I had the 8" f/7 reflector and the slight movement of the spider to improve centering of the beam in the center of the mirror made collimation easier. I am not seeing better images, perhaps because of the wind and turbulence, Even the Moon reached its limit with the 283x eyepiece.
I do need to put some phosphorescent paint on the screws that hold the finder to make a rough target for the finder. Black plastic against a black sky does not work.
I also want to have the aluminum end cap welded. Parks Optical used to be the supplier of high end fiberglass telescope tubes. I think they went under, Parks might have retired or died. They supplied aluminum rings to protect the ends of the tubes which are not spectacular tough. One has cracked; probably a casting defect aggravated by too tight a fit on the end of the tube. I am going to hit up a precision welding shop in Horseshoe Bend, run by some pro-gun California refugees, Even a few millimeters enlargement in diameters reduces the risk of stressing the ring again.
The Parks tubes changed over time. When I bought mine it eighed nine pounds; within a few years they were 13 pounds. It suffered one unfortunate accident. My wife and daughter pulled a liitle too close and damaged the tube. I did a creditable job ptching the damage with fiberglass, epoxy,sanding and paint. You would never know,
Conservative. Idaho. Software engineer. Historian. Trying to prevent Idiocracy from becoming a documentary.
Email complaints/requests about copyright infringement to clayton @ claytoncramer.com. Reminder: the last copyright troll that bothered me went bankrupt.
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