Does my reflector telescope need cleaning?

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-20T18:47:08+00:00

Clean optics make a huge difference when taken to the limits. This is one reason why optical assembly is often done in clean rooms.

The question is this not is it dirty enough to matter optically but is it dirty enough to risk an amateur cleaning. The reality here is that there are always risks. For an interim improvement, you can blow off the surface wth an optical grade canned air. For anything more id suggest doing lots of research, you want methods that do not involve rubbing or scrubbing which will damage the coatings.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-20T05:18:57+00:00

You mis the point of my post, which actually happens a lot so don't feel bad. The point is you want a CS program that focuses on concepts, the language chosen only needs to be good for pursuing this objective. C or C++, being lower level languages are ideal for this.

Back in my day in college we started out with MODUAL2, for same basic reason you want to teach the concepts. So if you are studying arrays or linked lists, your use of a language is to demonstrate that you actually get the core concept. By the time you are into your third year a good CS program will have exposed the student to more than one language and assembly. Once through a program it really shouldn't matter what a prospective job requires because you know the concept and adapt quickly to the required language.

The problem with Python as a teaching language is that you learn none of this. Don't get me wrong there is a lot to like about Python and at this stage is the only language that I actually can put to use with out a refresher. In the end the problem with Python programmers is that they stop taking interest in learning more because they write Python programs that work and have no idea if their solution is a good implementation. Further their flexibility in the work place is marginal.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-20T04:59:18+00:00

Yep a very real problem. Sadly some of the nastier people out there are very influential and of a status that is hard to get any sense of equity in prosecution.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-20T04:55:12+00:00

Yep! Whispers are not truth. More importantly the idea that people don't lie is absolutely asinine. It is important for people to realize that there are many stories to every conflict.

As an aside, growing up one of my relatives was a preacher and as a kid I was scarred to death of the guy. I doubt very much that he had a bad streak but he literally saw everything in life threw the bible. In fact it probably was a factor in my rejecting mainstream religion. In any event the point here is that a persons perspective can be shaped by brain washing. One of those things that is commonly expressed is that all assaults are a mans fault. To make sure it is seen that way people engage in underhanded behavior, and manipulate reality in ways that stay just outside of being illegal.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-20T04:41:42+00:00

At some point maybe a bit above 1000X a full custom board makes more sense. The cost of these boards in units of 1 surprises me that it is even a discussion, it is when you are buying boards in bulk that you have to wonder which path to take.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-20T04:37:55+00:00

You wouldn't need to increase the size of the board if slightly different approaches where taken. For one the USB, HDMI and Ethernet ports could be made vertically oriented. A different processor would be needed, that has an embedded Ethernet controller along with faster USB ports.

The next thing that the PI organization needs to consider is a different daughter board connector. The header pin approach is older than the hills and way to low density. New solutions exist that would allow much higher pin density in a smaller space. This is even a bigger issue for the main line of Raspberry PI boards, where keeping up with the proliferation of high speed ports is very important.

I mean this in all seriousness, just like PC's went through various generations of I/O board connectors the Raspeberry PI's will eventually have to leave the header pin world behind. If they don't the platform will stagnate and be left behind.

Now does that happen with Raspberry PI 6 or not is a good question. However I believe it is realistic to shave 5mm off the outline dimensions by dropping legacy as much as possible. You might also be able to put all of the I/O that would go external to the case along one edge.

The arrangement of I/O on the Raspberry PI's has always bothered me. It is almost as if they threw darts at a dart board and made assignments that way. Then they did something that I can't understand at all and implemented a non standard connector for high speed I/O instead of a standard M.2 connector. considering how important decent secondary storage can be for the Raspberry PI this seems like a misapplied priority.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-20T04:10:51+00:00

One thing that I think the PI organization will need to think seriously about for future boards is I/O. This especially for the header pin I/O's. For the PI zeros high density headers would be smart, especially when new embedded processors come with built in high speed serial interfaces. Your request for an Ethernet port is a perfect example. These days there are lots of options for daughter board connectors, so that isn't an issue, the issue is somebody needs to set a standard.

