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A MANIFESTO: The Way it Really Works (1 Viewer)

And thank YOU for understanding me! Too many don't. :cat:

Bill

It's ok...I've been viewed as odd by many (includes family members) for much of my life and I rarely feel like I fit in anywhere.
But at least I'm unique :gh:
 
This from the Federal Trade Commission:

For most products, unless they are automobiles or items made from textile or wool, there is no law requiring manufacturers and marketers to make a “Made in USA” claim. But if a business chooses to make the claim, the FTC's Made in USA standard applies. Made in USA means that “all or virtually all” the product has been made in America. That is, all significant parts, processing, and labor that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. Products should not contain any – or should contain only negligible – foreign content.

So branding something as "Made in USA", when it is American assembly of foreign made parts is straightforward deceit. But in the USA there is no requirement to state the country of origin, unless they are automobiles or items made from textile or wool.
 
...But in the USA there is no requirement to state the country of origin, unless they are automobiles or items made from textile or wool.

That's not accurate. Almost everything imported into the USA, including foods, has to be labeled with country of origin. How that point of origin is determined differs according to the type of product. USA made clothing and wool products made from cloth that is made in the USA (even if from imported fibers) are required to be labeled as made in the USA. Most other products made in the USA do not have to be labeled as such, but they are anyway. It is very rare to find anything in a store in the USA, no matter how small, that does not indicate where it was made (in some sense).

--AP
 
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This from the Federal Trade Commission:

For most products, unless they are automobiles or items made from textile or wool, there is no law requiring manufacturers and marketers to make a “Made in USA” claim. But if a business chooses to make the claim, the FTC's Made in USA standard applies. Made in USA means that “all or virtually all” the product has been made in America. That is, all significant parts, processing, and labor that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. Products should not contain any – or should contain only negligible – foreign content.

So branding something as "Made in USA", when it is American assembly of foreign made parts is straightforward deceit. But in the USA there is no requirement to state the country of origin, unless they are automobiles or items made from textile or wool.

Like my Baywatch Telescope:

Brass — American made
Body designed by me — Seattle, WA
Objective — designed by me — Seattle, WA
Objective — produced by Mathews Optical Works — Poulsbo, WA
Tripod — designed and manufactured by K-B Systems — Mukilteo, WA (19 miles north of Seattle)
Advertising material — created by me — Seattle and Lake Stevens, WA
 

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Like my Baywatch Telescope:

Brass — American made
Body designed by me — Seattle, WA
Objective — designed by me — Seattle, WA
Objective — produced by Mathews Optical Works — Poulsbo, WA
Tripod — designed and manufactured by K-B Systems — Mukilteo, WA (19 miles north of Seattle)
Advertising material — created by me — Seattle and Lake Stevens, WA



Nice scope
 
Ah Bill, keep in mind that sometimes it takes a measure of salty water to expose wisdom :)

As always I enjoy your offerings!

--Bob

And I have a knack for really stirring them up. At my age, and with all the binos I have, must people think I do my pontificating and credential dropping for MY benefit? And what benefit could that be? I realize some people come to these forums to be recognized for something they're not. I need that like another bloody hole in the head.

Bill
 
Like my Baywatch Telescope:

Brass — American made
Body designed by me — Seattle, WA
Objective — designed by me — Seattle, WA
Objective — produced by Mathews Optical Works — Poulsbo, WA
Tripod — designed and manufactured by K-B Systems — Mukilteo, WA (19 miles north of Seattle)
Advertising material — created by me — Seattle and Lake Stevens, WA

Bill:

That scope looks great, tell us more, is it a one-off, or did it have
a name, and are they available ?

Jerry
 
Bill:

That scope looks great, tell us more, is it a one-off, or did it have
a name, and are they available ?

Jerry

Thanks for your kind words.

No, it's not "one off." We’ve sold almost a million buck's worth by word of mouth, from Helsinki to Tokyo. Dan Pinnock, the former head of Being Commercial Aircraft has one—the company presented him with one upon his retirement—as does Ken Moore, the creator of Zemax. But with the price of brass going up, the last units were going for $3,995. Thus, as Emery has sold the company, I am pulling my intellectual property until I can find a backer. They're all serialized and come with a certificate of authenticity.

If I was as big a liar as so many in the optical promotions business, I could really go to town on the Baywatch.

Four key points would be:

1) The tube, dew shield, and focus tube are all 1/8-inch solid brass.

2) Using a Schmidt prism, the image is always right side up and left to right correct. So, you can turn the prism down to a child, and his or her view is as good as yours.

3) I used the same, long helical rack and pinion as on the Astro Physics scopes.

4) As part of my demo, I would lay a cloth over the thing and BEAT it with the heel of my street shoe, repeatedly and hard enough to be heard on the other floor, often without even make the balance change. It's lacquered so it won't tarnish.

I said it was all-brass; I lied! I made the object cell out of bronze because of its better thermal properties. And the four baffles were spaced via calculations. It is normally used in the 2-inch mode, But, I made a beefy—solid brass—adapter to take it down to 1.25-inch.

Considering the value of some of the 19th century junk, I expect my customers to have a valuable piece within a very few years.

"A telescope to build a beach house around." -- Men's Health Magazine

Bill
 

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Thanks for the information! It was a very interesting read. I didn't think the GR thread was out of hand, but am always surprised at the misinformation that is taken for truth. There are few products truly produced in the US. Doesn't surprise me that the big 3 outsource.

Perception is everything. Once upon a time MIJ or MIG was a guarantee a product would be shunned. Now it is MIC that us shunned, though so very much of the products bought & sold here are Chinese in origin.
 
"but am always surprised at the misinformation that is taken for truth."

If you multiply it by a factor of 15, you MIGHT be getting close. Look at how much time I spent just getting cross what I have known about manufacturing for years. But, on some forums, if you KNOW what you are talking about, you are sidetracked, and have to deal with with the erroneous opinions of the speculators, armchair opticians, and those who believe everything they read on the side of a box or in a magazine.

Some think I'm rude for offering what I know to be true. Yet, these forums are so laden with BS, I'm just trying to deal with one point at a time, so that maybe we can move up the informational food chain just a little.

What I would LIKE to see, is that those who have learned would step up to the plate and take a little of the heat off.

Oh, well, we all have pipe dreams, don't we?

Bill
 
Very Nice scope Bill ! Nice to share the photos.o:D
Could-you tell us what's he aperture, the focal lenght and the optical construction ?

Hi Dadra:

80mm aperture (beefy cell, though), f/11 (I saw no need to reinvent the wheel), and it's a standard refractor (BK7 & F2). The folks I designed this thing for wouldn't know an apochromat from a laundromat.

At 38 pounds for the tube assembly, it's not for the astronomy crowd. I saw to it that the objective is a good performer, though. I used the "hammer" optimization routines in Zemax.

Bill
 
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