Posts Made By: Mark hoefler

Hey Folks, I started following another one of my passions about two years ago. I am now up to my eyeballs in vacuum tube amplifiers and such.
Currently using my own home built push-pull-parallel 6v6gt monoblock tube amps. Only about 18 watts each for output, but what an incredible sound.

Anyone else?

Lets have it folks!

Since the economy seems to be one of the major points of this election, and of current affiars, what are the two political standpoints being rallied behind.

What do the republicas state as how to fix it? What do the democrats state as how to fix it?

Reagonomics doesn't work - the trickle down affect is just to little of a trickle. My opinion of course.

Spending our way out of a recession(depression) doesn't work either.

Although, I once thought atht Obama had information that stated there was no way to fix the economy. If that were in fact true, and we were bankrupt, then dumping a huge amount of resources into infrastucture makes sense. In other words, if we are bankrupt and going to have to claim bankruptcy, use the credit until it is gone. Once the infrastructure is in place, we could probably rebuild. This is a little off the deep end, but it hit me this way one day some time ago.

So, who wants to throw the first punch?

Hey Folks,
First I want to say that I used to be a VERY active member of Astromart. I lost my vision for awhile due to MS, but have recovered a fair bit. I was in the top 20 users at one time, but I let my account lapse. I have only recently returned. I don't want you guys to think I ma just a newbie picking your brains for nothing.

Anyway, I have always heard that the Cave scopes were pretty good. I had seen pictures of the scopes but I have never actually seen or looked through one before. Today I was at a swap meet and stumbled onto a 10" f/6. I paid a little more than a song for it.

But, it needs a lot of TLC.

I am wondering what to do here. I could restore the mount(a magnusson 1.5" shaft with clock drive), restore the tube, get new coatings and so forth. I could get an astrosystems or other type truss kit. I could just fix the tube and put it on a dob box.

Can anyone share an opinion of what they would do with this scope? It at very least must have the coatings redone. This mirror was manufactured Oct. 18, 1968.

So what would you do? How good are the typical cave optics? Are they worth investing into a good truss kit? And finally, would anyone care to make a modern comparison, something g like cave compares to Pegasus,zambuto, Ostahauski(sp?), or...

I am just trying to get feel for what I have to work with here.

Thanks in advance.
Mark

Hey folks,
I am trying to return to my first childhood hobby. Astronomy. At one time I was in the top user list here on astromart. I lost my vision for awhile(damm MS) but I still have some. I have been gone for several years, at least inactive.

I just renewed today(purple), I want to see how it goes before I commit to full year member ships. I do have a question. It says I have 40 ads left. I suspect this means that with the current system, I can only place "x" many ads depending on my membership level. Is this correct? Secondly, do "wanted" ads count in that 40?

I am going to be looking for many ATM items. My twin boys and I are about to build several 6" f/5 newts.

Anyway, hello and I hope to be around for awhile.
Mark Hoefler
Littleton Colorado
My former user name was hoefler4 IIRC

Hey Folks,
Has anyone here ever heard of or seen a Criterion 6" f/15ish refractor before? I have a line on one but thought I better ask before I pull the trigger on it.
Thanks!!!
Mark

Hey Folks,
I just pulled the trigger on one of these. I should get it in a few weeks. I'll post pictures and impressions when I get it.

Anyone here have the luxury of using one of these?

Until sooner................
Mark

I saw an except on the news the otehr day about methanol. Supposedly can be produced for about $1.25 a gallon. Cars(some) can be rerofitted for about $100. Only p[roblem, no stations are set up to dispense it for now. I'd love to see this happen. Totally break our dependance on the mid east crud.

Doug, several observation here.
1. Do all liberals think this way? Is it fair to lump all liberals together because of one individual? Stating that liberalism is "braindamage" has a certain inflamatory effect.

2. Has the information here been accurately presented in its full context?

3. Does it have a political bias from its source(not you but the write of the story)?

All that aside, the idea of giving mother nature the same status as "personhood" is nuts - that is to say the least.

Mark

I just bought a couple of conn organ amps off another forum. I'll get them in a few days. I'll conveert them to hi-fi free standing monoblocks soon. They'll be 6L6 push-pull types.

I am digging out the basement after getting some new carptets. I'll post some pics of what I have built so far.

William Paolini said:

Questions are:
1. Does being religious or following a religion make one a better person?
2. Should being religious or following a religion make one a better person?

Of course to answer the context of the question the baseline standard is acts and actions by people that are not in the name of religion. So should not be hard to be better given how entirely awful and destructive people are for the host of non-religious reasons that have spawned wars and conflicts and genocides through the ages that have been done in the name of country, power, wealth, position, money, and control.So is it a reasonable expectation for a social consequence of religion to make the people live together more harmoniously, or is it just defining a set of conducts and morals and laws that would be broken with or without the framework in place?

Some people I've run across seem to think that religious should be better than the norm for a population or culture. I'm not so sure this is a reasonable expectation.

btw - not a hypothetical question as this question was asked recently, during a real-life conversation. Not gonna tell you what their motivation was for asking, nor their opinion, not just yet anyway

Bill, I read this many times. It could be taken several ways. I am not sure what yo;u mean.

I am going to answer to what I think you are asking. I think you are asking that if a person is a religious person, will they be a better person. "Better person" you did not define. As many of you know I ma an AA. This does not mean I do not value the teachings of Christ. I think his teaching are some of the best guidelines for humans ever recorded.

IIRC his first and foremost commandment was to love your neighbor as you would Christ himself. Since I think this is what you mean by being a better person I will answer it in this format.

I have known many people(like all of us have). Those who say they are religious and those who say they are not. Although religious people say they will hold to the commandments and the virtues, they do not always succeed. Some sincerely try and fail. Others are outright hypocrites. So, to "BE" religious without being a hypocrite, you must put a sincere effort into following Christ's teachings. I believe that if you do this, then you are absolutely a better person.

Here is where I part a little in beliefs from others. I myself have sincerely searched and journeyed(I am always on the search for the truth) through my life looking for the truth, I do not believe in a god as taught by any human facility.

I still follow Christ's teachings. They make sense. I know many people who are just like me. So, you do not have to be religious to be a good or a "better person".

Anyone who dedicates himself to the love, charity, compassion, and respect of his fellow man, and also holds integrity foremost in his heart, is a BETTER person. Likewise, those that do not, no matter what they say, are not.

MY $0.02 worth.