Posts Made By: Floyd Blue

Well, James was out playing with my new scope until 2:30am last night! I am very jealous, but I am glad that he took some real time with the scope and checked it out thoroughly. He tested the scope form 4.7mm to 40mm EPs and balanced it for all even the 14mm UWA which was my biggest concern. Focuser travel was adequate for all the EPs and was set to mid point for most. The DSC worked very well too. Height at zenith is 60.5" so the wife is very pleased. 8)
James told me that when splitting doubles and star fields as well as Mars that this scope has the best optics he has ever seen! 8O Yeah! He stated that the stars were pure pin points and that splits were clean and well resolved even in slightly less than optimal skies.
Mars looked pretty good he said, with details showing well.
I wish that it was me making this first light report, but that is ok, I hope he really enjoyed the evening.
I am pleased to hear this report as I spared nothing to try to get the best optics that I could find for this scope. Whether it made any difference to have used a 1/50 wave secondary, I guess only time will tell. I know there is a difference of opinion as was shown by a recent thread on quality optics. But for me there is no question about it, the better the better.
With the flooding the scope will have to be taken over to Texas for shipping and this will not happen until tomorrow or Friday. I am sorry that he has to take the time to drive 65 miles to ship it, but it shows how much James cares about his customers.
I will try to get a test myself in next week or two. I will post what I see when I get the chance.

Hi all,
I had a run in with a windy site with fine dust blowing that just made a mess of my scope! :S
So, when I go home I cleaned everything, including the mirror, mirror box and rocker box. I realized that the dust had gotten into everything and really had covered the mirror. This is not good!
Well, I took a look at everything and decided it was time to make a filter system for the fan intake area.
There was a thread a while back on this, so I decided to post what I did to give an idea of what you might do for your Dob.
The material used is from an Air Condition filter for a home. The type of filter used in the air inlet for the ducts of the home A/C. It is a type that attracts dust and hold it.
I hope that it will do some good and I will be more careful about where and when I set my scope up in the future.

Well, at the risk of getting a severe tongue lashing, I have decided to post an experience with removing of spots from a mirror. This was also posted on Yahoo Zambuto Group.

First off, I know how everyone feels about using anything on a mirror. I
have done some experiments on a few test mirrors to find out the truth or at
least the effects of chemicals on the coating of a mirror. I have a flat
that is not any good for anything because optically it is poor. It has a
normal standard coating just like a mirror in a scope. I have applied
several chemicals to it to test the reaction. MEK, Acetone, paint stripper,
epoxy stripper, and cleaning compounds. One such compound was a hard water
deposit remover for sinks, mirrors, bathtubs and toilets. I left one
secondary mirror in epoxy stripper for 24 hours to see what would happen.
Nothing happened except that the mirror when washed was very clean!
Now I had a problem with my ZOC mirror in my Starmaster that I bought
used. It had quite a few spots on it, BB sized and some larger and some
smaller on the surface that cleaning would not remove. I soak it, used
alcohol, Acetone, MEK and even Windex in an attempt to remove them. I always
worked on one spot near the edge in case something damaged the coating, it
would have the least effect. This has been an on going experiment for about
10 months. Finally, I decided to try something else. I had used a chemical
called CLR (found in most market and drug stores)to remove some pretty
stubborn build up in a shower. I had tried it on several surfaces without
any harm. So I took out the flat and put the chemical on and left it for 4
minutes. Then I rinsed, washed and dried the mirror and looked at it
carefully. To my amazement it was clean and free of any effects! So I tried
it again using cotton Q-tips and pretended to rub off a spot. Again no
effect to the mirror.
Well this week I got into a windy and very dusty site and the mirror of
the SM was completely coated with a thick layer of dirt. I needed to clean
it so I decided to try the CLR on one of the spots. I first completely
rinsed the mirror to remove dust and then used soap to remove any thing else
from the surface. Then I placed the mirror on the table and used a Q-tip on
one of the worst of the spots. It was removed in seconds with a slight
rubbing of the Q-tip! Now this had resisted any attempt to remove before so
I was impressed. I rinsed this off and them checked it and there was no
damage. So I began to remove the spots on 1/2 the mirror. Again I rinsed and
inspected the mirror and found it to be exceeding clean and without damage
or any film or clouding. I then removed the rest of the spots and used a
cotton ball to clean the whole surface, of course using not pressure, just
lightly rubbing. Then I cleaned the mirror in the normal manor, dried it and
looked at it carefully. The mirror was sparkling clean with the spots being
removed and the coating shining like new.
I figured that if this did not work, I would send the mirror to Spectrum
for recoating anyway, just to make it look right. The spots did not seem to
have an effect on the performance of the scope. I had already talked with
Spectrum and they had said to just send it back to them and they would
recoat it. At the time the scope was only 7 months old.
I am not sure what the spots were, but they had thickness and the largest
could be felt with a Q-tip. I suspect they were caused by a liquid, maybe
very hard water or dew with deposits dissolved in it. What ever it was it
was not readily water soluble and resisted any attempts at removal. The
secondary also had something on it that completely covered it, like a smear
across most of the surface. I have removed this when the scope first
arrived. It came off with Acetone and Alcohol, but it was difficult to
remove and required some rubbing to get it all off. I left some small
scratches in the coating, nothing big, but there were some. It had to come
off though as it was really not looking good at all. The secondary has
worked just fine, but I plan on sending it to L&L Optical this winter when
the viewing is over. He has done 3 secondary mirrors for me in the past, so
I trust him to do it. I may even have it done with Dielectric this time
because it is pretty tough stuff and very reflective.
( All Dielectric coating made to last the lifetime of your secondary.This
coating has an average reflection of 98% from 420nm to 650nm.The coating
meets all specifications of Mil-C-675C. )
Now I know that some will not think it proper to tell about using
chemicals on mirrors to remove deposits and stains, but it is either remove
them, leave them, or have the mirror recoated. If recoating is inevitable,
then I feel that removal is an option. So I have tried so things to see what
is possible. Please remember that I take no responsibility for any damage
cause by the use of these or other chemical and am posting this for
information only. Try them at your own risk, However, I can state that I
have found this chemical to be safe for removal of deposits from water.
I would really like to hear about your own experiences with chemicals and
coatings.

