The World of Amateur Telescope Making
Date: Thu, October 20, 2005
There are lots of great resources available on the net for telescope making. Some general info can be found at telescopemaking.org, and much more specific information at Stellafane's website and here as well.
A great resource that I have linked to in another article is Mel Bartel's website, it's got information on controlling your scope with a computer (including all schematics of course...)
Grinding your own telescope mirror has to be the most ridiculously precise thing you can do in your garage with simple tools. Homemade mirrors can be made to tolerances within a few millionths of an inch.
Unfortunately at this point in time the only company offering mirror blanks with prices on the internet is Newport Glass. There seem to be several other companies that may have either stopped selling mirror blanks, or don't list them on their website.
BTW, this is the first in a series of "The World of..." articles. I'm going to make references for different domains of homebuilding projects....
I fully intend to build a Telescope, most likely in the next couple years, and probably as a break from my airplane project at one point or another.
There's nothing like building a project such as a telescope to turn you from being a Consumer into a Producer...
A great resource that I have linked to in another article is Mel Bartel's website, it's got information on controlling your scope with a computer (including all schematics of course...)
Grinding your own telescope mirror has to be the most ridiculously precise thing you can do in your garage with simple tools. Homemade mirrors can be made to tolerances within a few millionths of an inch.
Unfortunately at this point in time the only company offering mirror blanks with prices on the internet is Newport Glass. There seem to be several other companies that may have either stopped selling mirror blanks, or don't list them on their website.
BTW, this is the first in a series of "The World of..." articles. I'm going to make references for different domains of homebuilding projects....
I fully intend to build a Telescope, most likely in the next couple years, and probably as a break from my airplane project at one point or another.
There's nothing like building a project such as a telescope to turn you from being a Consumer into a Producer...
Dave:
I would think it would be an advantage... "you see that search light right there? It's pointing at the Pleiades..."
Cecilia:
At risk of hijacking the topic, there is an interesting article that talks about Consumerism vs. Producerism that has an interesting view on what Apple is doing to enable "Producers", in about the middle of the article. Here is an excerpt of the summary:
What Apple's doing with "i" apps like GarageBand isn't about the computer industry; it's about the entertainment industry. That industry lately has become vigilant about threats from its customers, which it still thinks of as consumers. Instead it should be watching how Apple transforms those consumers into producers. Because the next challenge will be finding ways to turn those producers into partners. The old gig is up. They'll never be just "consumers" again.
It is an interesting idea that people are tired of watching other people do things, and now are interested in harnessing their creativity and knowledge to create a microcosm of creation in their lives. I think it also goes hand in hand with the growing interest in controlling your life, rather then watching it go by without you.
Jim:
When I made my first scope, Willmann-Bell sold telescope making kits but I'm not sure if they do any more or not. They don't list the kits on their website but they didn't then, either (they had a pretty early website).
I hope to get to Stellafane someday. I hear it's pretty impressive although they built a prison not too far from the site and it might cause interference with their dark sky site.
Jim:
That's what green laser pointers are for.
Have you ever seen a green laser pointer in action in the dark? Muy cool to follow the green beam to a star, planet, etc. One night at a star party, we couldn't locate the finder scope for our 8" SCT so Tim used binoculars to find Comet Linear near the Beehive Cluster. He pointed the green laser pointer to the comet and I just followed the beam up with the SCT. Found the comet in about 15 seconds.
Maybe that's what I should ask for this Christmas. They're under $200 now.
Dave:
Hey, have you seen the video of the star that's closely orbitting the black hole at the center of the Milky Way? Pretty cool...
Jim:
BTW, you might check some of the links on The ATM's Resource List, one of the links you have in the main article. They've got a list of several different companies that make mirror grinding kits. They might not have prices listed but they might be pretty easy to find by giving them a call.