Hi from Andy

[plyscope]

Hi, I have just signed up to the club. My name is Andy Jackson and I live in Western Australia. I am sure many of you know me from Cloudy Nights.
I have ordered a 5 inch f12 R30 lens from Ales. I will detail the construction of the ota when the time comes. I have made other refractors from thin plywood panels glued together in an octagonal section over plywood baffles acting as ring frames. The new 5 inch will be similar.
I am also expecting a 5 inch f15 lens from D&G and will do a comparison of the two scopes at some stage. I have been waiting over 16 months now for the D&G 5 inch lens. My anxiety led me to order a lens from Ales so that I have two chances of getting a good 5 inch achromat! I am confidant they will both be very fine lenses.

Regards, Andy

[Watcher3]

Welcome aboard Andy. Your posts are among the ones that I always enjoy on CN. I'm looking forward to your contributions here.

It will be very interesting to see how the CA and figure of the Istar F/12 compares to the D&G F/15. I'm almost as anxious to see that as I am to see how good the views can e in my upcoming 6" F/5 R50.

Thanks for joining us.
Joe

[mikey cee]

Andy....Great to have you onboard here. It'll be interesting to see how Istar's 5" f/12 stacks up against D&G's 5" f/15. If they are even or close it will mean that the R30 formula will more than earns it's salt. ;)Mike

[astrosean]

Fantastic! I am very curious myself to see how the two compare. I had my 6" f/15 side by side with an older AP 160 f/9 and I was thrilled at the performance of the Istar lens. After having my monster for a year, I think 5" f15 is a real sweet spot for a refractor in terms of mounting and performance. I can't wait to here first hand about the R30 performance compared to D&G's Achromat design.

Sean

[plyscope]

Thanks Guys for the warm welcome.

Sean I am hoping the 5 inch will be more portable than the 6 inch f15. My inspiration comes from Ron Ravnebergs beautiful restoration of a Fecker 4.5 inch. I like the mount he made. I am thinking along those lines except I will use the wooden tube for the ota and will not use digital setting circles, at least not at first. I am aiming for an ota weight of 20lbs or less. Should be able to make the f12 a pound or two lighter than the f15.

Andy