Posts Made By: Enrique Barrio

I do not one one of these; but, it sounds like you are missing the compression ring that screws into the back of the focuser. You can see it in the photo below.

Focuser close-up:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/attachments/1332129-Bushnell10.jpg

Keith, I can't tell much from your drawing. At, the face of it, I would say that there may be something wrong with the scope; but, it may just be your artwork. ;-)

I would suggest contacting your local astronomy club, and taking the scope down to their next event. They should be able to tell whether what your are seeing through the eyepiece is correct for that scope; and, likewise you will be able to see what stars look like through some of the other ED scopes. Sometimes bad seeing conditions, or a defective eyepiece can cause such a problem. But, if is a collimation issue; adjusting a refractor is not as easy as a reflector, and guys at the club may recommend sending the thing back to the manufacturer for fine tuning.

Thanks for the input.

I managed to put it together today, and I am impressed by the performance.

The original lens was an early Japanese made Hanimex 180-400mm zoom, with a ~65mm objective. The mounting plate was compatable with my cannon A-1. So I salvaged another connector off of a junked camera and mated it to a milled down 2" to 1-1/4" adapter.

It works best as a low power widefield refractor. Using a 40, or 32mm, The field looks very flat with sharp pin point stars. Taking it up to a 12.5mm takes the maximum magnification to around 32x; which was enough to render a good miniature view of Saturn with clearly distinct rings (I did have to close the Iris to reduce aberation). Then I decided to go for broke; used a 4mm and aimed it at the moon. The image wasn't half bad; even at 100x the little scope was able to show good sharp detail on the moon. A 25mm seemed the best all around eyepiece for this scope.

Not bad for a bunch of recycled stuff from the junk bin.

I would say drill it full of holes. We need the resources, and unless you are willing to pass out razor blades and cyanide tablets, that need is not going to go away anytime soon.

Luke Schmidt said:

Writing off conservation just because it is not the final solution does not mean it can't play an important part, even if it is just softening the blow to your own wallet.

Conservation is just a back door for socialism. How are you going to conserve? Are you going to boost the price until only the elites can consume, or are you going to issue non-transferable rationing quotas. Both, create the same basic problem; an intrusive and overbearing state.

My challenge to all who refuse to drill is very simple. Come up with a better solution that is cheaper, tangeable, efficient, and able to provide a higher energy allocation per capita then the present system. Until, then: go take a good cry on your own sleeve, as the rest of us drill for everything we can, until we grease the skids with the carcass of the last available carribou, whale, polar bear, and environmentalist.

Technology offers us all kinds of new opportunities, and obstructing that technology to impose a political agenda has its limits, and as far as I and many/most are concerned, we are well past the point of tolerance.

Pat Peak said:

We need to go after the people who caused this problem which includes the mortgage bankers, attorneys who approved the sub-prime loans and the politicians who insisted that everyone be able to buy a home. The concept of living in massive levels of debt has caught up with us as a Nation.

I agree; how about some swift prosecutions to equal the speed that they are trying to ram this bill through. I didn't hear Bush say a word about prosecuting those responsible to the full extent of the law. Perhaps it just slipped his little mind?

Dan Lamson said:

I wish they could dump all the stupid earmarks they have on the senate version, and paying best value over time will never break even!

I wish they would define the basic premise of the bailout before writting a check for $700 billion plus. The bill that was just approved by the senate contains the following language:

(d) Program Guidelines.--Before the earlier of the end of the 2-business-day period beginning on the date of the first purchase of troubled assets pursuant to the authority under this section or the end of the 45-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish program guidelines, including the following:

(1) Mechanisms for purchasing troubled assets.

(2) Methods for pricing and valuing troubled assets.

(3) Procedures for selecting asset managers.

(4) Criteria for identifying troubled assets for purchase.

So they have approved a bill without any knowledge of what they are buying, how much they are paying for it, or even how the value will be assessed. Clearly, these guys couldn't care less what they spend it on, they just want to get their hands on $700 billion dollars of our money.

No Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Hiking, Climbing, Sailing....why limit this to coach potato sports?