Mark asked;
Does anyone know approximately what the value of a 1970 10" Astrola
would be? Has anyone here owned one and care to comment on it?
************
Hi Mark,
I have never owned or even looked through a telescope equipped with a
Cave mirror, but here is a copy-and-paste statement made by Carl Zambuto
himself, copied from the Zambuto Yahoo Group archives. I know that some
folks think that Carl Z. is perhaps somewhat pompous, but the man
definitely knows his mirrors, so take this for whatever you think it is
worth.
\Paul A
"I once owned a Cave mirror. It was manufactured in 1972 and was scribed
with date and numbers. Was smooth, but overcorrected in the outer zones,
and undercorrected in the center. It was nothing to write home about. It
was a 10" and I paid too much for it. The image began breaking down at
250 power, so it was only a 25 power per inch mirror. Well, $250.00
isn't
too bad, but I did reduce it to a Pyrex blank as I eventually refigured
it.
So it was no collector's item to me.
Now if it were a fabulous performer in keeping with the reputation which
by today's standards (in my opinon) is overrated, then I might consider
it a collectors item. In defense of my statement about being overrated,
what I mean is yes, Cave was the best in its day, but they in general
appear
to be no better than many mirrors which are available today, and I see
no
good evidence that as a whole they came close to our standards, for
example... the Caves are good mirrors, and the best of their day...
Rejoice and be glad. Today you can buy consistently the finest optic in
the history of amateur astronomy, to date. "
- Carl Zambuto
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Received on Fri Jan 11 10:50:20 2008