Coulter Telescopes

Is the Coulter Company still around. And if so where is their website?

On Sep 11, 5:04 pm, Macro wrote:
Is the Coulter Company still around. And if so where is their website?

No. Coulter (Jim Braginton's California company) went out of business
years ago. The name was sold to another firm, Murnaghan of Florida.
They produced a few Odysseys for a while, but only for a while. My
guess is they figgered (rightly) they could not compete with the other
players in the low-end dob biz.

There was some talk of them reviving the Odysseys a while back, but I
don't think anything ever came of it.

Jim Braginton's (Jacobson's) scopes were not fancy, and there optics
were not ahem top-notch, but he did turn a lot of folks on to the
deep sky in teh 80's and early 90s.

Unk Rod

No. Coulter (Jim Braginton's California company) went out of business
years ago. The name was sold to another firm, Murnaghan of Florida.
They produced a few Odysseys for a while, but only for a while. My
guess is they figgered (rightly) they could not compete with the other
players in the low-end dob biz.

There was some talk of them reviving the Odysseys a while back, but I
don't think anything ever came of it.

Jim Braginton's (Jacobson's) scopes were not fancy, and there optics
were not ahem top-notch, but he did turn a lot of folks on to the
deep sky in teh 80's and early 90s.

A friend of mine who is a professional optician says that one of Coulter's
problems was that they used unanealed glass. The Coulter scopes I've looked
through were enjoyable at 50x but not at 200x. Coulter used to have demo
star parties at their plant in Idyllwild, CA, and I know he sold a lot of
scopes that way, and people seemed to be happy. This was at a time when
anything bigger than an 8-inch scope was a BIG scope and likely to be
extremely expensive, and people could be blown away by sheer light-gathering
power. I always swung by on a Sunday when no one was there, so I never had
a chance to go in the showroom or talk to anybody.
--
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33°27'59"N, 117°05'53"W

"Macro" wrote in message
ups.com...
Is the [Ann] Coulter Company still around. And if so where is their
website?

More importantly, do their adds attack presidential candidates as being
homosexuals? lol

George

Is the [Ann] Coulter Company still around. And if so where is their
website?

More importantly, do their adds attack presidential candidates as being
homosexuals? lol

I know this is an attempt to be funny, but it's worth pointing out that
Coulter Optical was named for the Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri), which
occurs in the area.
--
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33°27'59"N, 117°05'53"W

Curtis Croulet wrote:
A friend of mine who is a professional optician says that one of Coulter's
problems was that they used unanealed glass. The Coulter scopes I've looked
through were enjoyable at 50x but not at 200x.

I know that our local astronomy club had a 17" scope with a mirror
from Coulter Optics, and the mirror was excellent. But it was stolen
in a break-in; it was insured, but the replacement mirror was a
disappointment.

So there were apparently at least some very good mirrors, but I can
see that something like that would impair consistency.

John Savard

Quadibloc wrote:

Curtis Croulet wrote:
A friend of mine who is a professional optician says that one of Coulter's
problems was that they used unanealed glass. The Coulter scopes I've looked
through were enjoyable at 50x but not at 200x.

I know that our local astronomy club had a 17" scope with a mirror
from Coulter Optics, and the mirror was excellent. But it was stolen
in a break-in; it was insured, but the replacement mirror was a
disappointment.

So there were apparently at least some very good mirrors, but I can
see that something like that would impair consistency.

John Savard

agree - our club's Coulter 17.5" is acceptably good optically.
Better than 1/4 wave and no tde. I dont know a person who
remounted their Coulter mirrors into a floation cell who wasnt
very happy. The Am Lunar society's archive shows some fabulous
lunar photos done with Coulters, which predictably people would
not believe. We have an old DS16 gem that I have seriously
thought about hoisting our Coulter on to with an appropriate
saddle. The tube is the old fashioned 'thick' 3/8 hardened
sonotube which time has shown to be very durable (and steady).

If there were a free 17" Coulter would it go unclaimed?

We have used our for years and like it but a floation mirror cell vastly improves
performance.

.. . .

Bag-Ann (the androgenous manic depressive) doesnt make scopes.



George wrote:

"Macro" wrote in message
ups.com...
Is the [Ann] Coulter Company still around. And if so where is their
website?

More importantly, do their adds attack presidential candidates as being
homosexuals? lol

George

Coulter gave a lot of value for the money.
--
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33°27'59"N, 117°05'53"W

"Curtis Croulet" wrote in message
news:WFHFi.7185$He1.6883@trnddc03...
Is the [Ann] Coulter Company still around. And if so where is their
website?

More importantly, do their adds attack presidential candidates as being
homosexuals? lol

I know this is an attempt to be funny, but it's worth pointing out that
Coulter Optical was named for the Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri), which
occurs in the area.
--
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33°27'59"N, 117°05'53"W

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info. And yes, I was just trying to
inject some humour into the conversation. Sorry about that.

George