Craig MacDougal wrote:

"Twipper090" wrote in message
...
After... oh.... maybe 20 years or so, my first "good" telescope is back in
commission and finally mounted! I got the optics from good ol' Jeagers,
the 6"
f/10 mirror, diagonal and 25mm kellner eyepiece (yes, that's right...
f/10...
what can I say, it was cheaper than the f/8 and I was a poor young
teenager).

No need to make excuses. In '86 I got the 6" f/10, a 1" diagonal and 7mm
Orthoscopic eyepiece from Jaegers. I'm still using it! I wanted to get a
good planet scope for a good price. That's why I got the f/10. Here's an
example of what I did with that rig last year.

http://pages.prodigy.net/macdouc/jupmacd030219.jpg

I'm quite happy with my scope.

Clear Skies,
Craig in Tampa

This almost sounds like me but go back to 1977. According to the March, 1977
issue of Sky and Telescope an A. Jaegers 6" f/10 cost $32.50, while the same
mirror from Coulter Optical is $29.95. I bought the latter. An f/8 mirror cost
about $10 more which seemed like a lot when I was a teenager. From University
Optics I picked up a 40mm Kellner ($15.50) and a 8.4-21mm zoom of unspecified
design ($35.50). I thought the zoom would save compared to buying a bunch of
eyepieces but it suffers from a very narrow field.

After a long hiatus in the basement, Halley's comet is the last time I remember
using it, I pulled out the telescope earlier this year. The old Edmund
Scientific cardboard tube still has some scratches from when I used a folding
chair as a mount. I built a new dobson mount using a design from Berry's "Build
your own telescope". It is much lighter and more portable than the old pipe
fitting mount. Home Depot sold me a half sheet of oak plywood with a water
stain for $1. I put the stain on the inside of the rocker box and the mount
looks nice. I also remounted the primary using the silicon adhesive method
which replaced felt pads and clips. This made a BIG difference in the views.
Apparently the felt pads and clips introduced some astigmatism.

I'm impressed with Craig's drawing. I'm looking forward to Jupiter later this
year. I see you're using a 1" diagonal. Mine's 1.25". I wonder if that makes a
significant difference?

-Frank (in Cincinnati)