Aftermarket v's Factory supplied mirrors

Jan Owen wrote:


I did use the term refurbish. And some of that was what I did... I
replaced, or upgraded, if you will, some of the lesser parts (focuser -
TWICE, spider and secondary holder, primary cell - but ended up moving
back to the original, and added a 9X60 finder in place of the original),
and then replaced some of the replacements, when even BETTER parts became
available (there have been many opportunities for this; this scope is 25
years old).


What was the scope originally, Jan?


It's a disease that strikes folks in this hobby

The hobby has so many diseases. The trick is not to get hooked by ALL
of them :-)

Phil

"Phil Wheeler" wrote in message
news
Jan Owen wrote:


I did use the term refurbish. And some of that was what I did... I
replaced, or upgraded, if you will, some of the lesser parts
(focuser -
TWICE, spider and secondary holder, primary cell - but ended up moving
back to the original, and added a 9X60 finder in place of the
original),
and then replaced some of the replacements, when even BETTER parts
became
available (there have been many opportunities for this; this scope is
25
years old).


What was the scope originally, Jan?


It's a disease that strikes folks in this hobby

The hobby has so many diseases. The trick is not to get hooked by ALL
of them :-)

Phil

A Meade Model 826.

--
Jan Owen

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

I can relate. I am, as I probably stated before, a hobby guitarist of
20 years. I am down to 11 guitars. I am making due (feel me) with 11
guitars. I have had over 25 in my lifetime. A guitarophile!

One thing that I've learned (and this will probably shed light on why I
asked the question 1.25" vs 2" in the first place) is that I only
arrive at the right answer after having made all possible mistakes.

My mistakes began with cheap guitars and cheap accessories. They'd
perform ok, until I'd get around someone with quality equipment. Then
I'd want to trash my gear (sell at a loss) and buy new, better gear. Of
course after it was all said and done, I could of bought two sets of
nice gear with all the money I had wasted learning.

Errol
NOLA

... all the money I had wasted learning.

You spent, and you learned. Doesn't sound so bad. I know a guy who
researches the hell out of everything - took him a couple of days to buy a
claw hammer.

Dennis

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...

Several of our members have purchased scopes, used them until the first
re-coating is necessary, then re-figured them to their own requirements.
Some then sell them on at a profit. I, along with many others ground mine
from scratch to better than +/- 1/25 wave (not uncommon) but seeing only
allows it to perform to its full potential a few nights in the year.
Obviously the rest of the optical components have to be of similar quality,
1/20 fused quartz secondary and a Zeiss ortho give superb views,
occasionally ;-)
jc