HansenAstro - Equipment

Equipment

Considering I only bought my first telescope in June 2005, I've amassed a lot of equipment in my short time! Below is a short description and pictures of what I have and/or had.

The RCX

Purchased in July 2005. The 10" RCX is a premium telescope, with really nice optics and GoTo capabilities. It's a great scope for visual use, but it's really intended for astrophotography. Some day, I hope to try my hand at that but I'm not in a hurry. A lot of the early RCX's had mechanical problems but I've gotten lucky and not had any problems (I think of it as "good karma payback" since it was a replacement for my very first scope, the LX200, that I *did* have problems with and ultimately returned for a refund).

Even the 10" RCX is a bit heavy and bulky for me and would be difficult for me to set-up on my own all the time. Instead, it stays set-up on a trolley in the garage and all I have to do is roll it out on the driveway whenever I want to use it. Much easier that way! I really like this scope.

4" Televue 102 APO Refractor

Purchased in April 2006. I bought a CR150 refractor in early 2006 (see below), but it was a bit too big for me and by April, I knew it would be going back to its previous owner. I already knew that I'd want to get a similar size but shorter refractor to replace it, one that was a bit more of a grab-and-go than the CR150. I was leaving for the Texas Star Party in a couple of weeks at that point, so I decided to go ahead and get a replacement scope "in advance" of losing the CR150 that I could take with me to TSP -- and bought a 4" TV102 APO. *Very* nice telescope, sharp views, pinpoint stars. I originally used it with an LXD55 mount, but quickly discovered that those equatorial mounts just aren't that easy or intuitive to use when you're used to a fork mount. So in early July, after trying several other inexpensive alt-az mounts, I took the plunge and bought a DiscMount DM-4 mount complete with Sky Commander controls, and have that mounted on an aluminum tripod. I'm just an alt-az kinda gal!

80mm ZenithStar 10th Anniversary APO Refractor

Purchased in May 2006. After comparing my new APO TV102 and the achro Nighthawk (see below) at TSP, I started thinking about getting an APO 80mm-ish scope to replace the Nighthawk -- not that the Nighthawk is all that bad, but there's just enough color aberration on the Moon and planets, even with a minus violet filter, to drive me a little crazy. So when a really good deal came up on the William Optics 80mm ZenithStar Fluorite Doublet red 10th anniversary scope from a trusted source, I couldn't resist! This little beauty is mounted on a Telepod alt-az mount and tripod for really quick set-up, viewing and panning around.

6" CR150 Refractor -- no longer used

Purchased in January 2006. The 6" CR150 refractor is a really nice scope, providing great widefield views. Very much a different kind of scope (and mount) than the RCX. I bought this one on a whim from a friend. But I've enjoyed using it, and having it gave me a bit of the refractor bug as you'll have seen from my other scopes listed.

80mm Nighthawk Refractor -- no longer used

Purchased in March 2006. I liked the widefield views of the CR150 but it's not exactly a grab-and-go scope, and neither is the RCX. So when I saw a decent deal on a Nighthawk Classic in March 2006, I decided to get one to add to my scope collection. The one I got came with an LXD-55 equatorial mount. The LXD mount has been sold, and one of these days I'll get around to selling the Nighthawk since I replaced it with the ZenithStar, above.

page last modified 2/17/2007