I've been lucky and privileged to work with and for some wonderful clients and customers. Most have become good friends, and all (so far as I know) are very satisfied with my work.
Some customers and users of my optics have been kind enough to share their experiences with me, and here I will share them with you. All of what follows are clients' or users' own words.
"After more that a year of installing your primary mirrors in my telescopes, I wanted to express my satisfaction. Starmaster has received, in a timely manner, many superb optics ranging in sizes from 14.5" and up. All at F-ratios of F/3.7 or faster, as fast as the recent 20" at F/3.0. Having observed with ALL of them and star tested ALL of them I can say the optical quality has been exceptional. When coupled with the TeleVue Paracorr and Ethos eyepieces, the performance has proven to be stunning."
"Also appreciate your careful attention to checking and refiguring the secondary mirrors for these scopes. Even I was surprised to find approximately 30% of the larger secondary mirrors were not the quality we demand. By testing and refiguring some, the performance is insured. We always knew that fast mirrors have many advantages but were very difficult to obtain. No longer!! Keep up the good work."
-Rick Singmaster, Owner, Starmaster Portable Telescopes
-An experienced commercial telescope builder
"Mike, I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with the 20" f3.7 mirror you made for my new SlipStream Telescope. The fast f/ratio is perfect for when I am using my color MallinCam for live video viewing. Also, views of Saturn with the almost edge-on ring system have been spectacular. And last week at the Golden State Star Party, I loved the way globular clusters focused down to tiny pinpoints of star dust. The mirror is a keeper, and I also appreciate how you took the time to test my diagonal and give it a polishing tweak to bring the edge up to spec. Thanks for your excellent optics and first-rate service!"
-Tom Osypowski, Equatorial Platforms
"After reading some good stories about very fast telescopes, I decided to get rid of the ladder I needed for my 20 inch f/5 Dobsonian and ordered an f/3.6 mirror from Lockwood Custom Optics. The mirror plus the 4.5" secondary, tested by Mike before coating, arrived on May 21st (2009). Important to note is that the mirrors were very, very well packed. I am absolutely sure they would have easily and without any scratches, survived an airplane crash followed by an elephant stampede (which is, thinking about the arrival condition of less carefully packed things I have received over the years, not much worse then being shipped from the US to the Netherlands). The primary is about 1.5 inch thick and weights 15.2 kilo's (33.4 Lbs), which is about two-thirds the weight of my 20" f/5 mirror....
One test I performed was the test voor spherical aberration Suiter mentiones in the book 'Startesting': measuring the difference in distance from focus (in and out) of the equal size of the secondary shadow. The difference was very small and comparable or better then it is when testing my 12 inch 1/8 lambda zerodur mirror. So I already concluded the correction would be at least 1/8 lambda wavefront or better. Which is very (!) good, especially for such a large and fast mirror. What I could also see was nice, round diffraction rings on both sides of focus...."
I am sure I will use this mirror for many years, because I don't see any reason to prefer another one. And if aperture fever might strike again, I now know for sure where to order a larger one. I am sure the combination of large aperture, low f/# and very high quality of your mirrors has set a new standard....
There's one other thing important to mention. I was very pleased with the information updates you sent me from time to time, without needing to ask for it."
-Jan van Gastel, NetherlandsI am very happy with the 24" f/3.7 mirror that you made for me, Mike. The Starmaster telescope gave very good views at 150X within one hour after setting up, by sunset, observing bright and detailed Jupiter and its four prominent Jovian moons. Jupiter showed much detail in its belts and zones and the four Jovian moons each were clearly defined disks. The thermal equillibrium characteristic of this large aperture mirror is very good – cooling down quickly. This was accomplished with only the ambient air and using no adjacent cooling fans. The evening's temperature started at 75°F (at sunset) and slowly fell to 60°F by midnight.
I was able to focus my observing on familiar "test" objects pointing the Starmaster to a list of deep sky objects that I'm very familiar with such as the Ring Nebula (M57), the Great Sagittarius Globular Cluster (M22), the Cat's Eye Planetary Nebula (NGC4567), the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), the Blinking Planetary Nebula (NGC6826), the beautiful and irregular-"U" shaped planetary nebula (NGC7008), the pale ghostly disk of NGC7048, and the well known Dumbbell planetary nebula (M27) which lost it's familiar dumbbell shape to look more fully-illuminated as a real oval due to the 24" mirror's increased light gathering power. In my 15-year observing experience of observing these "eye candy" objects with other telescopes I have owned ranging from my current 10" f/14 Maksutov-Cassegrain to past owned 14.5", 18", and 20" Starmaster telescopes, this 24" f/3.7 FX Starmaster shows these objects larger, with more detail, and with "more color". I noticed an increase in the colors of the golden (old) and blue (young) stars in globular clusters, more blue and violet color showing up in some planetary nebulas, and more color in Jupiter's belts. And this was while using powers up to 370X which washes away the color of these objects in smaller aperture telescopes. I can't wait to see how these objects look like on a quality night.
