Posts Made By: Timothy Iafolla

Thanks to all for your replies. Good idea about moving the rack forward on the focuser...that's the first thing I'll try.

If that doesn't work I think I'll cut the objective end of the tube, and instead of trying to re-thread the tube (which would have to be perfect to achieve collimation again), I'll drill three slotted holes around the tube and matching round ones in the periphery of the cell. That way when I re-mount it using 3 screws, I also gain collimation adjustment. It will also look clean bacuse the cut end will be covered.

Thanks again,

Tim Iafolla

I was watching the military channel yesterday (one of my guilty pleasures), and there was a show highlighting the most famous dogfights in various wars. Duke Cunningham was a prominently featured guest...it seems during Vietnam he had a very good day (5 kills) before his F4 was blown from under him by a surface to air missile (SA-2). Before elected to Congress he was an instructor at the Fighter Weapons school (Top Gun).

This was produced in 2005, so it was after he knew he was deep in trouble. It's a shame--the man really was quite an aviator. I guess he figured he was owed more than an aviator's salary for putting his life on the line.

Tim Iafolla

I dunno, I was surprised by this one, sort of like I would be surprised by a 2-headed cat. It's just such a bizarre, petty thing to risk a career on, and he HAD to know that with the degree of surveillance in large box stores that he would get caught in short order.

I really really dislike the Bush administration. But as much fun as it would be, I don't see any political connection or significance to this....it's simply a petty crime by a very troubled or stupid person. I hope the liberal media don't belabor this, because it makes then look desperate too--just more random boy-who-cried-wolf Bush-bashing that dilutes the important stuff.

Tim Iafolla

[edited for grammar]

It happened again: a story that's irrelevant to the American people but very useful to someone who would want to do harm: UPI reported that the maintenance tunnels under the capitol building that lead to the steam plants, other building in the capitol complex, emergency exits, etc, are going WITHOUT SECURITY because of asbestos and other worker safety issues.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060328-051953-1387r

I really don't need to know this, and the only people that would be interested are those who shouldn't know it.

WHAT'S THE POINT OF REPORTING THIS??

Tim Iafolla

Lots of options here. How about a LX200R. It's a new option by Meade that is mechanically an LX200 OTA but with RCX optics. For photography it will give you smaller spot size and a flatter field, without the mount-specific motorized collimation and focus of an RCX. You should be able to get at least 2" of extra aperture for the same price as an RCX.

Tim Iafolla

jess tauber said:

Just you wait and see....

Jess Tauber

Jess,

I'm almost afraid to ask: what are you referring to?

Tim Iafolla

You would see a slight increase in stiffness with a significan increase in weight. But the thing I would be careful of is the change in the mount's resonant frequency: replacing the hollow shafts with solid might change the vibrational frequency into a range that might be annoying, or that might resonate with guide motors, wind, etc. Probably not, but it's something to consider before you make the change permanent.

Tim Iafolla

Thanks to everyone who replied, good comments all. I've decided to go with the 80ED, mainly because I already have a scope that is excellent at high power (12.5" F/6 ZOC mirror). I will be using the refractor mostly for wide-field shots rather than pushing the power up high.

This was a difficult decision because I'm a gadget guy (aren't we all) and I appreciate intrinsic value in high-quality and elegant mechanicals. But in this case I can buy a Nagler with the difference! 8)

Thanks again,

Tim Iafolla

The question is, why should we have to rely on the administration, of all things, to watchdog this for us? What happened to the press?!?

Tim Iafolla

Just wanted to tthank you all again for your advice. I ended up getting the ED80 and thought an udate was in order.

Obviously I can't compare it side by side with the FS78 I was also considering, but here are my impressions: overall, these 80mm Chinese scopes have to be the deal of the century, at least in terms of optics.

The mechanicals are OK: the Crayford is definitely budget level, but was improved with some tweaking. It's fine for visual use, but for photography I will probably add a 2-speed upgrade with a compression ring holder.

The tube is a little bulky, because I think it's shared with some other scopes. It looks well baffled and is very dull black inside. The dew shield and dust cap are good quality and both have the right amount of friction holding them on (which is more rare than you would think for such an easy concept).

For visual use I have a WO 2" diagonal. My EP's are decent but nothing fancy: 2" GSO wide-fields for the longer f.l.'s, Televue plossl's for the 15mm to 32mm range, and Orion Lanthanum ED's for the 2.8mm to 12.5 mm range.

The past several nights have been nice and transparent but the seeing was atrocious. Last night it settled down nicely to 6 or 7/10 (which is about as good as Maryland gets). Star test at 214x (2.8mm EP) showed nice round diffraction rings, almost identical in and out of focus (maybe a touch overcorrected, no worse than 1/5 or 1/6 wave). Collimation is spot-on, and no sign of pinching.

Wide-field views are lovely: pinpoint stars with no CA, and the natural colors showing well. Too much light pollution to get a real reading on DSO's, so I turned to Saturn and cranked up the power. I won't belabor the details. Suffice it to say that this scope stood up to stupid-high power without breaking down. 50x/inch was easy, 70x/inch would have been fine if I had been using a better mount. I could watch the atmosphere move the image details around, but periodically they would snap in sharp focus so the optics were still working well at that power. No hint of any CA or halo.

Anyway, I'm perfectly happy with my choice and feel like it's an excellent value. Thanks again for the help picking it out.

Tim Iafolla