Oh happy day, oh happy day. 
8) 
I just had a visit by the UPS guy and he dropped off my brand new 14.5" f4.3 Ed Stevens primary mirror. Needless to say I'm totally geeked and now think I will be able to finish the scope before a planned star party down in Georgia after Easter. The numbers in the specs. book look fantastic, but I'll wait till I get it under some dark skies before I pass judgment. Here they are if anyone is interested. Ed told me a few weeks ago when he sent the mirror off to spectrum to get coated that I'd be real happy with it. Guess he wasn't kidding. 8)
RTA: 0.34
Strehl Ratio: 0.994
Peak to Valley Wave: <1/15th wave
Just last night I routed the ground board, finished drilling all the holes in the mirror box for the altitude bearings and the split blocks, and screwed and glued the rocker box together. Next step is to have "first light" on a distant radio tower to figure the exact distance between the UTA and the mirror box. Then tweak the balance ( hope my numbers are good) and finish with spar urethane on the exterior and flat black on the interior.
8) I just had a visit by the UPS guy and he dropped off my brand new 14.5" f4.3 Ed Stevens primary mirror. Needless to say I'm totally geeked and now think I will be able to finish the scope before a planned star party down in Georgia after Easter. The numbers in the specs. book look fantastic, but I'll wait till I get it under some dark skies before I pass judgment. Here they are if anyone is interested. Ed told me a few weeks ago when he sent the mirror off to spectrum to get coated that I'd be real happy with it. Guess he wasn't kidding. 8)
RTA: 0.34
Strehl Ratio: 0.994
Peak to Valley Wave: <1/15th wave
Just last night I routed the ground board, finished drilling all the holes in the mirror box for the altitude bearings and the split blocks, and screwed and glued the rocker box together. Next step is to have "first light" on a distant radio tower to figure the exact distance between the UTA and the mirror box. Then tweak the balance ( hope my numbers are good) and finish with spar urethane on the exterior and flat black on the interior.
