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This Dobson telescope was my
introduction to amateur telescope making (ATM)
and was made largely following instruction from
the sidewalk astronomy group ( the record chosen
for the az bearing surface was one of the soft
machines ). The biggest difference
is due to cardboard tubing being so expensive,
that aluminum angle was used to make the the
main structure of the tube. As recommended
3/4 " plywood is used for the Dobson mount,
this makes it both incredibly sturdy and
incredibly heavy. I bought the 8 3/4"
f6 mirror and secondary for this telescope.
The focuser is a simple draw tube and collimation
is by 3 bolts in the back of the mirror cell.
This was my first scope and was a great
introduction to astronomy. A 40 mm
eyepiece gave fantastic views of the Orion
nebula and Andromeda. While a 9 mm
eyepiece with a 2x Barlow ( when focused )
momentarily gave fantastic views of Jupiter and
Saturn. Dobson mounts are undoubtedly easy
to make but their lack of tracking really
limits the telescope to lower magnifications.
I did make an equatorial platform for the scope
but an increasing interest in astrophography
meant a new home was needed for the optics; a telescope
with a GEM.
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HIGHLIGHT BOX
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The Poor Meadow Dyke Galleries are now open. THE
GALLERIES |
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See the full range of Atik cooled CCD cameras for
astronomy on the Atik Website
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