"Starboard" wrote in message
oups.com...
Part of a response (by Jan Owen) to one of my earlier post (1.25' v's
2" accessories) was:

I have completely refurbished this scope over the years, adding top
quality mirror cells, exquisite mirrors (primary by Mike Spooner,
certified secondary by Antares).

Is it common for experienced astronomers to change out their perfectly
good "stock" mirrors with "after-market" mirrors strictly for higher
performance? Jan states "top quality... exquisite mirrors." Are
Spooner mirrors better than stock mirrors or just good substitutes when
replacements are necessary; as was her situation?

E.g. swapping a perfectly good Rochester Quadrajet carburetor with a
Holly 750, or, a stock Fender pick-up with a Texas special... Just
curious...

Errol
NOLA


Last time I checked, I was a male. And I haven't had any surgery today...

And replacement of the Meade mirror wasn't a NECESSITY. I replaced the
optics as the final step in making this scope capable of delivering visual
images as good as physically possible for a scope of this size.

So... two incorrect assumptions right up front...

For folks who know, use, and appreciate fine optics, there is a difference
between factory standard mirrors, and nearly perfect mirrors made by fine
craftsmen, though to the inexperienced observer, there may be no obvious
difference. It IS possible for a factory mirror to approach perfection.
But it doesn't happen all the time. The vast majority of mirrors coming
from the various OEM makers will do a very nice job for most of their
customers. Not an EXQUISITE job, but a very good job.

Some folks CAN tell the difference, and others probably never will...
Meade parabolic mirrors made in their Irvine facility, have generally been
quite good over the years, and my experience with Meade goes back over 25
years. There have been a (very) few that were not. The one I replaced
was quite good. I also have an Orion mirror for this scope that was made
by Discovery Telescopes back when they made Orion's scopes. IT is quite
good. Both of these mirrors are (still) about as good as you could hope
from semi-production line scope mirrors.

But there's another group of mirror makers whose specialty is directed
solely at making mirrors for folks who know how good mirrors CAN be, and
they make mirrors for those folks, who will gladly pay commensurate with
their quality. Carl Zambuto is one of those. So is Mike Spooner. There
are several others.

After you have been at this for awhile, you will understand.

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.6
Longitude: -112.3