Posts Made By: Andrew Riehl

great picture even though it looks like ---well, never mind

Thanks all; that's where I've been the last couple of weeks; getting all this stuff put together. The scope should be in my observatory early next week (I have the entire week off, perhaps the astronomy gods will permit me a good night or two to really crank out something sweet. I do miss the focal length of my 11", but I believe I will be happier with this setup. Now I just have to make a new target list...Any suggestions/requests?

Ok, I admit it, I'm guilty of padding my books...one of the quarters is canadian, and we all know what canadian stuff is worth...

Well, I personally believe it depends on their specific gun models. I'm not TOO experienced with their wide array of offerings, but have some direct experience with a couple of them. My brother in law has one of their 9mm automatics which I have used many times. I personally don't like it. It is an exact clone of beretta's model (I'm not to fond of Beretta's either; I just don't like the design in general, nor am I too fond of 9mm period). The main thing I don't like about the design is that (for me anyway) the ejected brass comes almost straight up and usually lands on the top of my head. Let me tell you, nothing's more annoying than hot brass falling down the back of your collar and rolling down your back. Also at one point a part went defective and left my brother in law with a chunk missing from his hand that needed to be stitched up. Personally, when it comes to automatics, I think other companies do it much better and are worth paying the extra cash for. I have a S&W auto in .40 s&W that I wouldn't trade for the world. Sig, Para-ordinance, Kimber, H&K, Glock, etc. are top notch auto makers as well.
Now I myself do have a small Taurus revolver that I am very happy with; it's a compact .38 special +p in Titanium that is a very nice little gun. It's the main one I carry around with me due to size, weight, etc. I originally was going out to buy S&W's version of the same type of gun, but I liked the feel of the taurus better, it had a lot more extra's (ported barrel, aftermarket rubber grips, etc.) and was a fraction of the price so I gave it a shot. It's a great value in performance vs. price. My overall opinion is this: while I'm sure their technology and manufacturing techniques have improved over the last decade, I think one of their auto's may leave you a little disappointed (this is based on opinions of others I know as well, not just my Brother in law), but their revolvers run right up there with the big dogs and are a good value. I'd personally be hard pressed to reccomend their autos, but would suggest the revolvers to anyone. Any other questions, ask away (guns are the other die-hard interest of mine besides astronomy). Yeeeeeehhhhhaaaaaaaawwwwww!

a beauty!

Probably a different one.--mine was low in the northwest here in PA...

He just had a letter published in s&t this month...I also recall seeing some ads of his possibly making some equipment changes. Perhaps he is just busy...

I'm assuming you're talking about a standard crown/flint achromat? if so and it's the proper scope, then a chromacor would do fine. There are other types of doublets that will show no false color over the visual range (My AP Star 130 ED is an example--in the visual light range of the human eye, it's perfect. In the UV and IR areas, it ain't so hot, but those I always filter out during imaging sessions anyway. The third lens would bring those outer ranges to focus better. Takahashi FS series scopes for example are doublets, only made from fluorite and ED glass. even with a triplet apo, you will still experience some focus shift due to atmospheric refraction; I always refocus my individual colors when rgb imaging. Refocusing on a simple achromatic design will not help, as the blue and extreme red will never quite focus correctly.