Posts Made By: Dave Sewell

Has anyone else out there sent their mirrors off to SciTech Optics for re-figuring? I sent mine in early May and now, for over the past week, I can't get a hold of anyone there for an update on when the work will be completed. Emails are not answered and answering machine messages have not been returned. Thanks to anyone who can enlighten me.

Hello, I know this is a long shot, but does anyone know if somebody manufactures an 1.25" sized coma corrector. I've got one of those 5.1" f/5 reflectors that does a fine job with delivering wide field views, except the coma around the edge of the field is distracting. I'm really not interested in replacing the scopes' focuser with a two inch model. I think I remember Televue selling one many years ago, but I haven't seen any available in recent years. Thanks to anyone in advance for their help. Dave Sewell

Hello all, I would like to know from anyone who owns both these eyepieces if you can see a difference in the edge of field sharpness between the two. After recently purchasing the 24mm, the edge of field sharpness in my approx. 3 year old 19mm compared to the 24mm seems almost disapointing (though still a lot better than some other wide fields I've looked through.)The 24mm shows pin point stars right to the edge, while the 19mm begins to show curvature of field about 80% of the way out from the center of field. The scope I'm using for testing is my Genesis SDF refractor which has the built in field flatening lens. Shouldn't these two eyepieces have the same correction or has Al improved the design with the newer 24mm. Thanks to anyone in advance who has compared these two and can comment. Thanks, Dave

Hello everyone, I'm looking for information from anyone who star tested either the Orion 80ED or the Celestron 80ED. (Same objective lens for both.) I just got the Celestron version on Friday and gave it a star test Saturday night. I'm not very pleased with the result I saw with mine. Very good collimation on mine, but outside of focus no diffraction rings visible (just nice round glow). Inside of focus I see the typical ring pattern fairly clearly. It's doubtfull the lens has turned edge which could explain the result I'm seeing. Of course I allowed plenty of cool down time and I'm using only very high quality diagonal and eyepieces. (TeleVue diagonal and Celestron Ultima 2x Barlow with 8mm Brandon eyepiece.) I'd like to know basically from anyone with this scope if they can see diffraction rings outside of focus unlike with mine. Ideally, one should see similar patterns on either side of focus. If others are getting similar patterns on both sides of focus through their samples, then it might be warrented for me to return mine for refund or exchange. The seeing conditions really didn't allow me to make a call on the quality of the image in focus. It wasn't the best nor the worst seeing that night and thats usually something that can't be determined on the first night out with a brand new scope. All I know is that the star test doesn't lie - so I'm a little concerned about the optical quality of this scope. Thanks to anyone who owns this scope ahead of time who might be able to tell me how goes the star test from their sample. Thanks, Dave

Hello fellow sky gazers, Has anyone seen this comet yet, and if so what are your impressions (Do you think its going to be a good one.) I tried for it last Friday night using my 8 inch Dob under slightly hazy, first quarter moon-lit skies, but failed to sight it. Usually - even under these conditions - if a comet is even half way decent (bright enough), I'll have no problem bagging it. I used the star chart in the May issue of S&T (page 61) which is very detailed in finding its location - so I'm certain I was scanning in the correct area of the sky. Thanks, Dave Sewell

Herbert, No I don't own one, but I've got a 1977 catalog from A. Jaegers and they used to sell them (if its the same scope you refer to.) The specs are listed as 70mm active diameter with a 765mm focal length. It came attached to a fork mount like the ones on small achromatic refractors, but no tripod, just 1/4-20 threads on the bottom for attachment to your own tripod. Also included were two "five-element" Orthoscopic eyepieces (whatever that means) for 50x and 92x, dust/dew protection cover, solar aperture cap, sable brush, flannel cloth, solar projection screen assembly, coated optics. Imported. The ad never calls it an "Ad Astra", so you'd have to tell me if that fits the description or not. As a teenager, I always wanted one, but couldn't afford the $199.95 asking price. A couple of years ago, I bought an ETX 90RA model brand new for less than $200, so even after inflation over all those years, the Meade costs less and has a built in motor drive too! Still, at that time, Maksutovs were very expensive scopes, so at least this blast from the past was affordable to most. Dave Sewell

Hello all, Does anyone know who provides refiguring services for those who would like to get their smaller sized mirrors refigured? - (Besides Woden.) I've got one of those 5.1 inch f/5 chinese reflectors that provides very nice views, except that the star test reveals some turned down edge. I believe this scope would actually make a very nice planetary scope if I could get that edge cleaned up - stars at high power are sharp with a nice airy disk and surrounding ring visible. Despite this, I realize that the turned down edge is blurring some of the fine details when viewing the planets at high power. I prefer not to mask the edge if I could get the mirror refigured - I want the full 130mm aperture if possible. I contacted Discovery and they aren't set up to work on 130mm mirrors (it would have been great if they could've worked on it.) So if anyone out there knows of any place that works on smaller sized mirrors, please let me know. Thanks, Dave Sewell

Hello, Does anyone know of a good carrying bag that the Gibraltar tripod would nicely fit inside? I'm thinking one of the Orion bags for their telescopes would work, but I'm not sure which one. I do not want to have to remove the head in order to fit it in the bag. Right now I wrap up the tripod in a large towel and secure with bungee cords for transporting to dark skies. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, Dave Sewell

I USED to really enjoy reading the S & T equipment reviews, especially back in the "good old days" when they would be BRUTALLY honest evaluating telescopic equipment - remember the 2 part SCT review or their evaluation of 10 inch mirrors? Those reviews also included a lot of impressive testing data too. NOW their reviews seem very "nebulus" to me - glossing over their findings and seemingly candy coating everything. For example - in the most recent issue - with the review of the StarBlast 6, all they really say is that the scope has 'good optics capable of delivering satisfying views'. But they only rated the optics 3 out of 5 stars and never disclosed why the mirror only deserved a 3 star rating. Same with the AT80EDT Refractor. Read the mini-review and everything sounds great, but once again - this scope ONLY gets 3 stars out of 5!? The review of the Orion imaging reflectors from a few issues ago followed the same pattern for the most part. I know, from personal experience, that quite a few of the Chinese made f/5 mirrors I've star tested displayed obvious turned edge. In their defense, the IN FOCUS views - at least with the 130mm size mirrors - were still very satisfying despite the defect. Just feel myself that it would be more enjoyable reading the reviews with FULL DISCLOSURE. How's everybody else feel about this? ...

I see that Vixen is now selling a replica of Sir Isaac Newton's first reflecting telescope. The specs list the scope as being f/4. Wouldn't Newton have designed this first scope with a MUCH slower f ratio to combat coma inherent at this focal length OR did he actually polish the metal mirror into a parabola? - OR did it not even matter because of the limited field size of the eyepieces of his day. In any event, I'm still suprised he didn't make his mirror slower to make fabrication easier. Does anybody know who came up with the idea of the parabolic mirror - if NOT Newton? ... and for that matter, if anyone out there has one of these new replicas - how do you like it. (A LITTLE too pricey for me though!)- BUT I think it's very cool, Thanks, Dave Sewell