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Posts Made By: James Adams

December 10, 2003 05:00 AM Forum: Telescope Making

What kind of wood suitable for wood tripod legs ?

Posted By James Adams
I remember reading that walnut has superior vibration dampening properties, but whether that's true, and by how much, I don't know. I doubt there's a huge difference, except that I'd stay away from really resonant woods, like spruce, bubinga, purpleheart, or anything you'd use for a soundboard in a musical instrument.

January 12, 2004 11:44 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Aluminum to Wood

Posted By James Adams
Leif,

I've used urethane glue [Gorilla, etc.] to glue different things, like vinyl flooring, glass, wood, plastic, metal.

It cures with moisture, from the atmosphere or by dampening the surfaces to be bonded, and it tends to foam a bit sometimes; but it will glue deer guts to a doorknob [i.e., nearly anything!] It has *slight* flexibility when cured.

January 21, 2004 10:18 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

Solar Flare Jan 21 2004

Posted By James Adams
Yes, Robert,

I see it! Amazing! It's 2 PM Pacific and I set up to view about fifteen minutes ago, and it knocked me over.

James Adams

February 8, 2004 12:36 AM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

MS40/BF10 First Light

Posted By James Adams
Randy,

Congrats! You have an easy-to-use, quickly set up rig for observing our nearest star~!

A couple of weeks ago I came home late for lunch and decided to set up my solar scope for a quick look. I was amazed to see the biggest prominence I've ever seen, a huge arch extending a third of the solar diameter into space!

The Sun is always changing, always interesting, and you'll get a lot of enjoyment watching the endless variety of events. Just wait 'til you see a big solar flare in real time! Turning from orange to yellow, to white as it blazes out in Doppler-shifted wavelengths. It's almost alive...

James Adams

March 8, 2004 07:54 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Lee Stock - You 'da Man!

Posted By James Adams
Here's a trick for finding a good square in the hardware store: try them against each other, insides-to-outsides. When you find two that agree perfectly, they're both perfect.

James Adams

March 23, 2004 05:29 AM Forum: Binoviewers

Mr.Gutman, you got some 'splaining to do

Posted By James Adams
Glen,

"Copyright infringement" issues aren't Jim's. Those were Mr. S's reasons for having yahoo shut down legitimate BV groups, ostensibly because of "copyright infringement" when the real reason was that Mr. S. was posting negative reviews of other manufacturer's products under aliases.

If you like his products, fine, but familiarize yourself with recent history before casting aspersions.

James Adams

April 2, 2004 07:59 AM Forum: Telescope Making

4" F15 Refractor Should I?

Posted By James Adams
Bill,

The price seems a bit high, but not much. If the objective is as nice as they are reputed to be, you should get a lot of satisfaction from it.

I have a 4" f 15 Vixen Research Grade achromat OTA on a GM-8, and get much satisfaction from it. It's an excellent planetary scope, comparing very well with larger SCT's.

I typically take several scopes out to local viewing sites, but wind up doing more viewing with the 4" than the others because of the simplicity of setup and quality of views.

James Adams

April 15, 2004 07:53 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Folded refractor construction advice

Posted By James Adams
The biscuit joiner might be a problem on the curved surfaces. You might cut a piece of 4" tube material at the correct angle and then trace the outline on the 6" tube. Then, leaving enough to get a good glue joint, cut out the 6" tube. As long as there's good surface contact between the tube sections you could use wood glue and wrap the assembly with bicycle innertube strips until it dries.

James Adams

June 2, 2004 10:09 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

RTMC trip report (long)

Posted By James Adams
RonBee,

I wish they offered nametags at RTMC, as I'd like to have met you.

There were more vendors than last year, though maybe fewer amateurs, due to the moon.

Friday night viewing was terrible, as a fast-moving weather front moved clouds through quickly, though after the moon set the sky was fabulous, with the Milky Way straight overhead.

Saturday night was adequate, mostly dominated by the Moon.

Solar viewing was good, the altitude affording clear and sharp views in H-alpha. I was on Refractor Corner, AKA Solar Corner [five H-alpha scopes on one corner], AKA PAS Corner [Peninsula Astronomical Society, our club turf].

I don't know how RTMC compares to TSP, Stellafane, etc., but I always have a very good time there. You can be sitting next to Dick Buchroeder at lunch, chatting with David Levy or Al Nagler. Everyone I've talked with has been friendly and informative.

My son, who's twelve, and I, always have fun. He does the YMCA Camp activities during the day, and goes from scope to scope at night, learning and enjoying the friendly vibes.

Sorry it wasn't that great for you.

James Adams

June 17, 2004 01:20 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

In praise of Orion's customer service.

Posted By James Adams
Srinivas,

I'm glad you had a good experience with Orion's tech dep't. I didn't.

James Adams

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