John's Astronomy - ATM projects
I really like to build things, and to fool around with existing things to
make them better. To me it's way more fun to have equipment that you built
yourself than just buying stuff. There are limits, of course. I am not
skilled in optical crafts, so I don't grind my own mirrors or lenses. I
would like to learn someday, it seems like a very cool thing to do, but I
just don't have the time.
Anyway, here are a few projects that I've completed.
15" "Obsession-style" Dob
Aug 3, 2001 - Done!
This is a 15" f/4.5 dob built using the Dave Kriege/Richard Berry book "The
Dobsonian Telescope" (available from Willman-Bell publishing). This book is
quite an education. It not only tells you everything you need to build the
scope of your choice, including detailed measurements for all parts, but it
goes into the theory and reasons for each design choice so that if the
tables and designs weren't there or if you wanted to build a scope outside
the range of the book, you could create them yourself.
15" dob - Initial construction
15" dob - Accessorizing / tuning
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