One note on my M57 observation: At 371X, it's 15.3 magnitude central star was easy and solid, observed directly without a need to use any averted vision. I could never achieve the sighting of the M57 central star so easily from this observing site in 15 years of observing with my past 18" and 20" Starmasters..... At the eyepiece at using a 7mm Nagler T6 and Paracorr (371X), the in- and out-of-focus star images from the beautifully-figured f/3.7 primary mirror look textbook – very even and circular.I'm planning on getting out again next Saturday night to continue with my observations of fainter objects such as more Abell planetaries, Hickson galaxy chains, and small PK nebulas requiring high power. I'm really looking forward to it!
Thanks for such a beautifully crafted mirror,
-Peter Natscher, Monterey, California, 24" F/3.7 FX StarmasterI don't believe in the "new equipment curse", so it's perfectly normal that another observation session presented itself tonight :). The seeing was better than yesterday (3 to 3.5/5) and also the telescope was much better prepared - everything now perfectly collimated.
Powers up to 555X (9 mm eyepiece + 2.5X Powermate) were usable. Very fine color nuances in the belts on Saturn's disk were visible - the images of the planet's disk rivaled what was visible in the 25" in much better seeing conditions in April 2007. The rings weren't quite as good as last year, but that's to be expected with the current ring inclination. At even higher powers (715X) the views were washed out by the seeing.
Once again I was particularly struck by the crispness of the disk and the blackness of the surrounding sky. The moon Dione was emerging from behind Saturn (or from its shadow) and was visible as a tiny speck very close to the planet - at maybe 1.5 arcsecond from the disk. During the 1.5 hours observing session Dione moved visibly to the east. Also Rhea, Tethys and Enceladus were visible, but I did not notice Mimas (I used CalSky afterwards to identify the moons).
So far the mirror's performance certainly is up to the high expectations - thanks for the excellent job! Looking back at the first two sessions, what strikes me is its ability to cut through the seeing and deliver sharp and contrasted images even in less than optimal conditions. I look forward to some really steady air in which I can use 700X to 1000X.
With such an excellent primary I'm now looking at replacing the secondary. It's obviously become the weakest link......
Since May 3 there's been a stretch of clear weather in Belgium which is about to end tonight. I've been able to observe Saturn 10 evenings in a row, more than 20 hours accumulated. The telescope is left assembled and ready for use in the garden; I step out, power the telescope, and start observing.....
Seeing conditions have been reasonably good with useful powers mostly around 400X. The 16" is performing really well: very fine globe details, up to 7 moons simultaneously (Titan, Rhea, Dione, Thetys, Iapetus, Enceladus and even Mimas occasionally), and Titan clearly shows a tiny disk. The 1.4"-thick mirror cools significantly faster than conventional 2" mirrors and produces sharp images from the outset. It's a vital part of the "grab & go" strategy which in my experience would not have been possible with a 2" mirror.
During the same period there's also a very favorable evening apparition of Mercury leading to the longest stretch of Mercury observations in my life. And last but not least there was a daytime occultation of Mars by the Moon last Saturday!
It's been a lot of fun, and I haven't once felt the urge to roll out the 25"... which tells it all!
...with Jupiter only 14° to 17° high I was really surprised at the quality of the views. This 16" Lockwood mirror continues to amaze me.
-Robert Houdart, Belgium, 16" F/5, 1.4"-thick primary
I thought you'd like to know that I took the Mak-Cass to PSSP where it was given a vigorous workout.
Thursday night got cold and wet fast , but the viewing wasn't bad. However, Friday was surprisingly excellent - warmer and less moisture to deal with. We stayed out until about 3 a.m. Jupiter was the target, of course. I mounted it up on my Losmandy G11 and it tracked nicely (with 42# of counterweights!). I fabricated a bracket for mounting a Telrad which helped.
The detail in Jupiter was astounding. the moons were discs! I set up my Denk binos which provided a real visual 3D treat. The later it got, the better Jupiter appeared. We caught a moon transit with its shadow marching across the disc. Also, the GRS (or GCS - Great Creamy Spot as Scott Foster calls it) was visible. We were catching details in the cloud bands like I have never before seen. They no longer appeared as bland stripes, but very dynamic festoons.
Someone across the field had a TEC 8" APO set up on an AP1200 (I think it was the former owner of FeatherTouch). There were several who commented that the views in the Mak-Cass were keenly better. It may have been a cooling issue with the APO since it is such a gargantuan instrument! This was my observation also after spending some time at the eyepiece of the TEC.
A good friend of mine, Mike Nelson, was incredibly impressed with the Mak-Cass performance. He had experience with it prior to its rising from the ashes and vividly remembered its (previous) issues and crappy views!
......I decided to enter the OTA into the telescope judging contest and you will be happy to know that it warranted an award for restoration of a telescope! You were given full credit for the optical portion of the restoration.
