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Great stuff, but a bit pricey at $105 for the red starter kit.

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But cheaper than a new scope, I'll bet.

Have you had a chance to observe since doing this? How are the view compared to what you remember, pre-paint job?

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Tom W.

SVP8 'She turned me into a 3-legged Newt' EQ
Ralph, the All-Purpose 102mm Refractor
Under the Desert Stars



It is a plain road from the earth to the stars though mortal feet can not tread it. Garret P. Serviss 1888

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But cheaper than a new scope, I'll bet.

Have you had a chance to observe since doing this? How are the view compared to what you remember, pre-paint job?

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It is raining.

The forcast is for rain for the next few days. I'll report on it as soon as we get some clear skies.

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Mike Snisky
8" F5 Newtonian/Moonlite CR2
Orion Sirius EQ-G Mount
Orion 100mm F6 Achro on SVP w Intelliscope
Orion 100mm ED on LXD55 Mount
Denkmeier Standards

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Actually new coatings are not that much more than using F.C.
F.C. is about $50.00 per cleaning of an 8" mirror (as stated above). We're charging $70.00 for a new coating.
Of course, there is shipping to consider etc. so I think one has to consider the age and condition of thier coatings as well.

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Actually new coatings are not that much more than using F.C.
F.C. is about $50.00 per cleaning of an 8" mirror (as stated above). We're charging $70.00 for a new coating.
Of course, there is shipping to consider etc. so I think one has to consider the age and condition of thier coatings as well.

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I understand the efficiency of this kind of cleaning quite well. But the pricing strategy of F.C. is not a smart one since it is way too expensive to widely introduce this great product to the scope owners. Therefore, it will remain a niche product.
I doubt that the manufacturing costs are that high.
Reasonable pricing might lead to great success in the astro and photo community.

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Just an FYI, and not necessarily the case in this instance, but sometimes you price things above where you could get wider market acceptance NOT because your costs are high or you want to be greedy on a per-unit profit, but because your business model cannot support higher volumes (at all, or cost-effectively)...

Say something COSTS a manufacturer $10 each. Say they are pricing it at $100. Per-unit profit is $90. And you get 1000 sales per year = $90,000 Profit.

Say they priced it at $20. Per-unit profit at $10. And say they get orders for 10,000. On paper that would be $200,000 profit. But maybe in order to handle a volume of 10,000 they have to invest in new manufacturing processes, suppliers, equipment, etc. and that investment might cost $1M. They might be reluctant to make that investment.

Grossly simplified example, but there may be other reasons than "profit greed" behind their price-point. Or it might be costs of raw materials. Don't know.

Main point? Pricing is a much more complicated formula than simply "cost" + "profit" = "price". There are many factors to which we are not privvy.

I think, if it works as the above comments describe, it has a place in many Astronomer's "arsenals" (and am considering it myself).

I do wish (naturally) it was cheaper. But, it isn't. Then again, nobody is forcing anyone to buy it.

Clear enough skies

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Dave
Ustream
YLive
XT10i, RTP, CGE, TMB80SS, SN8
31T5, 22T4, 13Ethos, 8Ethos, TV 3-6 Zoom; Paracorr
MallincamColorHyperPlus,SBIG STV&237A;CanonRebel Xti
WilderSkiesObservatory(BYO #90)

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Hi Steve,

Yes, you can clean the corrector plate. It is pretty easy and safe. Here is a rough video of the process. http://www.rdelsol.net/Movies/SCT_FC3/SCT_FC3.html

Ken Crawford made this video and it was only the second time he used First Contact!

Please contact me for more information and tips to do this successfully.

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