Posts Made By: Floyd Blue

Here is a shot locally of a Sunset I thought you might like.
Floyd

Ok, for those who wanted a picture, here is a shot of the 12.5" DOB I just purchased. I did not install the Light Shroud so that you could see the structure.
I am very happy with it.
Turns out the mirror is actually an earlier Orion made by Discovery! That is even better than I had hoped. :^) I am a happy camper.
Hope you like it.
Floyd

Ok, for those who wanted a picture, here is a shot of the 12.5" DOB I just purchased. I did not install the Light Shroud so that you could see the structure.
I am very happy with it.
Turns out the mirror is actually an earlier Orion made by Discovery! That is even better than I had hoped. :^) I am a happy camper.
Hope you like it.
Floyd

OK, I got a chance last night to try out all the 8 UO Orthos against the 4 Ultras that I have.
Ultras were 5,10,15,25mm. Orthos were 4,5,6,7,9,12.5,18,25mm.
The Ultras were very nice with a larger FOV than the Orthos. The Orthos just beat out the Ultras on contrast and detail.
When working in the Trapezium the Ortho 4,5,6mm showed tighter stars than the 5mm Ultra. But we are talking a slight amount.
The 9,12.5mm Orthos were very close to the 10mm Ultra. Again a slight edge for the Orthos.
The 12.5,18mm Orthos were almost identical to the 15mm Ultra in contrast and brightness.
The 25mm Ortho and Ultra were so close it was a coin toss.
The thing that struck me was how well the Orthos worked on Saturn, I am sure I saw 8 of Saturns moons acording to my charts. The Cassini was sharpe and the banding was perfect in all but the 4,5mm. This was due to atmosphere and not the EPs.
The other thing that surprised me was that my wife was able to use the Orthos with here glasses on! The Ultras actually seems a little tighter on eyerelief. I was able to back away from the Orthos and keep my eye far away without loosing any FOV. This kept the EPs from fogging up which I really liked.
So, I would state that the UO Orthos are quite the bargain. They are equal or better than the Ultras which cost more and have more elements. But I like the Ultras very much and would recommend them to anyone that wants a little more FOV for their planetary EPs.
The range of power in this scope was 381x for the 4mm and 61x for the 25mm.
Buy them, you will like them. :^)
Floyd

Does anyone know of a supplier of strips of Ebony Star for bearing on the DOB. I have had to remove the Alt bearing surfaces on my 12.5" I just purchased. They had delaminated and one came off but the other broke when I tried to remove it.
So I need 1 or 2 pieces not a whole sheet and was wondering of anyone knew where I could get them?
Floyd

I need some Kydex or a substitute. I am trying to find out what they use it for in application to see where to go about finding it here.
Anyone know what it is used for? It says in the Dobsonian book that it is used for comercial wall covering?
Floyd

I am 1/2 way done with the refinshing of my new aquired 12.5" f/4.8 DOB. It is coming out well. I have had to repair a few chips and replace the Alt bearing Ebony Star surfaces.
I have had to make a new focuser board to mount the JMI in place of the original R&P focuser. This was easier than making new truss tubes. :^) I am moving the secondary away from the primary and moving the focuser up the focuser board to accomplish this replacement. I will also be looking to move the primary down as much as possible. The old focuser was 7" tall fully racked out!
I got to view through it before I tore it down and it was very good. So it will be worth all the effort.
I plan on using velvet to line the entire secondary cage and the hole through the focuser board.
I have repainted the truss and secondary tubes flat black.
All black surfaces are going to match the color of flat black which is an attractive dull satin. The rest is being sanded to the wood and then recoated with Satin Urethane. I am working and getting it very smooth and furniture like in finish.
I will post pictures when it is finished in a couple of weeks.
Floyd

My dog, with his pet!
Floyd

I have a member of the club that has one of these, but the views are fuzzy and unclear. I checked the star test last night and it seemed good except the diffusion rings would not resolve well. The ring was symetrical and centered.
I am trying to figure out why the scope will not produce a good image. It looks almost like my 8" does when it is stating to dew up. No halos or anything, just bloated stars and fuzzy images. It will not focus stars to a point like my DOB or SCT does.
Anyone have any ideas?
Floyd

I have a 12.5" f/4.8 2" Orion mirror by Discovery. Is there any way to tell if it is plate or Pyrex by looking at it? Color or texture. It is ground on all sides so that it is almost completely clear and you can see from edge to edge.
Floyd