On 12 Aug 2003 12:34:21 GMT, (Jon Isaacs) wrote:


If you want to build a scope, I think a Newtonian is the way to go, Edmunds is
not the place to buy. In either case. One can buy a simple Chinese Achromat
for less than it would cost to build the same thing


Yeah, but it wouldn't be as fun! I still think it would be great to
attempt a rather large refractor. Back in the 1960s I seem to recall
that Edmund had optical glass grinding kits (??).


Sitll wondering if you have looked at the Nextstar 11 GPS in person, sometimes
those nice catalogs and webpages do convey size very well.


Yes, and the Meades as well. They seem to be everywhere. Even a local
Ace Hardware stocks Celestrons. I've not had a chance to use one for
night viewing. Alas, if Celestron and Meade are my only budgetary
choices in a 10-12" GPS SC scope, and if all the positive comments
I've heard so far are accurate, then I think my chances are pretty
good. And given the XLT improvements, I have great anticipation.

A Celestron tech support guy finally called me back and confirmed that
NexStar 11 optics all meet minimum spec (1/4 wave?), but also
confirmed that certain scopes off the line can be better than others.
He knew of no way to order "select" optics.

BTW, FWIW, one of the Celestron dealers told me that, for the last 2-3
months, Celestron has been shipping XLT coated scopes (9.25, 11, 14)
as non-XLT scopes. Something to do with assuring "real world" process
and quality control. Apparently, you can tell if it's XLT by a small
pink sticker on the telescope and (of course) the color of the glass.