Posts Made By: James Adams

Pink Floyd...always in good taste! For observing try the soundtrack to the movie "More" and A Momentary Lapse of Reason. The soundtrack to "Legend", featuring Tangerine Dream is excellent.

For general listening [here the hippie shows his age], Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Robert Johnson's Collected Works, Judy Henske's early stuff, Dave Van Ronk, The Incredible String Band; Flock of Seagulls, Chameleons U.K., Squeeze; and if you think of rap music as being a major cause of headaches, there's some really interesting stuff coming out now with layers of rythms and melodies interweaving. Very intriguing.

James Adams

Can anyone shed light on the U.O. orthos? I've heard them referred to as "Kasai", "Tanisawa", and "Kokusai Kohki". I tried the email address for KK on their site and it won't go through.

Thanks.

James Adams

Hi, Folks,

Yes, the Kasai Trading Co./Tanisawa Optical/Kokusai Kohki/University Optics orthos are good, I know; but who actually manufactures them, and what do the other mentioned outfits have to do with them? And why doesn't the email address for KK work?


"It's nights like these plays tricks on men's eyes..." Robert Newton [Long John Silver], in Treasure Island, the movie.

I'm looking for information regarding the discontinued Meade Research Grade Orthoscopic eyepieces; What focal lengths they came in, and which ones, if any, were particularly desirable?

Thanks

James Adams

Thanks, Chris,

What a find! Imagine there are little treasures out there to be found from time to time.

I'm hoping the TMB Monos coming out will be useful. One universal principal seems to be that you don't get something for nothing, and with EP's it seems that contrast and sharpness come at the price of f.o.v. and eye relief. Add elements to increase the f.o.v. and e.r. and you begin to lose contrast and fine detail.

I've built a small collection of pairs of decent EP's at reasonable cost [no Naglers/Pan's] by haunting AstroMart, and will probably keep trying to improve them over time by trading up and selling some as I go. That way is fun, and keeps me interested. Same with the scopes.

Clear Skies

James Adams

Great idea, Herb!

So far it's entertaining, and a bit appalling. It's like watching America's Stupidest Criminals meets I'm Entitled.

Thanks for the good work.

I talked to Bill yesterday, and he's waiting eagerly, like everyone else. He can only go on the best info he's given, despite expectations [ours and his.]

I think six months from now this whole adventure [or, some would say, misadventure] will be a legend. "I was one of the original prototype subscribers for Bill Burgess's line of scopes."

I really think Bill is a visionary in the truest sense, and it's not all about money with him. He's so excited about new offerings, he's like Mickey Rooney in the old movies with Judy Garland, "hey, guys, we can put on OUR OWN SHOW, right here, everyone will come..."

I had the 102 prototype to evaluate last month, and I'm telling you, it's for real. I do star parties locally, and there are so many people who say they'd be interested in acquiring a decent scope, but who don't want to spend the mortgage. If Bill is successful, folks can have a serious astronomical instrument, affordably.

I'm a businessman, and I know that sometimes things don't come through as soon as expected, and there's no use getting upset. No one's trying to cause you trouble or lying to you, there are just unexpected delays, especially in dealing overseas. There are so many potential roadblocks.

I ordered my refractors in February, expecting them in April or May, and it's not the first time I've had to wait much longer for something than I had thought. [Coronado, bless their hearts, were months longer than I expected; now I have my 60 mm. H-alpha filter and it's SO COOL, I don't care HOW long I'd have had to wait...]

It's down to days or a few weeks now, have heart, and I'm sure in six months you won't even remember being impatient to get yours.

It seems as if the total obstruction of a very thin vane would be negligible, as a percentage of total obstruction; isn't it atmospheric turbulence surrounding the vane [the vane being differnt in temperature from the air], which causes the diffraction? Not the vane itself?

Has anyone tried mounting a secondary on Baader optical film? A wire suspension would make sense, in that the atmospheric signature would probably be less than with a vane.

James Adams

Can anyone tell me if an older 4 1/2" Celestron reflector would have had a spherical or a paraboloid primary? My neighbor picked one up at a garage sale and I'm going to help them refurbish it; I'm curious what kind of performance we might expect when it's done. Thanks...

I have an 8" Mark Harry parabolic mirror and a UO 8" mirror cell which is missing the three support pads. What would be the best replacements for the support pads?

Thanks,

James Adams