Meade 16" Eq -- Mirror performance question

Hey all--

I just took the mirror of my 16" Meade Eq out for a long overdo cleaning, and was wondering if it would improve image quality if I were to mask the edge of the mirror. I've read somewhere that meade mirrors suffer from a "turned-edge", and if so, I was wondering how large of a mask to create for the mirror, and if I would notice a difference in the mirror's light grasp. Thanks

Thomas

Before you "fix" it, make sure it is "broke". Actually, every Meade 16" that I have viewed through gave some pretty good images. Do a simple star test first, because a turned edge is easy to spot when you know what to look for. Also, get a ronchi screen, about 100 lpi, and check on a star again. I can't easily describe what you need to look for here, but there are plenty of web assets out there that will give nice pictures of what to look for. Others may chime in as well and some may know some exact links to go to. Also, the ultimate test is your views to date. How satisfied have you been with the views the scope has given? Unless you have some concrete complaints, I doubt that you have a bad mirror. The problem is with the larger mirrors is that the sky conditions rarely allow any scope larger than 10" to really "strut its stuff".
Once you are able to make some quantitative tests you will be in a better position to decide where to go from there.

Walt