Posts Made By: Floyd Blue

Well, after some thought and experimentation, I decided that I just could not give up my favorite 80mm finder. I have modified it to accept 1.25" EPs and it gives such great view with 5.3° FOV, that I just had to set the Starmaster to utilize it. I had to make a new counter weight for the box, maybe another 1-1.5 lbs. It was difficult to balance it to accept the 31mm Nagler and Paracorr and yet not climb without an EP in the focuser. After many adjustments of adding or removing BB's I found the right weight and it works fine. Looks cool too! 8) The bag on the handle is not too unattractive.
What do you think, look good?
Floyd

I will not name my source but I will quote. "&!$^@^*&* mirrors are usually between 1/4 and 1/8 wave, with some as good as 1/10-1/14 wave. I can buy them with a guarantee of 1/8 wave or better, because we have a special deal."
Now this does imply that you can get 1/8-1/14 wave mirrors, but those will likely be sold to those who have special deals or pay the extra premium. The 1/4-1/7 wave mirrors are likely to be found in production scopes or sold to the general public.
This is not that uncommon however. Give a maker of elliptical flats a call and you will find that you can buy 1/10 wave, 1/15 wave, 1/20 wave or 1/30 wave mirrors and they are priced according to their figure.
I have also been told by others that they have been offered hand picked optics for their scope due to their position or reputation or friendship with the owners of the company.
A well known top manufacturer of telescopes told me they had a deal with a well known manufacturer for their "BEST" elliptical flats for their scopes manufacture. So I think this is quite common in the industry.
Floyd

I have a friend that I am going to help to build a 10" Dob. He has ordered a mirror from Woden Optics and now needs a solid tube and other parts such as mirror cell and spider with secondary.
Anyone have such articles or can you post any links to places where tubes made of aluminum or fiberglass can be purchased. It seems to me that not long ago some one posted something, but I can not seem to find it. I am helping him to watch the classifieds for parts, but so far nothing that we need is listed. He is trying to build on a budget, so used parts would be fine.
Floyd

Jeff,
Wow, that is some shot for one exposure! 8O Got a full res image? That would be a great desktop.
Floyd

Chris,
Buying with the intent of reselling is a "DEALER". You should be paying the OEM rate or something.
Floyd

I would like to say that all those who did auctions to try to raise money for the relief fund. Your hearts were in the right place. That is the most important thing, isn't it? Many times frustration causes us to lose track of our goals and even make fools of ourselves, but that does not take away our original intent.
I would like to see an end to this tirade concerning a poorly thought out thread. It serves no purpose really, just makes everyone a feel a little smaller in my opinion. If you feel the need to vent, please just send money to the relief fund instead, tell no one you did it and let your actions speak for you and not your words. The gift is in the giving, not the telling of your giving.
Forgive me for butting in on this, but I feel the effort is wasted and the original intent has been lost.
Floyd

Man. Here we are having some of the biggest winter storms in years and me with this new scope just waiting to get outside!
I got out for 30 minutes last night in the front yard with fair skies but not the greatest seeing. Looked at Saturn and Machholz Q2 with a few objects thrown in but it was short and not satisfying. Still not good enough to evaluate the optics.
Now if it would just clear up and let me take it back to my private spot in the desert plains.
Floyd

Hal,
I new you did that, cause we are having the worst storms in years! 8)
Floyd

I wanted a picture of all my family of reflectors before they get separated by selling to new owners. It will be a sad day really, but then it will be someones else's happy day.
I thought I would share it with you for memories sake. Note the scale of the scopes from small to large. Looks like a natural progression.
Floyd

Well, the good news is, the 15" Dob is sold! The bad news in, the 15" Dob is gone.
I will miss that scope, it was a good friend during a cold dark nght. But it now has a happy new owner that will treat it well and give it lots of sky time.
Floyd