saac

I like your brand of optimism Gina - nothing to fear but fear itself, go for it.

Ok so a functioning sensor is essential and that makes sense of course (I guess together with controlling electronics). I must admit whenever I look over such adverts as in ebay I was always a bit unsure as often the descriptions as to what's wrong with the camera can be a bit vague. At the end of the day if the price is reasonable I guess it can be viewed as a bit of a "punt" for an interesting project. Good luck with this next one Gina, I'll follow your progress with interest. Jim

Gina just out of interest, when it says "non working" in an advert, what is the minimum level of "serviceability" that you are looking for in ordered to make it a worthwhile proposition? Am I right in thinking that you need something where the sensor itself is functional together with electronics that control the shutter etc. Does the ebay advert give you enough info to buy with confidence? I've probably phrased this in a cak-handed way - I guess what I'm really asking is, how do you avoid buying a non working camera that will ultimately be no good to you even if you are successful in debayering the sensor? Jim

Good project there bitnick, it will be interesting to see how far you able to push the imaging.

Damien, Thanks for that - I appreciate your time in answering. I started my own mirror project about 2 years ago, modest 12 inch. I got to the stage where I was ready to start polishing - started reading a bit on the testing using ronchi and foucault but I ended up getting distracted on another project (interferometer to use in school physics class). I tested a couple of commercially made mirrors which tended to produce interferograms with straight fringes - I had no idea really how to interpret them though beyond what the software was saying. Looking through your posts has encouraged me to pick up on where I left off. I've got a lot of reading to do ahead of me, thanks again and good luck with mirror. Jim

mapstar - I've been admiring your Ronchi images over the past few pages and the progress you've been making. This is going to be a daft question but here goes - how do you know when to stop? Are you looking for the interference lines to run parallel to each other with equal gap between each successive fringe?

Mike these are fantastic, love the shot of M42. I can just imagine how satisfying it must be to get that stage. Look forward to seeing more and maybe some tips as well as you hone your technique. Jim

The remote operation would be a sight to see Mike, just operating it remotely would be as fun as observing with it. My knowledge of computer networking is confined to setting up a home wi fi but you've prompted me to take a look at TeamViewer. Jim

Fantastic to see it at this stage Mike you must be getting so much enjoyment from the setup now. I'm aiming to be able to ultimately control mine from the warmth and comfort of the conservatory, about 10m away. I'm a long way to getting to that stage but I have your build history bookmarked for ideas. Congratulations again - have you managed to use it from Spain at? That would be an amazing sense of achievement. Jim

I'm part of the Tasco club too. Mine was a Christmas present, 60mm refractor, and I remember the moment I unwrapped it like it was yesterday. To be honest, I never once gave one moment thinking about the quality of it; optics, mount, magnification, resolving power, as an 8 year old it was everything I had hoped it would be. For me it fired a lifelong passion for science, later on I would go to university to study engineering, joined the Royal Air Force, then mid career change took me to the classroom as a physics teacher. That telescope played a very big part in my life. I remember the biggest challenge I had was finding and identifying what I looking at. The moon was the easiest of targets, if only we had the internet back then , I may have had a chance of knowing what I was doing. Happy days, here's to Tasco. Jim