-Steve Sands, 9" commercial Maksutov-Cassegrain refigure/rebuild
I FINALLY had a chance to get the 10" back together and fairly collimated. Between no time and rotten weather, it has been a challenge! I set it outside early tonight and let it cool down. I had a near full moon to contend with, but still got some nice viewing it. The Trapezium and moon were about all I could get from my deck (too lazy to get it elsewhere for a better sky view!).
The difference is quite astounding! The stars are very nice pinpoints with a dark (as can be with a full moon) background. The images inside and outside of focus are identical. I need to spend a bit more time collimating, but the overall impression is excellent! I pumped up the power on the Trapezium (an easy target from my vantage point) and the view was beautiful with no breakdown of the image. It will be great to get this scope under some dark unobstructed skies.
-Steve Sands, 10" F/4.5 refigure
Well, it's like this. New moon is going to be over soon. Tomorrow very early I've got to fly to Florida to fix a ship. I have basically a brand new 28" telescope. The telescope skeleton is the same, everything else is new, including both the primary, and secondary mirrors (Thanks to Mike Lockwood).
I really want to test it out under really stable, dark skies........ So, Tuesday night was my only chance to get out during this lunar cycle, so we set out about 2:00PM Tuesday......
The clouds persisted, so I set my alarm for 2:00AM and went to bed. At 2:00AM, it was snowing lightly, but I could see a couple of stars come in and out of view. Went back to bed. Bob woke up at 3:30, and found it to be perfectly clear.........I had two objectives, One, to test the mirror some more, and two to test out the drive system. Testing out the drive system was a success, because I found out it did NOT work in 14 degree weather! I have a solution to apply for next time! Testing out the mirror was a success, but I needed to spend a bit more time than I had. I did find that I could find NO astigmatism, Zero! I also am now really appreciative of the tight stars, even at 358 power!
First Eric found NGC5584, so we could have a look at the super nova. It was clearly visible. The tracking was working quite well in spite of the altitude, so Bob was able to make a drawing of it. The galaxy itself is very low surface brightness, quite large, but the SN was easy.
Then we looked at M3, then M4, both at 358 power. Tight star images, and M4 was really cool, 'cuz of it's trails of stars and empty space. We had a look at M57, but twilight was starting to interfere. We ended on Jupiter. It was fairly low, so we went down to 246 power. When I first looked I gasped, I've never seen this much detail in the clouds. Eric made the statement "This is the best view of Jupiter I've ever seen". Then something went downhill. I think it may have been frost on the eyepiece. Bob didn't like it too much, then when I looked again, all the detail was gone. We may have just hit some bad seeing, or frost or something, but my memory is with the best view Eric and I had at first.
After this I went to polaris to try to compare inside focus and outside focus views. I could detect no astigmatism whatsoever. I didn't have time to try the ronchi eyepiece. The inside and outside focus were very similar, but I could barely detect some differences. This is now an exellent mirror, and I can't wait to have more time at the eyepiece with even higher power, but I'm afraid this is going to have to wait until the next lunar cycle!
-Dan Gray, 28" F/4.5 refigure, 8"x1/2" secondary flat refigure
I observed Jupiter at twilight.... Initially, I was able to view jup at 360X and 450X. The detail was incredible. I'm not sure if my 10 mm EP is really a 10 mm because there did not seem to be a big difference in the size of jup when switching between the 12.5 mm (360X) and the 10 mm (450X).
-Tim Camden, 13" F/4.5, 7/8" thick
I was out at the dome last night with the 18 inch. It was a damp night with ground fog raising up now and then. The seeing was quite steady however.
I started with Jupiter and quickly touched up the collimation. It was the boring side of Jupiter but lots of detail visible with the 7MM T6 (290X).
At 9:000 PM I lined up on Antares with the 9mm T6 (226X). The green companion star was mid way between the diffraction spikes from my secondary spider. I tried all my T6's ending with the 3.5 (581X) all showed the companion though it was most visually appealing with the 7MM.
After it got dark I picked up all 4 Planetary Nebulas in Scorpius with NGC 6337 being a pretty Mag 12.3 ring. At about 11:00pm the ground fog was thickening so I tried for the central star in M57. It was winking in and out with the 3.5 mm T6 but with the 4mm TMB supermono it was visible about 90% of the time.
Then I tried the Double Double in Lyra. With either the 3.5 or the 4 the Airy disks of the stars were clearly seen though the seeing was randomly brightening the diffraction rings. The 4MM gave a slightly cleaner view. The moon stated rising about 11:30 and the fog was thickening so I packed up. Great optics good seeing and a great night.
-Willard, 18" F/4.5 refigure
I am currently on the field with a certain telescope manufacturer. His latest creation is a 24" F/3.7. While looking at NGC-5353 last night, this telescope was at near zenith --- or only TWO steps up a ladder! Bravo to the brave souls who have worked to make this happen! Not that I would be a name dropper but the mirror is by the lists very own Mike Lockwood --- the person on the field with the scope is that Rick Singmaster dude!
What a scope --- what a view!
-Mike Wolford, From the Heart of America Star Party 2008 --- Kansas City, MO