Hello Friend,

                           Smoke and Mirrors?

 Meade Instruments founder John Diebel would clearly tell you otherwise.

    This morning   I was attempting to dry my hair with the blow dryer, as I do every day,  but this time something
unusual was happening. 

   All of a sudden I smell something funny, you know that burnt, acrid smell of plastic melting, and look down
to see smoke coming out of the on/off switch of  my hairdryer.....I quickly pulled  the plug on it and tossed it out.

    This incident of smoke and mirrors (I was looking in the mirror) reminded me of the time several years ago
when I was sitting down to dinner, with John Diebel, the CEO and founder of Meade Instruments, with a group
of other invited guests.

   But I had something on my mind that was troubling me, and I thought now was the opportune time to ask
John the question. 

  Meade had recently released a new Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope model, which had a fixed focal length,
and the system was an F6.3.

    Ideal for Astrophotography!   A brilliant idea, and this was considered to be a real advancement for amateur astronomers.

So, my question to John was, that wouldn't the larger secondary mirror of the F6.3 model.(much larger than an f10 SCT) decrease the contrast overall,  say compared to using an F10 SCT with an optical F6.3 reducer on the back of it?

     Now, I'm not sure what happened next, but apparently this was not the question to be asking John,  because I could
see the look in his eyes, and his Cigar pointing towards my face, (John was fond of smoking cigars, and back in the day, it was permissible in
some California restaurants.)....

                       That's why I was reminded of the "smoke and mirrors" analogy this morning........and I will continue in tommorow's email,
because what happens next, is quite interesting... stay tuned,Friend.

Clear Skies,

Ray "F6.3?"  Khan

PS  John Diebel, at the helm of Meade Instruments was a brilliant man, and a true entrepreneur at heart. If it wasn't for him
      and the innovations he has brought to this hobby,  the amateur  telescope industry would not be where it is today.

PPS If you haven't already, be sure to check out the Meade Instruments Triplet Apochromat refractors on sale this month..
      Here is the link: http://www.khanscope.com/newEquipList.cfm?catID=1&subCatID=1&manID=1