This is certainly not the proper way to handle a complaint! 8O Especially if the wording of the complaint does not show the full intent of the vendor. I think that anyone should be certain that the vendor is not willing to cooperate before airing their complaint in public and then should post all the fact as they really are so that we can make our own determination.
Thanks

DHL shows my scope as being out for delivery! I should see it in the next few hours. To say I am excited is an understatement!

Well, I got out last night under a bit of Moon and managed to get first light with the new 10".
I can state that the optics are absolutely stunning! Star tests are perfect. The contrast and detail is excellent.
With limited planetary objects we decided to use the Moon for a bit of testing of power and resolution. Again it was stunning up to 508x which is my highest power EP, 3mm Radian. Everyone commented that the detail and contrast on the Moon was breath taking, with details of peaks and small inner craters standing out in sharp relief.
DSO images were very good with some loss due to bright Moon light of course. We all wished it had been darker! 8)
The DSC with the 8192 tic encoders was right on the money. placing the object in the exact center of the FOV in a 10.2mm Pentax XL. I feel this is excellent myself and am quite pleased.
There was a bit of wind last night that complicated things a bit. There was some vibration in the scope, especially at higher powers of 300x and above. But this is pretty typical I think. I am looking into the vibration, but not sure there is a cure.
I am enclosing a picture of the scope in the middle of collimation. My friend Randy is at the Cat's Eye while I turn the screws. The Cat's Eye and Infinity Autocollimator are great to use.
This scope is being replaced by the way, with a new design from Astro Sky. James has decided that the design needed to change to better accommodate the light mirror and long focal length. So I will use this one until the new one arrives. Then I will change out the optics to the new frame. James has been very cooperative in this venture. We had some problems that were worked out so the scope functions quite well, but it was decided that the scope would work better for a f/5 to f/5.6 focal length than as a f/6. That is OK, as long as the manufacturer stands behind the product and makes everything right, that is all you can ask.

Ok, here is a shot of the scope assembled with all accessories.

I am wanting input as to whether a Go-To would be worth the cost on my 14.5" Starmaster. I have DSC and an EQ platform now, but am looking at the StellarCat Jr. as a possibility.
Any one want to give some sage advice here?

Just wanted to show what one of my truss tube cases for the Starmaster looks like with trusses inside, This shows how it really looks and fits.
Hope you don't mind, but I really liked how it looked and wanted to share it with you all.

Here is a shot of my new 10" Astro Sky f/6 next to the 14.5" f/4.3 Starmaster. I had to take the picture so I am not in it.
The size difference is huge, but the EP height at Zenith is not!