Wednesday, May 31, 2017

And this from Australia . . .

One of my customers, from Australia, posted this on the reflector forum on Cloudy Nights. Sorry I don't have a name:

I bought this 16" Dobstuff kit ages ago for my 16" f4.5 Mark Suchting mirror. I finally got around to putting it together. I modified it a little to accept a wire sling. I used extra thick walled aluminium tubes for the struts and extra clamps. I am very pleased with just how well it all works and can highly recommend Dobstuff scopes.

Monday, May 29, 2017

A 17.5" for Kieth....

As the OTA nears completion, I can now begin work on
the rocker box. I assemble the rocker with clamps to check the fit.

In this case, the fit is just right!!

Sunday, May 28, 2017

A bit More on Keith's 17.5" .....

With Keith's mirror box complete, I should be able to complete the entire
OTa by mid-week. In this photo, note the Moonlite truss blocks.
Ten 1.25" struts make for a nice rigid assembly.
Once I add the altitude bearings,
the OTA will be complete. 

Thursday, May 25, 2017

17.5" for Keith -- OTA Nearing Completion . . .

The rear of the mirror board. Note the 'feet" which support the OTA when standing
alone. The rear of the 6-point mirror cell and larger ventilation hole.

The mirror board with custom mirror cover and UTA.

Here the mirror cover is removed. The 17.5" mirror is a beauty!!

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Keith's UTA Complete . . .

Keith's UTA sports a Moonlite 2-speed 2" focuser with compression ring,
Destiny Observatory 4-vane curved-vane spider and Moonlite truss components.

The narrower finder board will take any base, including the Telrad.

Detail of the truss blocks and spider/secondary.

The nice ting about the Destiny spider is that it is spring-loaded
and easy to collimate. The observatory grade spider is VERY rigid.

Monday, May 22, 2017

More on Keith's Upper Tube Assembly . . .

Keith's UTA is coming along nicely. Here the focuser and finder boards
are in place. The "enclosure" is in place as well.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Keith's 17.5" F4.5 UTA . . .

Beginnings of Keith's Upper Tube Assembly for his
17.5" F4.5 These are the focuser and finder boards.

Destiny Observatory Grade Spider. Nice and solid.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

John and His 7" Refractor . . .

Here's John's 7" F15  refractor on the mount head I built for him
John lives in Richmond, Virginia.
.

The original mount had undersize altitude bearings and made
it difficult to manage the telescope.

Monday, May 15, 2017

A Couple of Telescopes . . .

Regardless of the telescope, it starts out as a 30"x30" piece of Baltic birch.

On the Left are the OTA rings for Keith's 17.5" truss telescope. the truss
telescope will sport a full upper tube assembly. on the right 
are the OTA rings for Bob's 16" string-strut telescope.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

12.5" F4.8 for Harry, 99.9% Complete . . .

Harry'2 12.5" string-strut telescope is complete. I only need to make the travel
struts. The fit and finish and just great. Easy motions, nice balance.
 
The 12.5" primary mirror with it's custom cover to the right. Nice!


The primary mirror sits on an all aluminum 6-point flotation mirror cell.
These cells are designed and optimized with Plop.

A 12Vdc fan is installed for help in cooling the primary mirror.

Check out the Telrad mounting system. Easy to locate and use.

The focuser is a 2" 2-speed Moonlite, a Destiny 3-vane curved-vane spider and "strings"
which, themselves, add rigidity to these strut telescopes.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

A 13.1" F4.5 String-Strut Telescope FOR SALE ....

For sale is a 13.1" string-strut telescope .

The focuser is a Moonlite 2-speed 2" crayford with 2" to 1.25" adapter. 6-point flotation mirror cell, curved-vane 3-vane spider with 3.1" secondary -- with 98% enhanced coatings.

The Coulter mirror seems well corrected with nice pin-point stars and airy disk during testing under the skies. A custom mirror cover and red-dot finder is included.

I am asking $1795 plus shipping.

Contact me at densteele@dobstuff.com if you need more information.

Thanks, Dennis





Sunday, May 7, 2017

12.5" F4.8 for Harry -- OTA....

The fan assembly is completed and installed on Harry's 12.5" mirror box.
with this, the OTA is pretty much complete.

Friday, May 5, 2017

A Rocker Box for Harry's 12.5" Telescope....

With the OTA pretty much complete, work begins on finishing up Harry's
12.5" F4.8 telescope. Here the rocker box starts taking shape.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

A Couple of Projects . . .

John's "mount head" for his 7" refractor is complete. Note the
"break" on the alt axis
.

The "profile" of John mount head. The black knob is
the "break" adjustment and applies friction to the alt bearing.


(the color variation is simply the "lighting")

Harry's 12.5" string-strut OTA is pretty much complete. I need to
add altitude bearings, and strings.