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Posts Made By: George Blahun

August 2, 2014 09:01 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

GLOSSARY FOR BEGINNERS

Posted By George Blahun
Anthony:


but there are many that have stumped me - e.g. PST, TMB, TOA, TEC, APO, etc.

PST is Personal Solar Telescope
TMB is for Thomas M Back (a deceased telescope maker) and the acronym is used for a line of astro products
TOA is Takahashi's apochromatic (APO) duo of telescopes, the 130mm and 150mm (heavy but superb)
TEC is Telescope Engineering Company. They are from Colorado, owned by Yuri and produce superb APO refractors and Maksutovs.
Most 3 element APO refractors have color free images (low or absent CA for chromatic aberration) and many use a calcium fluorite element which is really a crystal grown in a lab and not a true glass. This usually means big bucks.

You'll start to pick up things over the next few months. Oh yeah, one thing which I have been promoting is the use of BV or binoviewers, using two eyes instead of mono viewing through a scope. One thing which hasn't changed is everything really cool is also really expensive. AM (Astromart) is the best place to buy and sell Astro Gear.

George

August 3, 2014 05:20 PM Forum: Global Warming - REAL or NOT

Weather channel bs

Posted By George Blahun
Charles:
If they said sea level rise was the cause for the concern over sea turtle extinction they were largely incorrect. However, the determination of sex for the sea turtle is strongly based on temperature. Cool temperatures favor male births and warmer temps favor female births. If temps rise more than 2 degrees C few males will be born, regardless of the cause of the warming.

George

October 3, 2014 02:14 PM Forum: Meteorites & Meteors

Brilliant Utah fireball!!!

Posted By George Blahun
Thanks for the report. The only one I saw like that was in the mid 60s, it impacted in Canada. It's something you never forget.

George

October 9, 2014 02:12 PM Forum: Politics

Ben Affleck Versus Bill Maher On Islam

Posted By George Blahun
Ahh, a new day a new topic.

I don't really come down squarely in either corner, although I'm much closer to Maher's position. Personally, I think all organized religion is nonsense and I certainly am not willing to give Christianity a pass either for its history or my direct experience with people calling themselves Christian. The only reason I'm not completely dismissive of Islam is there are a few who are beginning to speak out against the indiscriminate violence.
I lived in the Bible Belt from the late 70s to early 80s, I came into contact with Christians who only lacked the financial and manpower backing to engage in wide spread violence against, for instance, abortion providers. Admittedly, a few random killings is not quite the same as flying a jet into a skyscraper. That however, is why Christianity doesn't get a big fat approval from me. Unlike Christianity, for instance, Islam is still stuck in the stone age with respect to women and non believers. I have Christians who tell me I'll be going to hell, I think a fair number of Muslims would like to send me there now. Unfortunately, it's all for nothing. These big religions are nothing more than promoters of the adult version of Santa Claus.

George

November 9, 2014 01:13 AM Forum: Politics

Let's all have a laugh, just for a change...

Posted By George Blahun
David, you were able to get Rich and me to finally agree on something.

George

November 11, 2014 11:39 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Not new to astronomy but very rusty!

Posted By George Blahun
Welcome back, Randy. You'll probably get a wide range of advice, so I'd suggest you find a local astronomy club and take a look through a variety of equipment to see what you like. If you enjoy planets and the moon, aperture isn't really necessary. A nice 3 element APO would do well. What is your budget?

George

November 22, 2014 04:07 PM Forum: Politics

GOP's Report Debunks Benghazi

Posted By George Blahun
Rod Kaufman said:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/21/politics/benghazi-attack-report/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
So much for the Townhall/Fauxnews sewer system...


Rod, the silence from the right is deafening. I'm sure that will change once someone digs up something irrelevant.

George

December 1, 2014 09:45 PM Forum: LUNATICS

Strange line across Manillus

Posted By George Blahun
It looks to me as if it is a reflection of light from the rim of the crater. I can't say I've seen it before, but it might be worth looking again next month. I looked up some info about the crater and the interior has a higher albedo than surrounding areas. There looks to be an elevated, but broken ridge-mound running north-south.

December 13, 2014 02:42 AM Forum: Refractors

Explorer Scientific 152 m.m. triplet

Posted By George Blahun
I was at NEAF this year and brought enough cash to buy a new refractor to replace my TEC140. The ES APO is a beautiful scope and it's probably going to be highly regarded by most users. I didn't buy the 152 at NEAF because of one issue, they would not specify any level of Strehl. I asked if they could assure me of at least .97 in green, but they declined. I asked if they could supply me with lab work on the objective when I bought it, but they declined as well. I was told they didn't want people cherry picking scopes and would only supply lab results 60 days after purchase, but that tells me there is a bit of hit or miss in getting a scope. There wasn't enough feedback out there for me to have any basis for plunking down the $, although they were offering a very tempting price, far below the competition for similarly sized scopes. I ended up with a TEC160fl, which I am very pleased with, only because there were so many other satisfied users who had written of their satisfaction. Unfortunately it cost used much more than a new ES152. The finish of the ES was excellent, but as cool as a high quality scope can look, I'm more concerned about the views it provides. Most people seem pleased with ES scopes, but there are a small but not insignificant number of complaints I've read about and heard from users.

December 13, 2014 06:29 PM Forum: Refractors

Focusers

Posted By George Blahun
Jeremiah:
Greg is correct about the Moonlight, it's definitely an upgrade. Another one, expensive though, is Feathertouch. Before replacing it, I would disassemble the focuser yo have (if you feel mechanically competent to do so) and make certain everything is clean, lubricated appropriately and tightened but not over tightened. Many times a simple overhaul will correct the issue.

George

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