Posts Made By: Floyd Blue

Has anyone gotten one of the new FF-1 focusers from Merury Support Systems yet? How do you like it? How about a report on it?
Floyd

Tell me, is this not the TMB that was supposed to be not so great? I have heard stories that the 175mm was fine but that the 180mm was not very consistant. What is the word on this?
I have a club member that bought one of these but has yet to look through it as he has no mount for it. I am wondering about this.
Floyd

Well, made it to Mt. Pinos Saturday night for a test of the 12.5" with the new coatings and new diagonal together.
It was visually stunning. We had 11 club members present and those who were familiar with my scope all agreed that the scope was brighter, crisper, more contrast and generally improved by a wide margin.
I was completely surprised by the improvement with the new coatings. It was an eye opener. The increase in apparent nebulousity of the Lagoon was impressive to say the least. The Swan was the best I had ever seen in a scope under 15". My viewing partner Randy stated that he thought this scope was about as good as it gets in a 12.5" scope and easily out performed his old 12.5" Dob.
I can now say that new coatings can play a bit part in improving the over all performance of a scope.
Couple the coatings with a good secondary mirror and the changes can be pretty amazing.
The skies were nice last night at Pinos. I thought it was about as good as I have seen in the last two years. Too bad the moon came up about midnight! But, I was getting tired by 1am when it became a problem, so no big deal I guess.
Next Saturday I am going to a new site that I have been scouting. The skies are better than Pinos, though the elevation is only 2,300'. There is little to no light pollution or domes that we could see. Almost 30 miles to the nearest small town, which is saying something for our part of California. We have our fingers crossed that we might have found the newest summer winter site for out area.
Floyd

Well, I bought my first Radian, a 6mm. I had been wanting a 5-6mm wider FOV EP for a while and found the 6mm Radian for sale here today. I figure if it does not suit my purpose, then I can resell it for what I paid without a problem. 60° FOV should be fine for high magnification. I have used them before, but never owned one. I will post a review when I get the chance to use it.
Floyd

I vote for the toilet paper tube with an old pair of eyeglass lenses. Heck Galileo would have loved it.
Floyd

Well tonight is the night to go to a new site that I scouted out over the last few months. The weather looks good and I am excited about the prospect of a "Dark" sky site.
Here is a picture of the Clear Sky Clock for an area 13 miles away. The conditions should be about the same. Looks much better than Mt. Pinos for tonight.
I will be taking my 15" Dob for this one. I figure it will show the conditions better because of the larger aperture.
Floyd

Anyone had any experience with the Tech2000 Dob Drive Systems? I am thinking of doing a drive system for my 15" Dob.
Floyd

I think the real problem here is the promises that were not kept and the speculation that is reported as factual.
Bill would save himself a lot of grief if he would only talk about the products he has in his hands and not those in his head.
As a businessman I have learned to never make promises that I can not honor. Never quote prices on products that I don not have in stock and never speculate about things that are not in production. I also do not believe in advertising products as "Coming Soon at a store near you!".
Another thing that I have learned is this. If a product is not up to your standards, you do not sell it, even for a discounted price. This will always be your product and will reflect on your standards. So if it is not good enough for you, DON'T SELL IT! I return any products that do not meet my standards. I will even eat ones that I can not return rather than sell them and suffer the consequences.
This is not meant to bash anyone. It is too put my thoughts on the table about products, services and promises.
Floyd

Thought I would show a picture of the new site I described here Sunday. The Sun was fading.
It does show what the land and layout is like. It is flatter than it looks. The hills formed a bowl around the flat.
We are looking Northwest in this picture.
Floyd

What is up with the slow speed of the server today?
It has been a snail all day for me.
Floyd