Re: ATM Help with figure, 8"

["Bob May" <bobmay@nethere.com>]

One thing that you can do without any problem is finishing up the rest of
the telescope and using it with the uncoated primary.  The light grasp is
only 5% of a coated mirror but that is most assuredly enough to do a lot of
testing.  FWIW, I've split the Double-Double with a 6" which wasn't coated
but rather fresh off of the pitch lap.
At the eyepiece, you can again do the KE test on a bright star and see a
null of the mirror if everything is right.  Please note that air currents
and seeing in general will make the image a bit fleeting but you will get
glimpses of the true figure amongst all of the roiling of the image.  I
wouldn't figure with this test but you can verify that you are basically
seeing the right things on the bench.
I'll also note that data reduction software like TEX and FIGURE45 will make
the data reduction simple.