Re: [ATM] Alan Adler's Flex Mirror specs

["Andre Yanoviak" <andre_y6@hotmail.com>]

Hello Bill,

I'm sorry to take so long to reply, but I got a really nasty stomach flu 
just after posting my original message.  I was getting the mailbox full 
messages as well, so I was very pleasantly surprised by your and Gil's 
replies, as I thought my original posts had failed.

I downloaded flex.exe last month, but per your advice I finally unzipped it 
and found the answers to many of my questions in the documentation file.

So now I've had a little time to play with different thicknesses, and yes, 
Gil was right that nothing is that critical.  I see even Newport's 1.1" 
thick 8" blank will still work, at 8.3 psi.  Aside from the lbs tension/psi, 
the optical numbers hardly change between a 0.65" and 1.1" thick mirror.

However, I still want a thinner mirror, per all the excellent advice about 
cool down times and the ability to track temperature changes.  As mentioned 
on flexmirror.com, you did a 0.5" proof of concept mirror.  Isn't that 
harder to grind?  Or, to ask the question better, how THICK should a 
beginner ATM go to stay out of trouble with the figure vs. how THIN for best 
thermal performance?  I'd also love it if I could use a stainless steel 
tensioning spring, but that might be asking too much.

To follow up on your latest post, I absolutely do want to try to attain the 
best mirror possible for this new scope.  I had a TV102 setup in San 
Francisco, so I'm a bit spoiled ;-)  The one rock steady night I was able to 
go to 350x, I wished I could go even higher.  I saw soooo much detail on 
Mars that I dragged a new neighbor up to the apartment building's roof at 
midnight to share the incredible experience (3 apparitions ago).  Now I'm in 
Hawaii, and the skies here are much more steady and dark.

Therefore, I still want the high power planetary/lunar views, but also want 
to see some fainter fuzzies and still have something that's easy on my bad 
back, car space, and wallet.  If possible, I'd like to be able to fly to 
Molokai'i or the Big Island (9,000 ft up Mauna Kea) with it as well.  So an 
8" seems to be the best overall solution for now.

On the other hand, My niece & nephew are in LA, and I really liked Ernie 
Pfannenschmidt's little 4.5" flexed design.  So your advice about easier 
alternatives will probably apply better to any scope I make for them.

I'll send my phone # privately.  Mahalo nui loa (thanks so much) for your 
help!

-- André


>From: "Bill Kelley" <flex@commspeed.net>
>To: "Andre Yanoviak" <andre_y6@hotmail.com>,<atm@atmlist.net>
>Subject: Re: [ATM] Alan Adler's Flex Mirror specs
>Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 15:20:11 -0700
>
>Andre,
>I sent this to you yesterday- " postmaster"  answered that your mailbox was
>full.
>Please respond.
>Bill Kelley
>
>
>
> > Andre,
> > Perhaps I can help since I have had some experience with flex. If you 
>live
> > in the USA I can call you at no cost to me. S&T still offers the flex
> > program flex.exe for downloading.. Or I would be pleased to act as
> > intermediary and provide the information you will need. Also see
> > Bill@flexmirror.com .
> > Bill Kelley

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