Posts Made By: Bill Barrett

I am trying to come up with an affordable way to mount a 6" F8 25 lb. scope. Any ideas would be appreciated. thank you, Bill

I have a 6" F8 Jaegers which weighs approx. 20lbs. and I'm wondering if there is an (affordable) alt. az. mount out there which can work with such a large scope. Any leads would be greatly appreciated. thank you, Bill

I have done several google searches, and looked through the archives. I have seen alot of good, great, and not so great ideas, but I haven't been able to come up with any plans. Does anyone know where there are sites with acutal plans for building an alt. az. mount? thank you, Bill

I have a few eyepieces which seem to black out with my 80mm F6 scope. I believe this only happens when the eye is too close.

What is the casuing the black out. Will the same eyepiece do it in all scopes? thank you, Bill

I have been looking for a U.S. supplier but haven't been able to track one down. Is there a U.S. source for these?
thank you, Bill

I have a 7" OTA. I would like to do away with the mounting rings and go to a clamshell. I'd just leave the clamshell and mounting plate on the scope at all times. I think it would make set up a lot easier.

Does anyone make clamshells for large scopes? Any ideas on how to farbricate such a thing? thank you, Bill

Last Sunday we had clear skies in Seattle so I pulled out the old Jaegers, and with a 9mm Nagler, Cassini's division was absolutely clear, and there was some shading on the planet.
Thrilled by Sunday's success, I thought I would try an early morning session with Jupiter. At 0500 Jupiter was high in a clear, southern sky. At first look with a 32mm U.O., and a minus violet filter there were two bands and the four Gallilean Moons (a good start I thought). However,any attempt to increase power resulted in a washed out lifeless orb. The viewing conditions were not the issue. It was the dreaded chromatic aberration. The minus violet filter didn't even put a dent in it.
I have been thinking long and hard about a chromacor, but I have been on the fence because of expense, and I'm not sure how easy they are to use with different eyepieces. Has anyone had good results using a variable polarizing filter on planets? My goals are to see detail on the surface of Saturn and in the rings...I would also like to be able resolve the red spot and more than two bands on Jupiter. If the only way to get that type of performance out of a fast achormat would be with a chromacor then it would unquestionably be worth the price but if a polarizing filter would do it, then that would be even better.

I have been wondering if a corrector lens could be ground and added to a doublet thus making an apo triplet? If so, does anybody do this kind of one off work?

I have a 30+year old refractor. It has a 2.7" rack and pinion focuser which still works as well as it ever did. There is some back lash and it is not as precise as the optics deserve. Is there a company who can retrofit or upgrade the focuser? thank you, Bill

I have old 6" achromat which has a 2.7" focuser (and adapters for 2" and 1.25). I don't ever remember 2.7" being a standard format for diagonals or eyepieces. Did anyone make, does anyone still make 2.7" diagonals and eyepieces? thank you, Bill