Posts Made By: Robert Apruzese

The problem with a typical mak-cass (meaning not made by AP) is the large secondary obstruction. If you live in an area with good to great seeing, they are great scopes. If you live in CT, like me, the seeing can be terrible. Then the large first diffraction ring merges with the airy disk to form the "airy blob". I had a Intes-micro 7" Mak-cass with certified 1/8 wavefront optics. Wonderful scope. Except 90% of the nights the seeing was so bad you couldn't even form an airy disk. On nights like that, deep sky observing is the thing to do, but the mak-cass has such a narrow field it is not suitable for that. In short, a great scope that for 90% of the time, like the vice-presidency, wasn't worth a pitcher of warm spit.

To everyone who has posted in this forum: This is just a rerun of the last 2 year's refractor fiascos. Get over it, move on, get a LIFE, and to H... with BO. BO is the P.T. Barnum of astronomy..there is a sucker born every minute.

George, get yourself a long 2" quality Newtonian focuser. Get an oversized elliptical diagonal, and mount both as if the objective lens were a mirror. Seal the focuser end of the tube, as there will be no focuser there any more. In one operation you will have removed the entire length of the traditional refractor focuser, you will have right angle viewing, and you may be able to cut the tube down even more since the light cone has been sent "up" instead of "out". To the best of my knowledge, this is my original idea, although I have never executed it. I have thought this out thoroughly, so if you decide to do this, send me a note via astromart and I can help you with diagonal size, where to get a good one as well as a good focuser, alignment, etc.

The TEC scope is oil spaced, which is easier to produce. Plus they may, (and I say may, since I don't know) be choosing to use an all spherical design and/or
use the oil spacing to lessen the need to fully polish the surfaces that conract the oil. For an explanation of all this, see the following website:
http://www.freeweb.hu/gpuoptical/WhyOilSpaced.html
As far as Markus & company, he charges what the market will bear, which is good since it insures ample supply of the product, but I am sure the air spaced design of the TMB's has something to do with the high cost. Again, see the link I have provided.

Although I am not in what Roland would
consider to be his "market", I have been dabbling in amateur astronomy since the 60's; (actually the late 50's (anyone remember the sunrise solar eclipse in the northeast US on 10/01/1959 ? I do.)
Anyway, to my point: Back then, and for years to come, good refractor optics almost always meant German (Zeiss, ridiculous prices, still ridiculous) or Japanese (Then Goto, now Vixen and Tak). If anyone had told me that by the end of the century there would be an AMERICAN company that had met, and by many opinions, beaten the Germans and Japanese at their own best game, I would have said "YOUR NUTS!!" Now, being a visual guy, I am not in the market for an AP scope, even if I could afford one, or outlive the wait. But I am very happy that AP exists, that Roland has shown that there are Americans left with the brains, physical skill, and patience to make great optics here in the USA, and that foreigners (no predjudice intended) have no monopoly on such talent. Also, kudos to Barry Greiner at D & G, who makes achromats equal to any in the world today.

There is a Criterion Dynascope group web site here: http://home.wmis.net/~rv6/

I grew up in Newington, CT, about 7 miles south of 331 Church Street, Hartford, CT. I was born in 1951. Your post brings back many fond memories. Until I was 10 years old, I thought Dynascope was a synonym for Telescope. My brother, who was inspired to get a PhD in Astronomy, still has an old 4" Dynascope, circa 1964. It witnessed the total solar eclipse of March7, 1970 on Nantucket Island. My brother and I, courtesy of our father, visited the Criterion showroom, many times, especially around Christmas time, when a new telescope was always high on a wish list (not all Christmas scopes were trash, some were Dynascopes!) I keep telling myself that one of these days I will get myself an RV-6 with a great mirror. Well, maybe now is the time. We should never forget the contribution to amateur astronomy of the Criterions, Caves, Edmunds, and many other small but great companies that made fine scope affordable to kids peddling newspapers and getting 25 cent weekly allowances.