New 20" Dob, I'm now officially obsessed !

I'm getting out the garden hose and I'm going to blast it goodo ! :lol:
You'll know if it has gone badly if I change the equipment list in my signature.

Something like:

12" LX200 & 20" F5 reflective garden ornament ?

More like,
12"LX200 and 20" high precision bathroom mirror (semi-tarnished) :lol:

Yes - imagine the shave you'd get...

Well Lads,
I did the spring clean of the mirror on Saturday.
Here is the image before the operation.


and here it is afterwards


It seems to have some out of it in pretty good condition.
There was a think blue film over part of the mirror beforehand (only visible in strong light) that tells me that someone had used too much washing up liquid when cleaning it in the past. There was alot of grit which was taken off with copious amounts of water before I even touched the optics. I'm happy with it, although a clean mirror attracts dust like nothing else. :lol:

As you might have guessed, it was difficult to get a clear pic of the mirror as I followed Obsessions instructions which say you should clean the mirror in its cell.

Dave,
to maintain as dust-free a mirror as possible, you should get yourself a camel hair (artists paint) brush. Camel hair is very soft, and the odd glancing dusting off will not harm your mirror. Synthetic equivalents are better, but do break off with small pieces as lint. If ever you think you need to use water, try as much as possible to use distilled water, or clean rain water - the reason being that each is chemical free (chlorine, flourine, and diluted metals, among other things, are contained in tap water.

And try to refrain from using a blower too often - if you happen to get grit in the air streem, you will do a sand-blasing effect. I know it sounds stupid, but wait about 10 years and you will notice the effect before the inevitable resilvering!

Seanie.

P.S. 1 resilvering coat in any 10 year period is good going by the way! From experience.