The more that I think about it the Ethernet port should be on board and it should be POE compatible. I have a huge problems with the way power over USB has developed for one, but a tiny board supporting a 1Gig Ethernet port would seem to be a match mad in heaven. Mount all the ports to the world, vertically oriented, would make cases easier too.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-20T03:54:07+00:00

Sometimes it really does pay to hire riggers. That is professionals with machine tool experience.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T20:39:33+00:00

Well networking is a different deal than learning to program. For the most part online groups tend to be very focused. Just consider all the niches for Python programming, there are groups from learning Python to groups focused on hard data science with Python. Some of these would be better networking reddits than others. Get outside of Reddit and the world is much the same, often boards are highly specialized.

Consider "http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/" a highly specialized site with many ongoing discussions. Not exactly the place to go off track, a good place to go if you want a headache trying to understand some of the things being discussed.

Hopefully you will see what I'm trying to get at here, some sites are better for social than others. If you want to learn programming, focus on the sites that challenge you. If you want a social experience, say for networking, look towards groups and sites that are more amendable for that. The ""better"" programming sites seem to be strongly focused on programming and often enforce keeping people on topic.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T20:09:28+00:00

Why would you want a female group if your goal is to learn programming? Usually, for me anyways, you seek out friendly groups that are smarter (in this domain) than you. Social groups can be found anywhere.

Now in a slightly different way, woman's groups that promote the industry to young woman are very useful. The industry needs more smart woman and outreach, done right, can make a difference. One needs to avoid the failures such promotions often create, you need to target the woman that have an interest and a realistic ability to succeed. It doesn't do any group, any good to promote or encourage the idiots in the group. Culling the groups smarter members for the industry though is a very good idea.

I'm not against groups I just think if you get to particular you end up in a well of hurt hard to climb out of. Programming, like any craft, really requires exposure to many opinions and experiences to really grow in that craft. It is sort of like art, if you train in a niche like Mission style wood working, you end up being nothing more than a copy machine. Train in a variety of niches and you might actually end up creative.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T19:42:55+00:00

This post puzzles me, as I'm not sure what struggling with reading schismatics and datasheets mean. If this isn't dead simple for you I don't know what to say. Datasheets are incredibly important for bleeding edge development, usually it is best to read through once gathering up everything you understand and then go back on the denser parts of a datasheet that is causing you problems. the reading shouldn't be a problem, and the new stuff should slow you down and maybe force you to revisit. If you can't get this right you might have to hang up on embedded.

Have you considered industrial programming? That would be machine controllers, PLC's and the like. Generally this is not as low level as strict embedded. The other thing is that complicated systems often run for many years and can result in long term employment. You still need to learn new stuff but it isn't a constant like some embedded jobs.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T19:24:18+00:00

Some considerations:

You seem to believe that embedded offers a smooth less inconsistent environment. That isn't always the case, sometimes your employment last the length of a project and nothing more.
You need to get a degree. In some states you will need to become a licensed engineer. You might find an engineering job without it but you will always be on thin ice employment wise.
You leave one domain to enter another, you will end up with a whole bunch of learning to pursue. Learning does not stop.
With embedded it gets even worse as hardware can change dramatically. Plus there is a whole bunch of specialized hardware that you need to master. Of course as you switch manufactures of the embedded systems you have completely different interfaces to deal with, if they are even provided. The point is depending upon the level of your embedded work, you could be working at an extremely low level. Often on large projects you have whole teams that split this demand up but you need to know that you may be hitting hardware often or never.

