users (Thank You Dr. Clay) tell me is not normal has it over at the telescope shop being checked out and hopefully remedied in short order.  Will update this ASAP.

21 May 04  Micro Hubble is back from the telescope store.  Must have been built on a Friday afternoon or first thing Monday morning!  The screws holding the RA gearbox/motor assembly in place had never been tightened.  Sheesh!  While I am disappointed at the overall performance of the RA drive, the rest of the scope, most especially the optical quality is much more than I expected for the kind of money involved.

29 May 04  Finally played with the LPI and with my Canon D30 attached to the Micro Hubble.  Here are a few test shots. 

Click to enlarge Images...

Canon D30 at Prime Focus

 

Meade LPI at Prime Focus