Andrew W and his 16" F4.5.

Andrew W. from Escondido elected to stop by today to pick up his 16" telescope. We enjoyed a nice conversation about astronomy and telescopes. It was great meeting him. Andrew says:


"Hi Dennis,  

I finally had a chance to put the scope together today and collimate it.  It went together so easily and the components are much lighter than the old Lightbridge unit.  The main mirror cell is much easier to collimate and when moved around the sky, collimation holds well.  All in all, a beautiful and functional instrument.  Thanks for the fine workmanship,

Andrew"

14" built from Kit by Mark at the
University of Texas.

Here's a 14" telescope completed by Mark C from the University of Texas. The interesting this is that Mark obtained my kit in a "trade". It was a pleasure assisting him during the assembly. I especially like the 2-tone color. Note the Easy Transport Telescope (ETT) option installed.

The scope sports a Hubble Optics 14" F5 sandwich mirror, a GSO focuser and a DobSTUFF mirror cell.

 Great job.

16" F4.5 for Andrew in Escondido California,

More photos of Andrew's (from Escondido) 16" F4.5. The mirror, mirror cell, secondary and spider and focuser are from the original Lightbridge 16". Notice the "tandem" finders mounted near and above the focuser.  This telescope has the "single top" ring design and not the more traditional upper tube assembly. This makes it a much lighter and compact telescope.

The altitude bearings are 24" in diameter.

It is a telescope like this one that illustrates the beauty and functionality of the "truss design". Here the telescope is 99% complete. I just need to add the small counterweight and focuser baffle.

A bit difficult to see, but notice the dual finders
on a "tendem" mount just above the focuser.

I'm making good progress on a 16" F4.5 truss telescope for Andrew in Encino. It's a rebuild of a Meade Lightbridge. I'm using the Meade mirror and mirror cell, secondary and spider and focuser.  One interesting feature of this truss telescope is the "single top ring". It makes for a light but very sturdy assembly. There is no NO flex what-so-ever and the laser collimator "dot" stays right in the middle of the mirror

More to follow

Every now and then I get a chance to build some components for someone. In this case, I build two 24" altitude bearings and rocker box sides for Carl in San Diego. These are made from Baltic birch and being sent "unfinished". Carl can stain and/or varnish the wood as needed.

13" by Jim in Xenia Ohio

Here's a very nice telescope completed from one of our kits by Jim V in Xenia Ohio. Among other things, you'll note the Sky Commander below the focuser and a Telrad mounted on dual-clamps just above the focuser. Great job Jim. Thanks for the photos.

10" F4.7 for sale.

A 10" F4.7 with a 1/10th wave Destiny mirror and curved-vane spider currently complete and for sale. The telescope also includes a very nice Antares 2" 2-speed crayford focuser and red-dot finder. Notice, too, the warm custom color of the furniture-grade Baltic birch.

For information for the purchase of this telescope, contact us at densteele@dobstuff.com.

I just completed a beautiful 14" F4.62 telescope for Jay in Herriman Utah. The Zambuto mirror produces beautiful images. Notice the string option, which eliminates all the flex from the parallel strut design.

Here's a couple of pictures:

Here you can see the dew shield in place. Included is a Telrad
and finder base mounted on separate clamps. The focuser is a
Moonlite 2-speed 2" crayford. Nice telescope.

Front of the telescope. The wire is for the secondary
dew heater.

Detail of "mirror box" with dew shield removed.

18-point flotation mirror cell with fan.

You can see the Telrad and finder bases. The lower clamp is a 1.25# counterweight.

I've been working on a nice 14" F4.62 telescope with a Zambuto mirror. For those of you who may not know, Zambuto is one of the premium mirror makers -- maybe the best. His reputation is excellent. The telescope is coming together nicely and is beginning to take shape. The scope is being made for Jay in Harriman, UT.

Here's a few photos of the progress so far:

The "mirror box" of the 14" w/Zambuto mirror
The optional dew shield is to the left.

The completed OTA. The struts and focuser
bracket will be black anodized.

Detail of the upper ring, focuser (Moonlite) and spider

The "mirror box" with mirror cover and dew shield in place.

A 10" F4.7 for Jack in South America. Features a Meade primary with 97% reflectivity coating, Sky Commander and Rigel red-dot finder. Nice telescope. Jack will be here in November to pick up his telescope! That'll be a neat visit.

Front -- Destiny spider, Rigel finder.

Detail of the "mirror box" and Sky Commander.

A single fan will help cool the primary mirror during cool-down.

12.5" Truss Telescope for
Daniel in Sacramento California

Details of the rear of the 12.5" showing
the dual-fan installation

12.5" F6 truss dob  for Daniel in Sacramento California
99% complete.

Stellafane with Observatory (observing the Sun)

Folded Reflector Roll-top Observatory

That's me with Al Nagler of TeleVue

Projected image of the Sun with Sunspots in the Stellafane
Turret Telescope

A 6" reflector mounted on a Springfield Mount

The "Pink" clubhouse, Stellafane

Hello there, from Springfield Vermont -- home of Stellafane!!

In the tunnel to the telescoope

Russell W. Porter's "Garden Telescope"

Inside the Turret Telescope at Hartness House

Linda observes the Sun

I'm out of the office and shop for the month attending -- among other things -- Stellafane in Springfield, Vermont.  If you don't know, Stellafane is the "Mother of all Telescope" conferences first started by Russell W. Porter in the 1920. Check out http://stellafane.com for details.

Meanwhile, I am available by cell (650-315-6578) and email at densteele@dobstuff.com. Don't hesitate contacting me any time.

Clear skies, Dennis (K6KRV)

These are nice Baltic birch rocker box upgrades for the Meade Lightbridge telescopes. They are available for any size Lightbridge telescope.

The DobSTUFF workshop contains all the tools I need to build telescopes. Bandsaw, tablesaw, 3 routers, 3 table sanders, drill press and a wide variety of handtools.

A 12" F5 kit delivered to Pete in Shasta California in January of 2011. It turns out that Pete's father-in-law is noted physicist Dr. Freeman Dyson. Dr. Dyson was a contemporary of, and worked with, Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University.

During a trip to visit his son-in-law's family, Dr. Dyson helped Pete and his children assemble the 12" Dobstuff kit.

In July 2012, DobSTUFF was honored to have received the Astronomy Magazine's prestigeous Star Products Award for its kits and "make over" telescopes -- Thank you Astronomy Magazine..

This is a 16" telescope built around Meade Lightbridge components. The truss design lends itself to a rigid but light optical tube assembly. I finished the telescope in June 2012 for Anthony in Pittsburgh, PA.

You can notice, on this telescope, I've modified and installed the standard Meade fan. Additionally, a Sky Commander digital setting circle is included.

This is a 10" F4.7 telescope with a Destiny mirror, secondary and spider. The focuser is a 2" crayford with 1.25" adapter. Included in a mirror cover (standard equpment with all my "remake" telescope and "complete" telescopes, black anodized struts and focuser baffle. I especially like this telescope because it is so portable. The OTA is only 45" long. The telescope can be lifted entirely by hand, moved and used with ease. The scope disassembles without the need for tools and stores in a relatively small 20"x20"x20" space.

This is my personal telescope. It's a 13.1" with full thickness Discovery mirror, Destiny curved-vane spider and Moonlite two-speed 2" focuser. I use a Sky Commander to roam around the skies. The color is Minwax Red Sedona.