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  • Optical glass shortage may be coming

    From RichA@21:1/5 to All on Mon Sep 13 17:51:15 2021
    Some of the dealers/makers are saying their refractor production may be delayed until at least the 2nd quarter of 2022. Apos and other refractors (possibly Maks) may become scarcer and prices will rise.

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  • From StarDust@21:1/5 to RichA on Tue Sep 14 00:08:50 2021
    On Monday, September 13, 2021 at 5:51:16 PM UTC-7, RichA wrote:
    Some of the dealers/makers are saying their refractor production may be delayed until at least the 2nd quarter of 2022. Apos and other refractors (possibly Maks) may become scarcer and prices will rise.

    Who cares, when my 40 year old APO is still the best!

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  • From Quadibloc@21:1/5 to RichA on Tue Sep 14 04:35:55 2021
    On Monday, September 13, 2021 at 6:51:16 PM UTC-6, RichA wrote:
    Some of the dealers/makers are saying their refractor production may be delayed
    until at least the 2nd quarter of 2022. Apos and other refractors (possibly Maks)
    may become scarcer and prices will rise.

    Hmm. I think we can pretty much be confident that there is no direct connection between that and the semiconductor chip shortage; while both optical glass and microchips use silicon dioxide as their raw material - with the microchips extracting
    the silicon from it - the world isn't running out of sand. (Although sand low in
    contamination by iron, used for making optical glass, _is_ relatively scarce.)

    John Savard

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  • From Quadibloc@21:1/5 to StarDust on Tue Sep 14 04:36:39 2021
    On Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 1:08:51 AM UTC-6, StarDust wrote:

    Who cares, when my 40 year old APO is still the best!

    Everyone who isn't as lucky as you to have a 40 year old
    apochromatic refractor yet?

    John Savard

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Quadibloc@21:1/5 to Quadibloc on Tue Sep 14 04:38:42 2021
    On Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 5:35:57 AM UTC-6, Quadibloc wrote:
    On Monday, September 13, 2021 at 6:51:16 PM UTC-6, RichA wrote:

    Some of the dealers/makers are saying their refractor production may be delayed
    until at least the 2nd quarter of 2022. Apos and other refractors (possibly Maks)
    may become scarcer and prices will rise.

    Hmm. I think we can pretty much be confident that there is no direct connection
    between that and the semiconductor chip shortage; while both optical glass and
    microchips use silicon dioxide as their raw material - with the microchips extracting
    the silicon from it - the world isn't running out of sand. (Although sand low in
    contamination by iron, used for making optical glass, _is_ relatively scarce.)

    Ah. The main cause is one of the minor contributing causes to the chip shortage:
    supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic, in this case specifically within China, I see.

    John Savard

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  • From StarDust@21:1/5 to Quadibloc on Tue Sep 14 04:54:18 2021
    On Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 4:36:41 AM UTC-7, Quadibloc wrote:
    On Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 1:08:51 AM UTC-6, StarDust wrote:

    Who cares, when my 40 year old APO is still the best!
    Everyone who isn't as lucky as you to have a 40 year old
    apochromatic refractor yet?

    John Savard

    Yes, I'm very lucky!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29g89Jq2y0c

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