Posts Made By: Floyd Blue

Well, I bought a 14mm Pentax XL. I just could not pass it up!
I already have a 14mm UWA so I did not need it, but I like the Pentax XL 7mm and 10.5mm so well and the price was so good, I just had to have it. This has got to be an illness! 8O
Ocular fever? But for $175 shipped in new condition, well my mind was just reeling and I got all dizzy and just sent the money by Paypal before my head cleared. :S
I will just have to see whether I like it better than the 14mm UWA which I doubt, but I think I will like it enough to not want to get rid of it anyway.

Well, it arrived today in like new condition with all papers and case just like advertised. Now to get the chance to try it out. Today is windy and cloudy with some rain. Figures. :S
The CatsEye BlackCat 2" also came in and is a very nice piece just like the 2" Infinity Autocollimator. I checked it out and it is easy and quick to achieve the collimation with it and then the Infinity take it to the exact collimation I was looking to be able to perform.
It came with a great template for placing the triangle in the center of a mirror from 4" to 15" and two triangles. I will center spot the 10" tomorrow
and then it will be ready for shipment for assembly with the new scope.

I posted this on the Starmaster forum, but I thought others might be interested in this mod so I posted it here too.
Well, I can not stand to do nothing and the clouds are still hanging around. So I decided after the last windy night that I was going to so something about all the dirt that blows around and gets on the mirror while it cools before I collimate or begin to observe. I have to take off the cover for the mirror box before I install the truss unit. I keep the truss all together and transport it that way to save time and effort. So I have to first take off the big cover and then place the truss on and then remove the smaller cover to let the mirror box cool down. Well this leads to a lot of extra dust when the wind blows or even if it does not. I though that a mirror cover would be the cure. So I thought about it and went off to see what I could find to make one. I found a 16" flexible, translucent plastic serving dish that was just a little too big in diameter to fit through the hole, so I cut off the excess lip on the band saw and then mounted a knob for holding it for installation and removal. Then I removed the mirror cell so I could work with it. Cut 3 slots for the mirror clips to fit into and for the cover to rest on the clips and not the mirror. The angle of the clips and the close fit of the notches makes the cover stay exactly where I want it. It never touches the surface of the mirror, leaving a small 1/8" gap all the way around the edge. Then I put the mirror cell back in and tied installing the cover. It fit like a glove and looks pretty cool too.
Well, anyway, here is a picture to show what I made and how it fits and looks. Hope you like it.
Now I hope to be able to leave it on until I begin need to collimate and begin to observe. I will take note of the mirror temperature to see if it increases the cooling time or overall temperature. If not, then it will stay on all the time until I have to take it off. Hey, it may even help to keep the Dew off at night after I go to bed.

Here is the latest picture of my one and only scope right now. The other 3 have been sold and I am waiting for the new ZZ-10 to be built. This is taken at a local wild life preserve we have permission to use.

Rob's 12.5" ZOC is up to $1725! 8O

Man, Jupiter was great last night. The GRS detail was outstanding as were the band details. I was in the backyard testing EPs and about 10-10:30 pm it just got perfect! 8O Best view to day so far I think.

Well, I have gotten a chance to test out 3 W-70 EPs in the last month or so. They were sent to me for evaluation. The 5.7mm, 14mm and 25mm models.
To keep it short I will post my observations.
The 5.7mm is a pretty good EP. It did not have any real problems with color, coma, astigmatism or curvature. In fact I thought it was nice over all. No more edge problems than a 6mm Radian in fact. I would rate it a good buy or even a little better than that. No, it was not quite a Radian, but it was very close and the cost is excellent. It looked much better than I expected with a good image edge to edge and good contrast. Eye relief was not bad in fact almost generous
The 14mm was not so good. It had a lot of field curvature, color, astigmatism and coma. In fact I did not find a lot about it that I liked. The on axis was OK, but the outer 50% was not good. Some internal reflection was present too. Eye relief was good.
The 25mm was good. Not as good as the 5.7mm, but much better than the 14mm. It showed some color and a little curvature. No astigmatism though that I could detect. There was a bit of pincushion, but this is not unusual for a wide FOV EP. I would call it a good value for the money. Good eye relief.

I would appreciate anyone's views on any and all EPs on this forum. I don't care if it is a cheap Plossl or TV Nagler, it will be welcome.
This forum is for discussion of EPs and I openly invite any comments that you would like to make concerning your likes or dislikes.

Ok, so they did not make it! I did! 8) Have not had the chance to try it yet but I will this weekend.
I wanted to try and make the XLs into 1.25"-2" EPs like the 12mmT-4 Nagler. 8.8mm UWA and 14mm UWA so that I could avoid putting in the 1.25" Adapter.
I heard from someone that this works. The did it with a wood sleeve turned in a lathe. I decided to use Aluminum to mathc the rest of the EP. If it works I will make them for the 10.5mm and the 14mm.
What do you think?

Anyone know the actual tube ID for the 10" Hardin Deep Space Hunter? I want to make something for some one.