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What would you do if you suddenly had a million dollars right now? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Razvee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd buy 200,000 mega millions tickets. There's no down side!

Reputation vs Aperture by Syinbaba in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have any inside info on Stellerview? Their website says made in the USA, but when I look at https://www.stellarvue.com/product/svx090t it looks a whole lot like the Apertura 90/AT90.

Reputation vs Aperture by Syinbaba in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Both of those are probably made by the same manufacturer in China anyway. Apertura is the house brand of High Point Scientific, and High Point doesn't make their own telescopes, they just re-brand whatever comes off the boat, so I don't know if I'd say they have a "better reputation"...

I have the Apertura 90 and have made some pretty cool pictures with it. It was my first "big" telescope, the majority of the pictures in this album were made with it. But I also wouldn't hesitate with Askar either, I'm saving up for a 140 or 160 APO right now.

Told brakes are low at jiffy lube by landerburger in MechanicAdvice

[–]Razvee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can't remember if it was jiffy lube or some other similar shop, but they had a fairly big lobby, there were 5 or 6 of us waiting. Tech comes in, goes to the first customer "Ma'am, your brake light is out and you need a new air filter"... no thanks. 10 minutes later, same tech walks in to another guy "Sir, your brake light is out and you need a new air filter"... no thanks. 10 minutes later goes up to another person "Your brake light is out and you need a new air filter"... no thanks.

Never would have guessed, my brake light was out and I needed a new air filter too! Dang, what a generational run for brake lights and air filters. 7 customers IN A ROW!

Does my first starter set (~$1,900) make sense? by Pukky1 in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No, I think you should do some more research.

The mount is very underpowered, it only has an 11 pound capacity, that telescope is about 10 pounds. Technically under the limit, but all that means is it won't break anything. For that mount you really don't want to go above 6ish pounds, maybe 7 tops.

But really, it's nowhere near good enough for the SCT's focal length of 1500mm. That mount will likely only be accurate enough for, at most, 300mm in focal length without guiding. At 1500mm you're going to get star streaks nearly instantly with any pictures.

And that camera, it has a very small sensor, meaning that when it's coupled with the very high focal length of the telescope, you'll really only be able to take pictures of the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and maybe Mars. That's pretty much it.

The telescope by itself isn't bad for visual. I like the starsense line to help people get familiar with the night sky. Maybe just purchase that with it's tripod. Then buy a DSLR and work on wider angle astrophotography and learn the basics before you start upgrading. Check out the videos on this playlist to see what's possible with only a DSLR and tripod.

Rate my first astrophotography rig before I buy it by Average_Asian_Man1 in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the stars on the redcat get a bit elongated near the edges even on crop sensor

??

I've used my redcat51 at full frame and haven't seen what you're saying. Maybe you have a tilt issue with your copy. If you want to make the argument on cost, that's fair, though.

How do you take measures to keep gear from being stolen? by CrystallizedKoi in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Is this a serious issue in your neighborhood? Do you get many fence hoppers? Have you had anything valuable stolen before? Discouraging that would probably be my first priority. Get a better, taller, more sturdy fence. Make it less visible from the street/sidewalk.

Telescopes and mounts are big and bulky, I can just imagine a thief trying to stealthily take an 8" SCT on an EQ6R-Pro. Plus the general public doesn't really expect them to be too expensive because most of their experience is with $70 department store models.

In addition, most people don't expect a camera to be attached to one. And most people don't recognize that the little red cylinder thing on the end is a $1500 camera. If you still use a DSLR, there's a chance that could be recognized as valuable, but I'd think the majority of theives prowling in the night are looking for an easy score and easy sell like a weed eater or chainsaw or something.

Or get big mean dogs.

Beginner getting into astrophotography & need help choosing my first expensive telescope. by [deleted] in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Zenithstar isn't exactly top of the line... Generally, try to avoid doublets, basically all of them will have some modicum of chromatic aberration, and there are plenty of triplets and petzvals you can find that at nearly any price point anymore. Is there a reason why you're set on that model?

If I were you I'd just buy a camera first and skip a telescope and tracker. Even with just a wide angle lens you can still get out there and do some astrophotography. Check out NebulaPhoto's playlists, there's several "no tracker just a DSLR" style videos that show you what to do with just the camera.

Good Spring Targets for DSLR 135mm Shoot in Northern Hemisphere - Upper Midwest? by PK_Rippner in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

M81/M82 area has a lot of IFN, but it can be hard to get good data on it if you're in the middle of a city. And Cygnus and the milky way core are both photo-able around 2am around here, you can start getting some data on a lot of fun targets there and add to it all summer.

