Posts Made By: Floyd Blue

I would like to state that the subject of mirror coatings has been controversial for some time. Their are many sides to each argument concerning them. There is not nearly enough factual data available about degradation of these coatings or the actual visual deferences of each type.
It would be great if anyone has any articles from professional magazines or lectures concerning this subject, to perhaps submit them for us to read.
I have found some technical data, but it does not go into detail on individual types of over coatings, but rather the metals used such as aluminum, silver and gold.
There have been some mentions of degradation of the over coats from dew and air borne pollution and such, but again nothing detailed with good data.

I have had personal correspondence with Dennis Balassone about the eyepiece sale and the resolution of the problem. He was not happy with the way the thread went and the accusations made and explained the whole situation to me.
I feel that there was no intent to defraud or misrepresent the eyepiece, but rather a lack of testing and knowledge that created the problem. Dennis did not actually use the EP in question enough to know it had been disassembled. He is a novice at this hobby and just did not spend much time at the scope. Because of this he sold off his equipment including this EP and the result was this problem for Jay and Dennis.
I would like to take this moment to say that I personally regret having assumed that there might have been some attempt at non disclosure on the part of Dennis, based upon the facts as reported. There was just more to the story and I was not aware of the circumstances.
Dennis appears to be a honest business man with a large business and good reputation. There was a problem with a sale, but there was a resolution as well that was accepted by both parties. This constitutes a good transaction to me, as long as both sides were happy with this resolution.
In the future I will attempt to gain more facts before making a judgment when looking at these type situations. I would hope everyone will do the same. Hopefully this will not happen again soon.
Floyd Blue
Moderator

Most of the interferometer tests that I have seen of flats show an extremely flat surface. The biggest contributer to the P/V is usually the edge, where a slightly turned edge is quite common. But the profile of the main surface is very smooth with little ripple or ridges. With RMS of 1/100 or better (I have one with a 1/333 RMS), I doubt that there would be much of an effect to the image.
I was once told that when dealing with differences of less than 1/20 wave that very little is introduced by the flat.
I am not an expert at this of course, just quoting one.

I am not a racist! I do not have feelings about other races!
I do have feelings against those who would sneak across our borders and demand rights! What is so hard about understanding that it is ILLEGAL to sneak into the US? It is against the law! That is a very simple concept, break the law and be punished!
Now, let us turn this around. Let us say that you want to immigrate into Mexico, but did not want to do it legally. So you sneak across the border and try to set up residency. WHat do you think would happen? Could you get a drivers license, buy some property, get a job or even live without being arrested? NO! You would be arrested for illegally entering into Mexico, you would not be given a drivers license, you can not own property and you will not be allowed to work! So, why should a person come from Mexico into the US illegally expect anything more than what we would get if the situation were reversed?
It is a crime to go to Mexico without the proper paper work. Ask the Mexican authorities and they will tell you what they will do if you are caught. You will go to jail! You will not be given a free lunch and a ride to the border.
Protect American citizens! I really don't care where they came from as long as they are citizens.
Protect the borders and don't let just anyone come across. Make sure they are good people and worthy of coming in to the US. Arrest those who decide to ignore the law. Arrest those who will employ them without the proper paperwork. Fine them and make it non-profitable so that it stops being big business.
As an American citizen and a war veteran, I demand these things! I do not request them! They are part of MY rights as a citizen. I support the laws of the US and fought for them, so I feel that I have the right to make these demands.

I do not agree that anyone born here be granted citizenship. If the parents are here legally, then they could apply for it, but again, not be granted automatically.
It is so easy for a family to sneak into California, go to a local emergency room and have a baby at the expense of the tax paying Americans. They are not required to pay for the services and they can then get food stamps and other services that are suppose to be for citizens. Many come here for that one purpose, to have their children and get them paid for free. Then they get to stay, though they entered illegally and they get to send their kids to our schools and hospitals for free. Now I just don't find this to be fair or even right. There is no reason why they should have these kind of rights here. This is rewarding criminals for conduct that I would be put into jail for if I did it. I can not go the hospital for free treatment, I must pay and in fact I must pay for those that don't pay!
This is not what the constitution had in mind when it was written.
It used to be that for you to gain citizenship, you had to speak American, read American and even know the constitution! Now, you don't have to read, write or even speak the language or have any idea of what the constitution says. All you have to do is, sneak into the US, have a baby quickly, apply for aid, get a job, hide out for a few years by staying invisible and POW, suddenly someone idiot will declare amnesty for you and you get to become a citizen. No dues, no requirements, no paying back all those dollars, nothing, just here you go.
Well, go to Mexico and give that a try and see what it gets you! Understand that I have spent months at a time in Mexico and have some idea of what goes on in that country.

I now have a dilemma of sorts. I just purchased the 22mm T-4 Nagler and that leaves me with several close f/l EPs. I have the 20mm T-2 Nagler, 20mm Pentax XW, 24mm Panoptic and the 22mm T-4 Nagler and I am not sure that I can keep them all. Too much money invested in that f/l range.
The 24mm Pan is so small, it is really nice for my 10", but it is awfully close to the 22mm. Plus it is 1.25" and I use 2" a lot of the time. But it is a great EP.
The 20mm Pentax XW is another nice EP in 1.25" format. It has appeal for being very comfortable to use and a nice 70 degree FOV. But, it too is too close to the 20 & 22mm Naglers.
Then there is the 20mm T-2 vs. the 22mm T-4 Nagler. This is a really tough choice. The 22mm Has better eye relief and is a lot lighter. But the 20mm T-2 is such a classic EP. I feel that I should just hold on to it and maybe sell the 20mm Pentax and the 24mm Panoptic.
So, let's say it was your decision. What would you keep and what would you sell?

They are pretty nice. One of those was sold by a friend and he just did not need it after getting a scope with DSC installed. The Telrad was enough.
They work pretty well, the eyepiece is good but not excellent. Nicely made for a 50mm finder. I saw nothing wrong with it.

My 22mm T-4 just arrived! Man is it pretty and rather small too compared to the 20mm T-2. 8) It is almost the same size as the 17mm which is nice.
Now of course it is totally overcast with rain in the forecast. :S But I will get a chance to use it soon I hope.
Now to put the 20mm Pentax XW, 30mm Parks Gold and I guess the 24mm Panoptic up for sale. I just wonder if I should not hold on to the 24mm Pan for a possible Binoviewer pair though? Got to make up my mind soon so I can place an ad.

Alan Raycraft will test and refigure a 10" f/6 for less than most. He is quite good and his reputation as a mirror maker is history. [email protected]
L&L would be a good place to get it recoated, but I don't think they do testing.

Well, last night was a good night here at Wind Wolves Preserve. I went out until midnight and had a blast with a couple of friends. The Moon was rising at 1:30am and we had all exhausted our observing lists, so we packed it up and went home.
I got the chance to use the 22mm T-4 last night in 3 different scopes. A 15" f/4.2 Discovery, a 10" f/4.7 Orion XTi and my 10" f/6 Astro Sky.
The EP performed wonderfully. The Insta-Adjust needed to be adjusted for each person, as one wore glasses and the other two had different vision requirements. The Insta-Adjust on this EP was a bit tighter (Good thing really) than the other T-4's in the collection. So it did not slip when you picked it up and required some pull to change it.
The FOV was very good and in the f/6 it was sharp as a tack edge to edge with the faster scopes showing some coma as there was no Paracorr used.
Through put is great and the thing is transparent with a perfect display of contrast and brightness. The weight seemed slightly less than the 17mm T-4 and did not effect the balance at all.
Overall I will give this EP a 10! Very nice indeed.