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RICHARD COFER

VdB 141 Ghost Nebula

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Posts Made By: P. Lee Stock

October 4, 2002 01:37 PM Forum: Telescope Making

UO Mirrors

Posted By P. Lee Stock
I don't know where they are made or if they are all as good as the one I purchased, but I have a 6" f/5 from UO and it is *extremely* impressive. I've never seen a short FL, smallish mirror do so well on planets and the enhanced coatings makes it a nice deep sky mirror as well. If they are all similar, then they are winners.

October 8, 2002 12:14 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Mirror Vendors - who's got best quality for $$

Posted By P. Lee Stock
I saved this excerpt from a comment made by Allan Rahill a couple years back, on SAA if I recall correctly:

"I tested Zambuto... and they are really exceptional.... better than 1/10 wave. I tested two Swayze and they were about 1/5 wave... with micro ripples. I tested two 20" galaxy mirrors at 1/3 wave!!!! Surprise! The best mirrors I tested recently were Nova and Zambuto. Very smooth and no TDE, no zones... really nice."

That said, I used to own a 16" f/5 Swayze mirror that was better than those Allan described--a really nice mirror. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a mirror without an interferogram from Nova, Swayze or Pegasus.

October 30, 2002 06:49 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Astro Systems equatorial platforms

Posted By P. Lee Stock
The 4-minute reset time might indicate it uses the same electronics as the platforms being sold by Affordable EQ in kit form:

http://www.eqplatforms.com/Photos.htm
http://www.eqplatforms.com/

Apparently you flip a switch or press a button to reset these platforms. They reportedly work very well despite this (annoying?) feature.

Regards~

November 12, 2002 04:20 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Which Telescope(s) Is/Are Keepers?

Posted By P. Lee Stock
You say you might miss aperture but hate the ladder? Sell the 20-inch and step down to a 14.5 to 18 inch dob with a nice EQ platform. Perhaps you can get both with the sale of the 20-inch.

Sell the C14 OTA and the 102mm Apo and get a larger Apo to mount on your MI-250.

Money left? Pick up a real quick-look scope: 76mm to 85mm and an upswing or similar mount.

I can't imagine an astronomical craving a large, tracking dob, a larger premium apo refractor and a quick look apo couldn't satisfy, unless you require the perfect imaging rig or GOTO on everything.

December 25, 2002 04:48 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

Waiting for the sun to set

Posted By P. Lee Stock
I'm in Salt Lake City and will offer my opinion that where that photo was taken may end up being the last place in the US to become populated (except perhaps by gophers, coyotes and scorpions). It's not exactly on the way to anywhere and the terrain is only attractive to an lovers of the sky ;^). Add to that the fact it isn't warm for much of the year. Too bad it clouds up a bit during the winter months.

March 11, 2003 06:18 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

The scopes and I pt 2

Posted By P. Lee Stock
So, do you want to give them away one at a time or do you want to go cold turkey?

May 9, 2003 08:38 AM Forum: Telescope Making

'Been Working on a Small Truss Scope...

Posted By P. Lee Stock
The full (less portable) mount (final version on the right). The truss cage will be mounted between upper ring and bottom plate when not in ultra-portable dob mode. I enlarged the altitude bearing until it became the dominant feature. I am calling it the "Arc Scope" for now.

More refinements to the drawing are being made, but the upper half of the mount will tilt to the user's latitude and it will track in RA. The captive truss assembly (shown partially complete in the prior posting) secured between upper and lower ring rotates for best eyepiece angle. The "C" has something like a 17+" radius, so the design is really only for smaller apertures/shorter focal lengths. I don't know if it's original, but I've never seen anything like it personally. It will probably take me months to finish the tracking mount with my schedule, but I thought I'd share anyway... I hope to finish the dob/travel mount in the next few days or so.

Cheers~

May 9, 2003 05:33 PM Forum: Telescope Making

'Been Working on a Small Truss Scope...

Posted By P. Lee Stock
Hi Bill,

The play in the tent snap is eliminated once you put the 10-degree tilt on the truss shaft. As I played with these in the bins at Lowe's Hardware, I noticed a small bit of movement in the assembled buttons, so I picked up some small rubber washers to place inside, under the screw of each button, which eliminated lateral movement. I found it unnecessary after I assembled it the first time--the tilt is just right to tighten everything up. A lot more tilt and there would be risk of unsnapping, less and there might be play and I'd use the washers. As is, it seems just right.

I've held the truss cage by the upper ring and shaken the whole assembly and it doesn't unsnap, so I'm not worried.

I also like how 4 little pieces of free banding strap material works to wedge the poles apart so well ;^). I'll be painting everything that looks rough later.

May 11, 2003 07:01 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

ULS quartz secondary upgrade

Posted By P. Lee Stock
I've used several of these and believe I can see the difference on nights of excellent seeing. And it's a small difference to pay for guaranteed excellence from one of your two mirrors. (i.e. so just do it ).

Good luck!

May 29, 2003 05:35 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

at the RTMC

Posted By P. Lee Stock
Hope you and your son had fun. I hope to take my sons next year for the first time.

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