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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WJC" data-source="post: 3308042" data-attributes="member: 25191">Hi Jerry, love the cap:Forums on the telescope making side of the house are replete with folks talking of how they PLAN to “optimize” their Newtonian. From a reality perspective, this is just so much chatter as people strive to have something to talk about and perhaps elevate themselves above their neighbor. Throwing time and dollars at a ¾-wave mirror is (IMNSHO) a huge waste of time.The bottom line: if you want to optimize your Newtonian, make a mirror that’s 1/4-wave AT THE EYEPIECE.Over here, we talk about purging and sealing a lot of binos that could be used as sieves. A story:I always purged binos with DRY nitrogen. When the price of repair went up, and people began to balk, I started to wonder how the bino would hold up WITHOUT being purged and filled. Being in Seattle at the time, and working with the ALASKA fishing fleet, I thought I would give it a try. I was working most with the Fujinons and Swifts—the Fujinon ARs and the Swift Seahawks of the day were virtually the same—and knew their seals were quite good.It worked; NONE came back for condensation problems. And I can assure you the conditions in the Bering Sea in winter will be much harsher than that experienced by most BF members. That saved time for me and money for my customer.The second bottom line: if the bino is really a quality “waterproof” instrument, filling it with nitrogen, argon, Silly-Putty, or corn flakes makes little difference … or didn't at that time.But, that’s just the rambling of a silly old man. :cat:BillPS I was chatting with Alan Hale last week who was chuckling over his visit to a bino plant in China, the week before. He said the company ADVERTISES their binos as being “Argon filled” when, in fact, there were no signs of them having a purging and filling capability of any kind. It’s not one world.</blockquote>

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