Gerard, from Santiago, Chile, and his Telescope.... .

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery!!

Here's a letter from Gerard, in Chile, and his "dobstuff inspired" telescope. It is great to hear from folks throughout the world who use our design as an inspiration to build their own telescope. Thanks Gerard.


"Dear Dennis,

Thank you!

Dobstuff and Stellafane have been material in my quest to turn a random and – at first sight – useless gift (a 6” primary plus diagonal) into a real, working telescope. Although I’m something of a handyman and definitely an astronomy enthusiast, telescopes were not even on my radar, only a few years ago. My modest 6”, optimized for astro-photography, is the result of a – much interrupted – 3 year project, which has now seen first light.

I very much liked your design and have shamelessly copied it to my own advantage, even tough many of the parts you use habitually are not available in my market (Chile). As such, I have adapted accordingly, mainly by using pressure-grade PVC and ordinary laminate or melaminated woods, rather than Ebonystar. It works well enough, at least for such a small telescope.

On the way, I have made the many errors (and probably some more) you probably also commited on your way to making this an industrialized process. Practice makes perfect…
In particular, I had great trouble to properly position the altitude bearings as the below picture demonstrates. Any pointers you might have are appreciated.

In the process, I have built my own Crayford focusser (currently v.2), counterweight system, invented my own spider- and focuser set-up plus a few things more. They’ll likely won’t work that well, but the fun is in the coming up with stuff – that’s time well spent.  Next: a 10” f/5

One of the things production involves is drilling many rounded holes; mine are generally very rough, except the large ones, cut with the router.

Thank you again for the inspiration.

Kind regards,
Gerard Prins

(PS: your workshop must be a woodworksman’s haven)"