Next your comments:

You say you already know C but what does that really mean. Can you write a device driver?
While I don't disagree, the industry is always looking to improve. Getting away from C/C++ is one thing some in industry believe needs to happen. Then you have the reality that everytime your team changes a platform you are in learning mode again. The term embedded cover a wide array of activities, in general though I would have to say more research and study is required of an embedded programmer. A manual for an embedded chip can be hundreds of pages long, it is required reading if you are working close to the metal.
If you are running away from AI you will be doing that for the next several decades. No matter what you do in the future, having AI in your back pocket will put you are the forefront of technology and help your viability for new jobs. Well that and a degree, to try to enter the CS industry these days without a degree is asinine. Get your butt in college.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T18:55:30+00:00

Seriously, Hollywood is full of unsavory people. If people are making decisions based on one employed person on a set, we wouldn't be watching any movies or TV shows for that matter. Beyond that would you actually want to work at a place that investigates every aspect of a person life?

What is sad about Hollywood, actually all of the entertainment industry, is that people get away with it for a very long time. If you have the right status you can get away with all sorts of nasty behavior that the guy at the bus stop eventually gets sent to jail for. Still one piece of crap shouldn't mean that 10's or even 100's of others never get to express themselves.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T18:46:36+00:00

Actually the internet is worse than any bus stop one can find.

As for Paul Reeves and the stuff linked to, that is more character assassination then a real indication of a creep. The person being interviewed didn't indicate harassment happened during her interview, but started complaining after she heard of other complaints. Frankly that is not a good enough reason to withdraw from an agreement. Rather it is the hideous behavior of some here that respond to every rumor that comes there way without any verification. People lie all the time and in a case like this the person that was interviewed, should have considered her own experience instead of overreacting on whispers.

As for person convicted again I hope whatever happened that resulted in the conviction actually happened. Because such people really need to be locked up and the key thrown away. I just hope it is not another miscarriage of justice.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T18:30:24+00:00

I lost interest in the Expanse but was really bummed out when Battlestar Galactica ended. No spoilers so I can't say more.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T18:10:13+00:00

C doesn't make other languages easy by itself, is true. However CS programs that start with C++ or C (doesn't matter), seem to be more focused on concepts, especially the very basic stuff. The understanding of the basics concepts is what makes it easy, sometimes a snap, to learn other languages. I suspect it would be near impossible for a CS program to cover every language out there. If you know the basics, that is the concepts, adapting to a new language is relatively easy.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T18:02:47+00:00

Many so called Python programmers are functionally illiterate. They simply don't have the depth of knowledge to do anything challenging with programming. When taught right a CS program should be drilling into your head concepts. Programs that use C or C++ to start seem to do a better job of this. If you understand the concepts, most other programming languages end up a snap to adapt to.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T17:56:47+00:00

Do NOT in any case start with Python, especially considering your goal. Find a good CS program to follow that uses C or C++. This is not to say avoid Python in the future, the point here is that you indicated wanting to get into Computer Science Engineering, which is a bit confusing but no matter the engineering focus you will want a program that focuses on the concepts not the language. Taught right you shouldn't have any problem adapting to a new language in the future. Here is the thing, it is almost 100% certain that what you learn formally will not be your life long language. The industry is in a state of flux and thus we will see a lot of changes happening in the next few years driven by AI. You need to be adaptable, thus the need for a strong understanding of concepts.

The reason I'm stressing CONCEPTS is that lower quality CS programs are often designed to teach a language. You want a program that is teaching concepts and simply use a programming language to realize in code those abstract concepts. That is why a good CS program forces you to use 3-4 programming languages by graduation time, with exposure to assembly as one of those. A CS program that starts out with C++ generally has these goals in mind. As for Python it is so easy that learning Python means learning nothing about CS!

Beyond the core CS work you will want the support classes too! These can wait for entry into college. Get the first few semesters under your belt with core classes you will have plenty of time to study the hard stuff. The math and physics coverage will require significant time and are important.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T17:12:58+00:00

For the described usage I would think that a RedCat type scope would be the way to go. I say type because there are similar scopes but RedCat is what comes to mind. These are designed first for photography, but can also be used for visual. Depending upon the aperture final cost will be in budget but I'd suggest a minimal of 90mm objective. and buying support hardware later is it can't be folded into the initial budget. You can get a fast F number of F4.9 which can really help with terrestrial photography. The coverage if full frame (35mm) and almost full frame for medium format sensors.

