Link:
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/731720-heq5-belt-mod-in-us/?p=10569035
It's a question I'm pondering. My heq5pro mount guides around .8" to 1.5" after careful polar alignment. Supposedly, I can get that mostly closer to .5" to 1" with the mod.
I want to do it to prove dummy Rod Molise (the SCT police) and that EFT grump wrong. But maybe they're right.
Lest you think (or lest "I" think) I'm just criticizing Cloudynights, I stumbled across a forum post which I think typifies the problem with online communities:
ifi Zen Signature One DAC vs ifi Zen DAC V2 | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
I was just looking for info on cheaper DAC's and headphone amps and read this really bad moderator comment which mocked and advised someone to go basically "go away". Obviously no real attempt to "moderate" in a constructive manner. But I think it's typical of online communities. Conforming or "norming" is like a primary function of online communities. And I feel like it's quite destructive if one is interested in original thought and the respect of individual opinion. I understand there are times when one's individual opinion is at odds with a community but I feel like those times are really potential learning opportunities. Instead the true tribal qualities of a community get expressed over and over and over again. Conform to us or go away. Hierarchical violence.
It took two nights to get this image. This is about 5-6 hours of polishing of the 6 inch f/4.79 mirror. I started this like 7 years ago. There’s some surface roughness and I’m planning on switching to either red rouge or high quality cerium oxide for figuring. My knife edge is coming from the left side in a janky way. There also a kind of hole? I think.
Occasionally, I would see astigmatism but there's about 1.5 to 2 inches of vertical distance between the light and camera. So that could be test stand astigmatism. I probably should do 2-3 hours of general polishing next with the new polishing agent.
There are supposedly some really dark sites in Utah for astronomy.
http://jaysastronomyobservingblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/conger-springs-utah-dark-is-dark.html
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/89-Hangar-Way-Watsonville-CA/31232756/
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/meade-and-orion-cease-operations-maybe/
Though they haven't been relevant for a decade, Orion Telescopes was the place I bought my first scope in 1984. Cloudynights has a couple threads going but my own "lukewarm take" is that they just fell behind the times and as the market shifted to astrophotography, Orion just powered forward thinking that astrophotography was just a side-hustle compared to all the observers... this attitude reflects their 1980's approach to the astronomy retail business. Some people are decrying the waning interest in astronomy and that's sorta not accurate. A lot of people really like astronomy but not a alot of folks want to drop 500 to 2000 bucks when they can just look at pretty astronomy pictures in their instagram feed. Or they can go to a public star party and look through someone else's stuff. The real excitement for newbies are the pictures and much of the older folks reacting to the demise of Orion still think that most people want to observe astronomical objects with their eyes. I think at the very least they want a cellphone pic of what they are seeing. The other VERY questionable thing about Orion is that they purchased the failing Meade Telescope company. Meade's own product line is very dated and represents the state of astronomy circa 1995. I don't know why they felt like they could absorb Meade and somehow "make it great again".
My other sorta complaint/criticism is that their sales were so stingy. Like 2-3% off on their mounts and telescopes. I really dislike companies that offer trivially small "sales" on their goods. It feels like an insult. In addition, their astrophotography cameras never inspired any real confidence in terms of their reliability or future "repair ability." They had an awful warranty service that was limited to the original purchaser only and when I had problems with my old Sirius mount, they just wanted to replace it instead of trying to fix it.
Finally, they really needed to partner up with some younger astrophotographers like Trevor of Astrobackyard. They probably should have gotten rid of 70% of their "observing inventory" and shifted their emphasis to astrophotography. That's where the small amount of money is going and with a good team, they could probably even bring some innovation to the market.
RIP Orion Telescopes.
UPDATE: I tried calling on the afternoon of the 16th. No one answered sales or customer service lines. :(
