Posts Made By: Bill Byrd

Okay, how many of you like wide angle views, using a so called RFT (Richest Field Telescope)? I've always loved the views through a short focal length scope. The MW, especially, is a wonder of rich star areas cut by dark lanes lacking any stars at all. The dark nebula in and around Sagittarius are spectacular when viewed through an RFT.

I've used many different RFTs over the years but I think I've found one that is truly a "stellar" performer. I like wide fields of view but I dislike the poor star images at the edge of the FOV of most "fast" scopes. I recently acquired a Meade 8" f/4 Schmidt-Newt to see how it would perform as an RFT. It did okay, for an f/4, just as it was. Stars at the edge of the FOV (outer 25% or so) were not too good. Soooo...in went the PC, making the scope an f/4.6. The edge stars were really cleaned up by the PC! I loved it!! Yeah, at f/4.6 I've sacrificed some FOV but the tight stars at the edge make it worth it. And I'm still getting 1.5 or 2.4 degrees of coverage with my 2 most used EPs in this scope. That's plenty wide for me.

Attached is a pic of the scope where you can see the PC + EP sticking *way* out there to the side.

Anyway, try wide field viewing and if you have a Meade SN, try a PC in it. I think you'll like it!
Bill in SA

Hi all you ATMers! Herb has graciously allowed me to be responsible for this group so I'll do my best to keep us all on the straight and narrow ATM path. I'll refer to the Terms of Service when necessary to keep things focused but I don't think that will need to happen very often, given the quality of the posters here.

Over the years I've made scopes of 4.25", 6", 8", 10" and 14.5" size. I'm not a glass pusher so I acquire good mirrors and build a scope around them.

My last, and hopefully greatest, ATM effort is about to begin. To explain: I'm pushing 50 years of age and have decided to make my dream scope based on my capabilities physically and as an ATMer. I thought long and hard about the scope that will be my piece de resistance. I have been using the 14.5" scope, built 3 years ago, and it is at the limit weigh-wise of what I want to handle when traveling to dark sites. About 18 months ago I saw an 18.75" cellular mirror for sale on, where else, Astromart. After working out a deal, it took several months to get the mirror from Canada to south Texas.

This mirror is made with two thin plates separated by vertical glass posts. This keeps the weight lower than a solid mirror and also allows for very quick cool down. The cellular 18.75" mirror weighs about the same as the solid 14.5" mirror.

My plan is to build a semi-lightweight design with a minimal upper ring and very low rocker box. This should allow the 18.75" scope to have a lighter mirror box than the current 14.5" scope. Hopefully I'll be able to handle the bigger scope easier than the current 14.5" scope!

As received, the mirror was not as well figured as I wanted for my "scope-of-a-lifetime". I'm fortunate that Pegasus Optics is just 30 miles away and John Hall is a great guy and agreed to "tweak" the figure for me. It took a while but the mirror was finally done, with exquisite numbers, and sent to the coaters a couple of weeks ago.

After a 12 hour work day today, I arrived home to find the big cardboard box waiting for me! I opened the box just enough to see if the mirror was in pieces after the trip to the coater and back. As far as I can tell, it's okay. I'll unwrap it completely tomorrow and take some pics that I'll post so you all can see what it's like.

Anyone here have experience with cellular mirrors?

Sorry to ramble so long! I'll try to be more concise in the future.
Bill

Hi Hugh!
A filter slide or something like this might work. A slide, or swing in my case, allows the filter to be in or out for any or all EPs. Doing one of these in a 6" scope might be tough though.
Bill

In looking through some pics on the internet today, I pulled up a nice photo of M12 and was making a note to myself to revisit this GC when I noticed a pair of faint, interacting (possibly?) galaxies near the outer edges of the cluster. You can see them at the 8 o'clock position in this photo by Peter Erdman.

http://www.buytelescopes.com/gallery/view_photo.asp?pid=5808&sg=9

In a quick search of the net and my sky software, I didn't find anything on these galaxies.

Sooo...first, has anyone seen these faint fuzzies visually and second, does anyone have a reference that might give me some info such as magnitudes and whether or not these are interacting?
Thanks!
Bill in SA

Hi All!
I'm thinking that I will have a commercial cell made for my 18.75" cellular mirror. Cell does not have to be too fancy as the structure is pretty stiff. I'm thinking of a cell that would allow the entire cell, or just the mirror, to be removed for transport.

Any suggestions on vendors for custom cell work?
Just curious,
Bill

[COLOR="Purple"]Soooo....it seems that there are at least 3 of us here with Jean-Guy Morreau cellular mirrors; myself, Preston and David. Anyone else have a cellular mirror, Morreau or otherwise? Anyone have a cellular mirror mounted and in use? I hope to have mine in use by later this fall.
Just curious,
Bill[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Purple"]On a certain large auction site, there is an intersting looking cellular mirror available. This got me thinking about how many cellular mirror manufacturers there are out there. Stabilite is gone. There's Jean-Guy in Canada. Wonder who makes the blank for sale on that other site? Guess I'll ask that question and see what answer I get.
Bill[/COLOR]

Hi All!
Just got back from a family vacation to the Grand Canyon. One good air quality day and one day with lots of crud in the air from the forest fires. Didn't have time for any star gazing while we were there...too tired and too hot.
Bill in SA

[COLOR="Purple"]Noticed some little guys on my Butterfly Weeds as I was watering this evening. About 1" long.

Suppose they'll grow up to be butterflies and come back to eat at the Butterfly Weed flowers?
Bill in SA[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Purple"]These guys are growing FAST! Since I posted a few days ago, they seem to have quadrupled in size. Here's a pic of one on my hand.
Bill in SA[/COLOR]