Our House Telescopes - 22 & 10 inch StarMaster Dobsonians

Starmaster 22" F/4.1 Dob Donated in 2000 by the StarGarden Foundation, the Ken Willcox Memorial Telescope resides at the Alapacha Observatory at the Inca Utama.	Starmaster 10" F/5.5 Dob Donated in 1995 by a fundraising effort by Ken Willcox and Vic Winter after the Eclipse of 1994, the 10" also lives here - for use by SSSP guests.	Alapacha Observatory: The Alapacha is located on the Inca Utama resort grounds. Here, we learn about the enigmatic Indian Archeo-Astronomy under crystal-clear skies.

Both Dobsonians reside permanently at the Alapacha Observatory for free use by all SSSP guests. Both are equipped with telrad finders.  The 22" offers Sky Commander digital setting circles for ease in locating southern hemisphere objects.

Concerning time and usage at the SSSP, guests should note that we have never encountered a conflict for time-sharing on the Starmasters. Remember that a certain percentage of guests are spouses or only casual observers, who might only observe until 9 or 10 pm. Of those serious observers remaining, many guests come to the SSSP with their own equipment with astrophotography in mind. Still another percentage will chose to observe with the equipment they are familiar, often leaving the Starmasters with little usage. We typically enjoy 6 nights - 10 hours each of observing time. If you want time with the 22, you will not need to fight for it.

House eyepieces include 2" Televue 11mm, 20mm and 32mm and the 22" is equiped with a paracor coma corrector. Also provided is a Tirion Star Atlas. Often guests chose to bring their own favorite eyepiece or filters. Note that viewing planetary nebulae at altitude in an O-III filter are something to write home about.

To find out more about StarMaster Portable Telescopes please visit Rick's website at: http://www.StarMasterTelescopes.com