Tom Rauschenbach wrote:
On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 01:37:36 -0800, rat ~( ); wrote:


I think you've pretty much described, for a picky person, the
difference between Televue and Celestron.
Oh yeah, you might as well skip Meade, too...

rat
~( );

I took a look at the telescope in daylight for the first time and the
mirror looks perfect, except for some dust. Whatever was wiped across
the mirror is only visible under direct illumination with a flashlight.
(I take it Celestron doesn't inspect its scopes in a dark room with a
flashlight...)

I talked to Astronomics and they said that the flashlight test in a dark
room was a very difficult test for any SCT and even their Questar MCTs
usually have dust and swirl marks visible under a flashlight.

I'll leave the issues logged with Celestron and Astronomics just in case
and I'll at least give it a try under the stars to see how it does.

I think I'll stick to buying scopes from a local dealer and inspect them
on the spot from now on. I now appreciate the time and care that went
into my two refractors a bit more.

--
Clear Skies,
Paul Murphy

(remove gemini to email me)