Dave Barrett

Several years ago High Point Scientific sent me an R2 kit and asked me to try it out for a few weeks so that I could become acquainted with it, in order to help our customers with any questions that they might have. As excited as I was in putting this...

Achieving top performance from your Schmidt Cassegrain telescope is easier than most folks realize and certainly worth the effort for obtaining the best views possible from your instrument. Accurate collimation is extremely important for these compound...

Let me share a little-known secret with you….. deep sky imaging is easier than ever before and the necessary techniques that can yield excellent results can be mastered in a very short amount of time...

Turn off your lights and head outside on a clear, dark night. Leave your cell phone behind. If you have a planisphere, bring it with you. A planisphere, or star wheel, is a simple way to locate which constellations are up and where they are placed...

In late July of this year, there is an exciting opportunity to see Mars at its best! The “Red Planet” will be at opposition, which means it will be opposite the Sun as observed from Earth. At a distance of only 35.8 million miles, it will be closer to...

At some point, most amateurs will try their hand at imaging the moon and planets. Using modern techniques, these very bright targets can be captured in high resolution without the need for investing many thousands of dollars in gear. All that is needed...

For planetary viewing, the most useful eyepieces are those that provide about 100X magnification and either a second eyepiece or a Barlow lens that will work with your eyepiece to achieve, on average, somewhere between 100X to 250X magnification. It's...

Everyone should own a decent pair of full-sized binoculars, and not just because they will enhance the views of our biggest and brightest planets. A good pair of binoculars will serve you well throughout your life and allow you to enjoy concerts, sporting...