> Hi NPN

How did you discover that I had been transistorised? :-)


 >> Crash course in elementary telescope optics:

 >  NP> Thank you very much for that Roy.

 > No probs. I only picked it up myself in the last few weeks. Now I
 > gotta work on eyepiece theory and practice - how to evaluate one,
 > what "exit pupil" really means in practice, what
"coma" is and why
 > a "coma corrector" costs as much as an eyepiece, and why four 2"
 > diam wide angle eyepieces will cost as much as the telescope I'm
 > getting.

I think you have just convinced me to stick to Binoculars and give up any
ideas about telescopes:-)


 >  the yank Sky & Telescope magazine ran an eyepiece test
 > feature this month. Three weeks after I ordered a new eyepiece, of
 > course.

Ain't it always the way :-(

 > There was also a nifty idea for a binocular stand. Drive a short
 > length of steel pipe into the ground at an angle (until it's all
 > below ground, if it's in the lawn). Insert a ten foot length of
 > electrical conduit (i dunno what diameter would be stiff enough),
 > and from the end hang a long bit of bungee cord or elastic. Hang
 > the bicocs off the cord, and lie back in your easy chair or beanbag.

It wasn't quite what I had in mind as a design, but it could be worth a try.
I have a length of 2" piping that has been cut to a point, and it
should sink into the lawn reasonably easy.  All I need then is a trip down
the street to dumpster dive at the plumbers and the two electrical
contractors.
If no luck then the main Telecom yard is across the road.

Then all I have to do is recover the banana lounge......Hmmm

We are now just getting into the clear nights and frosty mornings.

Cheers
Niels Petersen

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