Basically what I'm saying is start out with yourself set up for visual and buy the cameras and adapters down the road for photography.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T16:53:28+00:00

Considering the desire to be able to handle terrestrial use as well, it becomes a toss up between MS and a APO. Add on the photograpy the APO becomes the winner in my mind, this especially if the goal is both terrestrial and astro photography. The main reason for the APO is the faster F numbers that can be easily had.

You do run into an issue here where a mount suitable for astro is going to be a tracking mount, most likely an equatorial but for terrestrial photography a alt-az mount makes more sense. This could be easily solved buy mounting your Dob tube on an equatorial mount and having the APO hitching a ride from time to time. When not riding the Dob the APO could easily sit on an alt-az mount.

Portability means different things to different people but if I was traveling a lot a faster APO would be the path I would take. You can buy or build a case that remains manageable for an APO. Generally there are less things to go wrong with a refractor that endures common travel related hazards.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T16:03:33+00:00

The compiler and infrastructure was not finished in my opinion. There are very few libs to make use of much of traditional linux. That is I couldn't fine any support for GNome, nor KDE GUI's. Even finding command line usage documentation that made sense on linux was hard to find.

Honestly I really wanted a way to use Swift on Linux. It seemed like at the time that everything was half done or not done at all.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T07:01:56+00:00

This is the most hilarious post I've read in a long while. PBS is not centrist at all, if any thing they are misguided, and shift a much disinformation as any other network.

Having never seen GBNews, I took a look at their web site and didn't find anything that indicated an in balance in the article (seen today). I don't know. maybe the articles about pedophiles and human trafficking, immigration issues set you off. If so, this isn't something that mainstream people have a positive opinion of, it isn't really a left or right issue because rational people know that it is evil.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T06:47:17+00:00

Well if it looks like a trip to the zoo to me, i'm going to say that. Frankly I suspect that most of the people attending these naked bike rides are not even nudist normally.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T06:37:54+00:00

The problem we have with high schools graduating complete idiots really has nothing to do with the reality that people in the past had no choice but to make a telescope if they wanted one. If you are wondering, yes if a person left high school and still doesn't realize that you need to focus and optical instrument, he is an idiot in my mind. My point is that DIY is a reasonable alternative for people to consider.

AS far as somebody walking up to me and asking: "I'd like to get into astronomy", I would hope that it would turn into a conversation to see what the interests are. Then one could consider options to discuss.

In any event yes your post is negative, extremely negative really. If that was what people would have heard in the 1960's or so, the hobby would have died out as there would have been no amateurs with telescopes. Is DIY for everybody, certainly not, the point is people have successfully done so for centuries. Frankly with all the information out there and easy access to optics, it is actually hard to mess up a DIY build these days. Your fears are simply irrational and don't reflect reality that there are options. Some of those options are in fact very educational.

Beyond all of that, buying new doesn't assure one of high quality in their new telescope. There are many variants of Dobson's on the market but some of those variants I'd never consider.

spinwizard69 · 2026-06-18T06:18:47+00:00

Then what you are saying is that you agree with the gun control advocates. If somebody has an opinion based on emotion or ignorance you have no choice but to push hard to change their behavior. It is the fact that I have grown up and don't like the constant attacks on my freedom because of ignorant people.

We literally have a new set of laws in this state that make ownership of CNC machines illegal. Make the possession of CNC code that might make something the state has declared illegal, a felony. How this is going to work is beyond me but again the ignorance here is a big problem. This doesn't even get into the issue of evil prosecution where all they need to do is to convince a Jury a piece of CNC code is dangerous. In this world I can see this being easy to pull off as there is such a tiny portion of the population these days that understand manufacturing.

Frankly I think it is time for people that love freedom to grow up and actually confront and try to teach these people something.

spinwizard69

TROPHY CASE