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Posts Made By: Paul Kammueller

July 16, 2003 11:53 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

PLEASE STOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!

Posted By Paul Kammueller
Okay, equipment. Now let's debate the merits of secondary sizing.

>duck<

;-D

July 18, 2003 06:38 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

telescope Warm up

Posted By Paul Kammueller
A cooling-down mirror has two problems:

1) heat waves rising off the face of the mirror
2) shape-changing of the mirror due to different parts of the mirror cooling at different rates (center vs. edge, etc.)

A warming-up mirror has the second problem, but not the first, since cooled air from the mirror will be sinking off the backside instead of rising in front. You will still get wavefront distortion from the mirror being the wrong 'shape' while it's equilibriating.

July 18, 2003 10:05 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Re: A Good Deal?

Posted By Paul Kammueller
Bottom line: you're dealing with someone you don't know, who has no feedback history to speak of, for an item you haven't yet seen, costing thousands of dollars.

The seller is refusing escrow, the only potential assurance you've got, and the best excuse he can come up with is "Mom" is impatient for money that isn't even hers. Refusing escrow, for any reason, let alone a reason as bad as this, on a transaction of this magnitude simply is not a reasonable proposition under these circumstances.

There's more red flags flying here than in Tianenmen Square.

July 20, 2003 04:07 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Dobs and Light Pollution

Posted By Paul Kammueller
Something else to consider: if you have a big dob, you can get further with a light pollution filter. Since such a filter works by filtering out certain wavelengths, it will necessarily dim galaxies too (since those objects gan their brightness from the full visible spectrum), but if you're sucking in more light with a big dob then you have more light to 'waste' in the filtering process.

July 21, 2003 02:43 AM Forum: Telescope Making

6" mirror manufacturers

Posted By Paul Kammueller
These are Mark Harry's specialty (he can do bigger ones too). He's known for making absolutely bulletproof planetary mirrors, and he's an Astromart sponsor besides.

http://hometown.aol.com/maralees/myhomepage/business.html



July 21, 2003 07:40 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

First Look at Mars

Posted By Paul Kammueller
I know exactly what you mean. That first view of something as familiar and visibly identifiable as ice, on a body so alien and foreign, something feels incredibly weird about it and makes it so much more familiar somehow in a very alien sort of way. You remember it like your first sight of Saturn's rings or first view of Jupiter's belts.

My first view of martian ice was 1984. After a hiatus from planetary astronomy through most of the 90's, I am seriously getting into Mars observing for the first time since the opposition of 1988. Good to see Mars again.

July 22, 2003 06:26 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Siliconed Mirror

Posted By Paul Kammueller
The cell is cooling before the mirror does. As a result it's 'tugging' on your mirror until the mirror and cell are both the same temperature.

July 22, 2003 07:33 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Your first scope?

Posted By Paul Kammueller
My first telescope was a 60mm Montgomery Wards refractor my parents gave me for Christmas in 1980.

With this I first saw Jupiter's moons and saw the planet as a disc for the first time. Also saw Saturn's rings for the first time, edge-on, as a line going through a little white circle. With some determination I also found M13 in Hercules, and the Andromeda galaxy.


July 23, 2003 07:03 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Taking a Trip to Hawaii.. the Big Island

Posted By Paul Kammueller
Just don't do like my friend did and get talked into buying a timeshare there at some high-pressure sales pitch. Or you won't be buying any telescope stuff for a while. :-)

July 25, 2003 04:03 AM Forum: Telescope Making

DOB total weight

Posted By Paul Kammueller
Sounds about right to me too, had a 14.5" truss dob that was right in that ballpark too

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