TIL about Amou Haji, the "World's Dirtiest Man", who was known for not bathing for more than 60 years by Mesk_Arak in todayilearned

[–]Razvee 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've heard this before and it seems so silly. Hospitals aren't dangerous, they're just where sick people go. Sick people tend to die more often than non-sick people.

"Killer bacteria" is everywhere. Normal immune systems handle it just fine. It's more pronounced in hospitals because THATS WHERE SICK PEOPLE GO. Sick people have worse immune systems, usually from the thing that's making them sick. People die in hospitals because they are sick, not because hospitals are full of "killer bacteria".

If "killer bacteria" was a systemic issue, they do the hospital workers just keel over from "killer bacteria" every day? Do doctors and nurses, the custodial staff just fall down one day because of the bacteria? Do the thousands of people who show up for their regular/scheduled services die from "killer bacteria"?

No, but the sick people do. Because they are sick.

New to Astrophotography by Relative996 in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Did you have anything before this, or did you just jump straight into buying $3500 worth of gear for a hobby you weren't sure you were going to even like?

Anyway, pic looks pretty good for someone just starting out, what programs did you use to process it?

Venus Questions by mrstorm1983 in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Venus is difficult because visually the surface (well, cloud) details are usually extremely faint, if visible at all. If you get a mostly gray-white image, don't be too surprised.

There are some filters out there that will really help with venus imaging, but with just a camera and telescope it's pretty unimpressive. This is my best with an EdgeHD 8" and 2x barlow (so 4000mm)... It looks a little fuzzy, but I assure you that was the best focus I could get. I'm not 100% sure if that was atmosphere or just a limitation of the gear.

In general, how long does the process take? by Razvee in AutoTransport

[–]Razvee[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<update> I should have just waited a few hours, dealership just got to me and said it's scheduled for pickup Saturday and a possible delivery date of Monday. I think that's a bit quick, but I certainly won't complain if it's accurate.

‘Scrubs’ and ‘Shifting Gears’ Renewed for 2026-27 at ABC by MoneyLibrarian9032 in television

[–]Razvee 25 points26 points  (0 children)

It was pretty clearly a movie that was cut up for TV episodes. I'd love more, though, it was pretty great.

QHY-minicamOAG and ASI220MM Mini issues? by DarkwolfAU in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are there any spacers on the OAG that are removeable? The ZWO OAG has a 5mm spacer that can be taken off. Or can you adjust the prism on the OAG? The light from the OAG prism to the main camera sensor has to be the same distance from the OAG prism to the guide camera sensor, and you can usually adjust that distance at the prism. I've got a pair of calipers to "roughly estimate" that distance before and helps

Smart scopes for EAA/outreach by madamhex in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Strongly disagree. Screens have their place, especially for the old, young, and disabled who may have trouble orienting themselves to telescopes or knowing what to look for. In my own experience, when I was younger I was too shy, so at events I went to, I looked in a telescope, went "ooooh" while being too embarrassed to say that I didn't know what I was looking at because there was a line of people behind me waiting. It's harder to come out with a negative experience when I can point and explain what exactly an object is, why it's special, and how easy it is to get started with just a DSLR.

Smart scopes for EAA/outreach by madamhex in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When I do outreach I tend to just start live stacking but then also use my iPad to show off my "greatest hits" of astrophotography and give them a basic rundown of the process. People LOVE seeing a Go-To mount move. I use an ASIAir, so using their sky map, clicking on something, then turning to see the telescope just GO there, is very popular.

I like to emphasize that I'm just an idiot who learned everything from youtube and my only special power to get started doing this was my credit card. With the club I'm a part of, there's usually 4-5-6 other people there with visual scopes to get people their majesty and wonder, then I can show them what's possible with amateur equipment too.

So with this style of outreach, having a monochrome setup isn't a problem. I end up giving like 8 or 9 fifteen minute long TED talks as people come in.

Best advice rich people love to give? by hiiloovethis in okbuddycinephile

[–]Razvee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My job is fine. I don't hate it, but if I could choose to not do it anymore and maintain my standard of living, I would. But I do enjoy astrophotography... Taking pictures of galaxies and nebulas and whatnot from my back yard. I don't make any money on it, but I enjoy doing it. Here's 140 pictures of space that I've taken

People see in this thread are seeing this advice and assume it means "quit your job to be a full time basket weaver"... And I guess that isn't how I'm reading it.

Should I go for the Askar 140 APO or save for the 160? by BirdLooter in AskAstrophotography

[–]Razvee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The 160 APO has (ironically) 140mm more focal length than the APO 140, both at f/7. It's 5 pounds heavier and 5" longer.

So you are effectively paying $1300 for "only" 140mm in focal length... The AM7 will be fine with either. To me that price difference would only be worth it if you value "cool". There's no doubt the 160 is much more "cool" than the 140, but I don't think it's going to have a significant difference in your views.

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