[COLOR="Purple"]In less than a week I head out with the newly/still being built scope for some time out in W TX under very dark skies. Things were just about done and I had already had one good night of observing which went well. Decent images from a secondary of unknown pedigree, although it had been in a scope used by a very good mirror maker so I wouldn't suspect it to be sub-par.
Anyway, I obtained a nice Antares secondary of known quality plus it was a smaller size more appropriate for the scope. So I siliconed the Antares mirror to the secondary holder and tried it out a couple of nights ago and to my surprise, there was a lot of astigmatism, aligned with the axes of the secondary. Hmmmmm....
I went back to the first diagonal and tried it tonight. The same astigmatism was there! Obviously something was not right. After racking my brains, and eliminating the primary and my eyes as the source, I was left with the inescapable fact that the astimatism was somehow originating with the secondary holder.
I decided the re-silicone the Antares secondary to the holder using 4 smallish globs of silicone instead of the 3 globs I had been using. I had to try something! :S While moving the tissues around in preparation for another siliconing, I discovered that a large paper clip had gotten under all of the tissues!! Doh!!! I had been setting the secondary mirror right on a paper clip and then attaching the holder to the mirror. I'm hoping, big time, that the paper clip had been causing strain in the mirror that was "built in" as the silicone cured.
The Antares secondary is now being attached again, with the mirror sitting nice and flat on a table top. I'll try it one more time tomorrow night in the scope. I sure hope that paper clip was the problem because I hate astigmatism with a passion and if I can't get this solved, the new scope stays behind on the upcoming trip and the trusty old scope will make the trip.
Fingers crossed,
Bill[/COLOR]
Anyway, I obtained a nice Antares secondary of known quality plus it was a smaller size more appropriate for the scope. So I siliconed the Antares mirror to the secondary holder and tried it out a couple of nights ago and to my surprise, there was a lot of astigmatism, aligned with the axes of the secondary. Hmmmmm....
I went back to the first diagonal and tried it tonight. The same astigmatism was there! Obviously something was not right. After racking my brains, and eliminating the primary and my eyes as the source, I was left with the inescapable fact that the astimatism was somehow originating with the secondary holder.
I decided the re-silicone the Antares secondary to the holder using 4 smallish globs of silicone instead of the 3 globs I had been using. I had to try something! :S While moving the tissues around in preparation for another siliconing, I discovered that a large paper clip had gotten under all of the tissues!! Doh!!! I had been setting the secondary mirror right on a paper clip and then attaching the holder to the mirror. I'm hoping, big time, that the paper clip had been causing strain in the mirror that was "built in" as the silicone cured.
The Antares secondary is now being attached again, with the mirror sitting nice and flat on a table top. I'll try it one more time tomorrow night in the scope. I sure hope that paper clip was the problem because I hate astigmatism with a passion and if I can't get this solved, the new scope stays behind on the upcoming trip and the trusty old scope will make the trip.
Fingers crossed,
Bill[/COLOR]
