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Lawrence Parchman

Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

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Posts Made By: Mark Holden

January 18, 2006 03:33 AM Forum: A Day in the Life of the Administrator

Opinion, anyone?

Posted By Mark Holden
Mark Lancaster said:

I've responded to several "for sale" ads over the past year, to which I have never received any reply even after a follow-up email or two. Classified #400585 is one recent example.

Why would anyone post an ad, and then never respond? Why not mark the item sold, if indeed it was sold, or delete the ad entirely so as to not be bothered by all those pesky emails?

Sorry, it's been cloudy for days, so I guess I'm grumpy....

Mark

What kind of reply do you normally send?

If you ask too many questions, sound like you're not seriously interested, or it sounds like the sale to you will be complicated, they may ignore you.

It's also possible your email is filtering their replies.

January 18, 2006 02:36 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Tube material for refractor project

Posted By Mark Holden
Chris Brown said:

Hi, All!
I recently bought a 95mm f4.1 triplet on astromart, and I also found a suitable focuser...
My question is, what should I fashion the tube from? PVC?, ALU?
Have any of you had luck with this kind of project?
Thanks for any advice given!
Chris Brown

If you'd like to try phenolic, you might look at "airframes" on this website:

< https://secure.consumersinterest.com/pml/ >

They sell large high powered model rocket parts.

January 19, 2006 12:32 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Any info on the Chromacorr refractor?

Posted By Mark Holden
John Meiners said:

Going to pose an inquiry in the "refrator" forum section just in case someone there has heard something. This is a type of achromat that is being made by "Aries Instruments". Less false color on bright objects, APO resolution... thanks, John M

They stopped making them to develop new versions that would be easier for the end user to install and set up properly.

IIRC, the new ones were supposed to be available last summer, but perhaps the challenge was greater than they expected.


January 20, 2006 02:45 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Televue to raise prices.........

Posted By Mark Holden
Jay Emirzian said:

Hi all,
I was on the phone with a retail shop yesterday and they told me that Televue was planing on raising there prices as of Feb 1st. Has anyone heard about this increase?

Jay

It seems like a curious way of dealing with increased competition from the Burgess/TMB eyepieces.

The BO/TMB planetaries are getting very good reviews, and are less than half the price of a Radian.

The BO/TMB "Paragon" eyepieces have a field of view similar to a Panoptic. The 40mm one will be about half the price of a 41 Panoptic.


January 21, 2006 01:24 PM Forum: Refractors

Cracking apart an 8 inch lens!!!!!!

Posted By Mark Holden
Here is an article that may give you some information about your lens.

< http://sci.tech-archive.net/Archive/sci.astro.amateur/2004-12/0671.html >




January 22, 2006 04:28 AM Forum: Politics

Eminent Domain in Action

Posted By Mark Holden
The folks who are promoting the "lost liberty hotel" on the property currently owned by Justice Souter are doing it as a protest of his vote in the Kelo case.

Souter, Stevens, Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Breyer all voted against the property rights of individuals in that case.

For more information about the "hotel", see:

< http://txfx.net/2005/06/28/the-lost-liberty-hotel/ >





January 22, 2006 06:34 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Illuminated Reticle Eyepieces

Posted By Mark Holden
Chuck Burton said:

I need an illuminated reticle eyepiece for my recently acquired 12X80 finderscope. The finder takes 1.25" eyepieces, but all I can find are 12mm (and shorter f.l.) reticle eyepieces. I can't seem to locate an illuminated reticle eyepiece that's 20 - 25mm. Anyone here know where I can find one? TIA for any referrals! - Chuck

Siebert Optics offers 26mm and 35mm ones for $119.

< http://www.siebertoptics.com/SiebertOptics-illuminated-1.25in-eyepieces.html >

I know nothing about them other than they're a new product.

January 24, 2006 04:54 PM Forum: Refractors

Airline Portable Setup

Posted By Mark Holden
Joseph Edwards said:

All,

My new job looks like its going to have a lot of opportunities for travel to the southwest so I'm looking at purchasing either the Orion 80ED or a WO scope as a travel companion to replace my current ST80. My big concern though is getting a stable mount that is also airline friendly. Any suggestions?

They make luggage for the Sphinx.

The case for the GM8 is not large enough to hold the mount with the motors attached.

January 24, 2006 11:58 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

How do I get the mirror to shine again

Posted By Mark Holden
Hugh Peck said:

Charles,

Since he states at the end that it came out great I presume he's joking.

Hugh

Years ago at Stellafane, I discovered a guy two camp sites over using "elbow grease", Soft Scrub and paper towels to clean the corrector plate on his C8.


January 25, 2006 03:53 PM Forum: Meade

New 5" ED refractor

Posted By Mark Holden
Don Joski said:

Does anybody know if the new 80mm and 127mm ed refractors are manufactured in Irvine, CA or elsewhere in the US? I certainly would like to get one in May but I'd opt for the WO 105mm triplet if the Meade refractors are manufactured elsewhere.

Thanks for info.

Don

I've read they're being made in China.

Here's a thread that discusses them.

< http://www.astromart.com/forums/viewpost.asp?forum_post_id=404168&poll_id=&news_id=&page= >

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