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Philip Imbrogno

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Posts Made By: Philip Blanda

June 30, 2005 06:28 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Is it worth it to refigure?

Posted By Philip Blanda
No, don't touch the mirror! A strehl of 0.93 is very good. If the mirror truly has this figure, than your issues are either thermal issues, or a bad secondary (or collimation, etc.). I would not touch a scope that has a real strehl of 0.93 - it is equivalent to 1/6 to 1/7 Peak Valley wavefront - a good mirror.

Eric Pellegrini said:
It has a strehl ratio of .93 but...
...Should I do it?
Eric

July 30, 2005 01:20 PM Forum: Eyepieces

What do you think of Pentax SMC-XW 20mm et Celestr

Posted By Philip Blanda
The Pentax XW series occulars are fantastically good. Super coatings, wide well correted field, good colour correction across the field, beautifully sharp. A wonderful eyepiece.

I really wanted them to work in my binoviewer because of their optical excellence. Unfortunately they are physically too large - my nose got in the way. I could not use them in a binoviewer.

Some people do use them in binoviewers, sometimes by removing the eyecups, which in the XW series screw off. However, why buy a superior occular only t remove the eyecup and subject your view to stray light.

I sold my 14mm Pentax XW's, and bought a pair of Televue 14mm Radians. Almost as good, and they work well in a binoviewer. I would have been deliriously happy with the optical properties of the Radians if I hadn't already had a pair of XW's, as it is I wish for an occular with the physical size of the Radians, and the optics of a Pentax XW.

jean bruno said:
Also, I want to use them in a binoviewer.

August 10, 2005 02:27 PM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

My kids 8 & 10 years old

Posted By Philip Blanda
Beautiful children, nice scope! They look *very* happy.

Do they like observing with their Daddy?

rick langerman said:

My kids and my new scope.

August 20, 2005 12:23 AM Forum: Star Parties

Anyone going to the Black Forest Star Party?

Posted By Philip Blanda
I'm going - just made it under the wire. Taking my family too, we are all excited! I'll have my AP 160EDF, my 7 yr old son will have his Orion XT4.5, my 5 yr old daughter will have my 1968 50mm f/12 Tasco tabletop, and my wife will have a headache (just kidding dear).

I will be in her debt, however.

August 23, 2005 07:29 PM Forum: Astro-Physics

AP160EDF ronchi test

Posted By Philip Blanda
What does this mean? How does one interpret a Ronchi-gram?

September 8, 2005 11:39 AM Forum: Refractors

Polarex/Unitron 4" alt-az

Posted By Philip Blanda
Beautiful scope. I've never looked through a Unitron, but back in early 1970's I often used an Edmunds 4" refractor that my school had. It was f/15 IIRC.

Do tell more about your dew heater on the front. It looks like you have some sort of blue foam around the objective cell.

November 4, 2005 02:39 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Equipment

Posted By Philip Blanda
I just checked - it wasn't pulled, just moved. No heavy handed moderation at all. Good job!

December 9, 2005 06:59 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

TMB 105 LW vs SV-105 vs Tak FS-102II

Posted By Philip Blanda
The Tak will cooldown faster, which may be important where you live. The TMB and SV have the same lens, so the choice between them is mechanics & price.

For a pure visual scope, I'd get the Tak - but consider the microedge fine focuser.

Philip

December 26, 2005 10:25 PM Forum: Binoviewers

Sharpest Binoviewer results?

Posted By Philip Blanda
I have a the Baader Mk. V binoviewer. One of the reasons I choose it was for it's superb optical and mechanical quality - second to none. It is less convenient to switch powers with it than the Denk system as the the specially designed glasspath compensators screw in tha nosepiece and barlows/amplifiers have to be manually added as well.

However this is an advantage optically. I can choose extremely high quality barlows/amplifiers, such as the AP Barcon or the Baader FFC. While they are less easy to use than the Denk power swicth, I know the optical quality of my components and can switch them out if something better comes along.

You have a TEC140, a really high quality APO. If you can try it, a Baader Binoviewer is a great accesory for such a scope. Anacortes sells them, BTW!

Philip

December 30, 2005 04:37 PM Forum: Mounts

EQ6 SynScan as good as any?

Posted By Philip Blanda
The AP mounts are not spec'd to 2-3. The 900 is spec'd to better than 7 arcseconds p-p and the 1200 to 5 arcseconds p-p. Folks are claiming the EQ6 has similair performance as the 900. Does it? Given the level of slop I've seen in these type mounts so far, I suspect not even close.


Albert Garcia said:
They are NOT 2-3 arc seconds like AP/high end TAK mounts.

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