I made my dew shield by getting a foam pad from a local outdoor store, wrapping it around the tube, and hot gluing it to hold its shape.

I have the Losmandy counterweights but I do not remember which numbers but you can defer this purchase until you get serious about imaging (film or CCD).

When you are serious about imaging, you should consider a separate guider and mounting rings. I use a 90mm ETX as my guide scope and Milburn rings for mounting it.

Speaking of Milburn, I have both a Milburn wedge and a Meade superwedge. I have the Milburn on my tripod (for when I travel) and the superwedge on my permanent pier. My opinion is that the Milburn is a bit more stable (but the superwedge is just fine).

I recommend a 9mm crosshair eyepiece (if you do not have one already). I have both the wire and the wireless ones from Meade. Both work fine. This is needed for polar alignment.

Jacob Thumberger wrote:

> Ok. I've decided to get the 10" f/6.3. It's the one most people recommended
> to me as well as the one that I think will be the best suited for my needs.
> Since I originally planned on spending $4000 for the telescope itself (the
> 12"), I have a little left over now for accessories. Any recommendations?
>
> Definitely going to get the super wedge. That's pretty much a must for
> CCDing. I'll also go ahead and get the f/6.3 focal reducer (unless anyone
> can tell me that the f/3.3 would be better....but I don't think this is the
> case). I've been recommended the NGF-S focuser from JMI. This looks
> appealing as well as something that I should probably get. Anyone else had
> any experience with this focuser? Is it worth the money? (oh yeah....I
> notice the focuser power spot on the LX200's panel...will I use this with
> this focuser?). And finally (at least on my list as of now...I may have more
> after you guys recommend me stuff:), I will probably need a counterweight
> system to balance between the CCD camera and what other accys I have on the
> scope, right? So I'm trying to find a good one of those. Is meade's
> counterweight system good? Or is Losmandy's better? Both are about the same
> price so whichever has better quality will be the winner. However, I notice
> two different possibilities with the Losmandy. You can get the DM10 dovetail
> plate and DWS for a counterweight system or you can get the WS C11/M10-C 9
> 1/4 counterweight system. The first one says it's for SCTs with fork mounts,
> but the second one says it's for meade's 10" SCT. Which of these should I
> use? I think the second one is the one I would choose, but I could be wrong
> (check out http://www.losmandy.com/secondary.html for pictures and info
> about the stuff I've mentioned about the Losmandy stuff).
>
> That's all that's on my list as of now. I know I'll need a dew shield before
> too long. Anyone know a good one of these?
>
> Anything else anyone can recommend or comment on would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks a lot! I'm almost there!
>
> Jacob Thumberger
> http://home.fuse.net/cbparts/index.htm
> Gone out of business....school taking too much of my time.
> Free replacement parts for cookbook cameras with paid postage.
> http://home.fuse.net/cbparts/index2.htm
> 1999 advanced astronomy camp picture page.
> http://home.fuse.net/cbparts/index3.htm
> Is there a black hole at the center of the Milky Way?

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