16500?  The obvious question:  What's the max aperture in f stops?  These will 
be my fun facts for the day  ;-)

I wondered about the bokeh being donuts, but I like the idea of using the 
"donuts of confusion" to focus the telescope.
________________________________________
From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Matthew Hunt 
[...@pobox.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:28 PM
To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List
Subject: Re: K-7 new firmware 1.01

On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Desjardins, Steve<desjard...@wlu.edu> wrote:

> OK, but I bet the bokeh sucks on the Hale.

Yes, it's definitely "donut" bokeh, complete with obstructions from
the secondary supports.  Furthermore, given its age, the mirror figure
is maintained by a mechanical system of springs and sliding weights
that "tug" it into the correct figure as it points in different
directions.  When I was there, these contraptions had a tendency to
bind up, distorting the figure and making the "bokeh" asymmetric and
splotchy.  Mike Johnston would not have approved.

Fortunately, even with the 16,500-mm focal length, all of our subjects
were "at infinity".  The only time we had to see the "bokeh" was when
the telescope was badly out of focus, such as at the beginning of a
run when it had just been installed.  Then the focal plane might be a
whole millimeter or two out of position!  We would point to a bright
star, measure the diameter of the "donut" image, and calculate from
that how far to move the focus.

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