Posts Made By: Tom Hole

I was on temporary duty this past week and remember reading a post asking where this quote came form:

"I reject your reality and substitute my own"

This being the loquacious group that it is, I could not locate the message, so here's a new post, ready for spin.

Anyway, that is from Adam Savage, one of the hosts of the Discovery Channel show Mythbusters. A right fine investigative show, that I quite enjoy watching. Highly recommended.

Tom

Kids want a rock polisher for Xmas. I did some research and I'm leaning towards a vibrating type vs a tumbler as they are quicker. Any recommendations? Also, any sources for an assortment of crushed rocks?

Thanks,

Tom

It all comes down to talking about stuff before it's time. Bill, TMB, TomD and a few others are complicate in this endeavor and are likely causing more harm than good. If Bill Burgess is to survive in the midst of all this controversy, all he need do is produce a product and let it speak for itself. Do what Orion does and keep your mouth shut until the product is shipping. The ED80 just came out, people bought it, people reported it was good and now lots of people are buying it. Even in the midst of this business model, the Equipment Talk forum was rife with ED80 naysayers, who are now silent. What we are seeing here is what happens when there is no product, only specualtion, or when there is only a prototype. It means everyone gets to throw darts at TomD and TMB until the production units ship and that means a feeding frenzy.

I know that it is difficult, but just stop talking about new products until they ship.

I can talk about the 127. If I were in the market for a 5 inch achro, I would get a 127. Good optics on mine. Useless finder. Ok mechanicals. The package deal is a good value.

I can talk about the Burgess Binoviewers. These are Binomates at $100 less and include a pair of decent ep's. Good value for SCT owners and folks that are interested in planetary and lunar work (or higher power DSO work).

Haven't tried anything else yet.

Tom

I am going to replace my JMI DX2 on my 11" Starmaster EL with a new Feathertouch focuser. Should I get the adjustable base or just the regular one?

Thanks,

TOm

Just finished ordering up the Astro Xmas list.

1. Feathertouch for the Starmaster
2. Howie Glatter green laser finder bracket and switch
3. Dew Not binoviewer heater
4. 6' of Protostar flocked paper
5. Protostar curved spider for the Starmaster

Should keep me busy over the winter.

Tom

This was in the park by my house.

Canon 300D
Canon 75-300 IS USM

Well, in the spirit of the tinkering thread, I tinkered. I got my Protostar curved secondary holder in and installed it today. Not as hard as I was lead to believe. I put more details here:

http://www.tomhole.com/Protostar%20Curved%20Secondary%20Holder.htm

I think it looks great. The rain will prevent me from seeing how it works.

Merry Xmas,

Tom

Well, it's Xmas eve and after putting the presents out, I went outside and it was clear. So, I rolled my new 9.5" APO (11" Starmaster w/ curved spider) out and had my first ever spikeless peek at the skies.

I am a believer. Seeing was poor, 1 of 5, moon was full but the stars had no spikes. Saturn was definitely not steady, but again, no spikes. The ET cluster looked great. Orion was still fascinating, and guess what? No spikes.

I can say with 100% certainty that I like the view with the curved spider much better. It will stay.

I checked collimation before I rolled out and it was spot on. I checked it after rolling around the cul-du-sac and it had not changed. I could not see any vibration in the view, but I didn't go above 134x. We'll see if there is any when the seeing is better and I can get to higher powers.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my Xmas treat.

Happy Holidays,

TOm

Shot with a Digital Rebel w/ Canon 75-300 IS USM zoom.






Tom

Don't get on the boards as often as I'd like, but I thought I'd see a mention of the Orion 120mm ED scope. Anyone have one yet?

Tom