Posts Made By: Steve Shlafer

I viewed Jupiter at ww/ my 80mm Zenith last night and saw what looked like 5 satellites. What was #5?

I have many second hand eyepieces that could use a cleaning. I have TV but many other brands as well. Tho I have the proper materials, I'm a bit shy on cleaning them myself. Is there a reliable place to have these done?

I agreed to a purchase from an A-Marter in early June. I sent payment immediately. The telescope didn't arrive. Neither did I receive confirmation of payment.
I sent the seller an e-mail and he replied that due to a change in work schedule, he had been unable to send the item earlier. He promised to send it w/ extra fast shipping the weekend of June 24. He also confirmed that he had indeed received payment.
I still have not received the telescope. I've been out of town for 9 days and haven't been at my computer so I couldn't send in a rating. I did send a message via the pvt. link and received no response.
The transaction is now over one month old and the seller has been removed from my "Unused Ratings" list. The ad is now so old that it is gone from the normal Classifieds site.
I would like to send in an honest rating whether or not the seller eventually ships the item.
What to do?

Does anyone know the whereabouts of Mr. Rini? I haven't had contact w/ him for quite some time. I hope that he is ok.

A question for you all:
Over a year ago I traded w/ a guy from England and acquired a SV102EDT. I assumed this to be the case, in any event. There are no markings in the tube that specifically say it's a 102 EDT.
I never used it.
In early August of this year I saw an ad from a respected A-Marter who is sort of a dealer I guess. I've had very good dealings w/ him over the past few years, never a problem. In fact, he once advertised his desire for a 'Comet Catcher' and I sent him mine free of charge if he would promise to donate it to Macalester College when he was through with it.
I should pause here to note that I have a LOT of equipment and all of it is earmarked to be donated to Macalester College as a legacy.
In any event, this individual had a quality 10" Truss and he wanted to make a trade. I sent him the SV OTA plus an Astrotech 80ED OTA. The deal was that he was to try them out and see how he liked them. If he did not like them or thought that the deal was not fair then he was to return them to me at MY expense.
If he liked the deal, then and only then was he to send the Truss. He asked if I would help w/ his shipping since the Truss was heavy. I did so.
I asked him to send the Truss directly to Macalester College,(a donation from me) which he did.
The time frame was that he received my OTA's in early August and Macalester College received the Truss Oct.7.
I noted that he put both the SV and the AstroTech up for sale on A-mart this fall.
Yesterday he e-mailed me that the SV was not a 102 EDt but a 102 D which he says is valued at $500-$525 less. He says he confirmed this w/ Vic.
My problem:
I'm not a "buyer beware " person and always guarantee full return rights and I pay full shipping. I do so because it's fair and also because I'm no expert on optics.
But:
1-I can't return the Truss since it's already been donated to Macalester College.
2-I don't want to involve Vic at SV since I presume that he's not seen the OTA. This individual is in Florida and I certainly never showed the OTA to Vic.
3-I always want to be fair but I don't want to be taken advantage of either. This individual has had the OTA's for almost 3 months and has put them up for sale or at least put two of the same models up for sale.
So question:
Do I send this individual all or a part of $525.00? I emphasize that normally I would just return the Truss and ask for the OTAs back. As stated. the Truss is at Macalester and even if he hasn't sold the OTAs, I don't have the Truss and I don't want to ask Macalester to give it up.

Does anybody know if Cary is OK? I haven't heard from him in nearly two months and the memory on his voice mail is full.

There is a new vendor and store in W.WA. They have a Website as well. The owner is Jim Bielaga an a better guy you won't find. He is knowlegeable and gives personal service to all. It's Aurora Astro products.

Cary was no longer at Woden Optics but at Optical Structures. He had 2 of my telescopes. He sent me one of them but he still has the other. I've been e-mailing him at Optical Structures for weeks w/no answer. I tried calling him yesterday but the phone is disconnected. Does anyone know how I can get a hold of him?

Once again, looking for Mr. Rini and hoping he's in good health.

My input:
Keep in mind Mr. Burgess and StellarVue.
Steve Shlafer