Posts Made By: Floyd Blue

I am wondering if anyone here has or uses a T-scope.
I am looking at several 14" lightweight scopes and his is the lightest and has a lot of good engineering points, plus a very good price with a Swayze mirror.
I am wanting a little feed back on these scopes. If you know about them I would appreciate your responses.
Floyd

Well, I put an "Want" ad in for a 14-15" f/4.3-4.7 Dob. I have received one offer so far for a 14.5" Hybrid Starmaster, Zambuto optics that is very enticing! I am hoping for a few more offers before I have to commit to anything, but it is a good deal, just would require shipping which I hoped to avoid. I guess that is not the worst thing that could happen as any new scope has to be shipped.
Maybe I will get some more offers tomorrow.
Floyd

Well, the Starmaster 14.5" is now mine! 8) I sent the money and the scope is being packed and sent out this week as soon as they packing is finished. There are 7 boxes to pack, so it will take a bit to get it done I am sure.
Just like Astromart should be, the man was sending the scope to me even before I sent the check! Now that is what I call good relations. So I sent the check overnight express mail to reciprocate for his honorable intention.
If it were not for Astromart, buying scopes and EPs and other accessories would be a very tedious chore. But with the kind of people here you can get what you need or want and at a more than fair price.
What more can anyone ask for in a place?
Now I will honor the obligatory 2 month wait for a clear night due to "New Equipment Syndrome", but I will persevere and let everyone know how it is when I get that reprieve from mother nature.
I am looking forward to the Saturn Opposition in January, so let us hope for clear skies.
Floyd

I can not resist posting the scope in the forum, even though I have it on the equipment forum. But I am very excited about the acquisition
Floyd

Carnegie Observatories is building a 7 mirror scope, each mirror being 27' in diameter! 8O Light gathering equal to a 70' mirror! Eat your heart out Carl, you can't top this.
First mirror was cast at the University or Arizona this summer.
Not due for completion until 2016.
Floyd

Well, the scope is on the big truck heading this way. Might be on my door today. Of course the valley is socked in with fog. But, if it comes in we have a few days off so I can take it to the desert or the mountains to get up out of it.
Fingers crossed! I have a few friends that want to come over and help unpack the scope and set it up with me. This is the first Starmaster scope for any club member. They are all as excited as I am.
Floyd

For those who requested it, here is a picture of myself and the Starmaster 14.5" right after assembly and collimation. Perfect size scope for me, just right at Zenith for the EP height.
Floyd

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
My present is ready to use!
Just wanted to share my excitement and wanted to post a picture of the assembled and collimated scope. DSC, Sky Commander and everything fit perfectly and the EP height and the placement of the Sky Commander are just right.
Floyd

I took out the Starmaster tonight for about 30 minutes before the fog rolled in and screwed up everything. :C
Only got to try to star test and the sky was not stable enough to get a good test, but the rings were concentric.
Did a few minutes on the moon and used up to 320x with excellent results. The contrast was very good and the details were high. Wife stated that it looked more 3D than she had seen before, saying she seemed to be looking down into the craters instead of at them.
A few minutes of checking out Orion showed the sky was not good and I could only see 5 of the stars in the Trapezium. The Nebula looked OK, but before I could use a filter or anything the sky started closing up fast.
I found that the open nature of the primary cell and mirror box, combined with a fan system I installed in the mirror cell, cooled the mirror very quickly.
I also made a very neat combination aperture mask and dust cover that is sweet! I will post a picture later of it, I think that Rick should include one of these with every Starmaster. I am going to send him a picture and give him the idea.
I did a bit of detailing on the scope today, taking care of small nicks in the flat black paint from assembly. Also blacked out some areas in the secondary that had not been painted. I am picky about this kind of thing.
I also removed the Velcro that had been installed to hold the 9v battery for the secondary heater. Then I installed new Velcro vertically to hide the battery behind the secondary mirror instead of horizontal in the light path.
I also painted the chrome screws that hold the Alt bearings to the box black to match the Alt bearings.
I will post pictures of the changes made.
The wheel barrow handles were great, but when you leave them on they induce a lot of vibration into the scope. They keep it from dampening down quickly, so I will remove them from now on when I roll it outside.
Coma was not as much as I thought it would be at f/4.3. It is not much more than the f/4.9 or the f/4.8 scopes that I own. The Paracorr corrects it well but I did not find it to be too distracting.
The scope was well balanced and the movement was so smooth it was like Teflon on butter. 8)
Hopefully I will get a better chance to evaluate this scope soon. Tonight was inconclusive, just not good enough conditions or enough time to get a good idea of the performance.
Floyd

Ok, here is the last of my modifications to my scope. This is a lower light baffle to use at places where the light can get in from the rear. It leaves plenty of room for the fan to draw air (12" hole) and also keeps the air from spilling out the rear. It is held on with Velcro to the mirror cell and can be removed easily. Should help I think.
You also get a glimpse of the 12 volt battery and the speed adjustment knob in the rocker box. It also has an off-on switch.
Floyd