A Note from Mark about his 13.1" Telescope...

 A note and photo from Mark and his 13.1" telescope: 

Hi Dennis,  The Mirror Cell for the 13.1" is FANTASTIC!  Thank You Sir !  It is perfect, the Mirror is going to be the same distance from the focuser.. NICE..  As you can see, I fabricated 3 shelf angle brackets and made feet so that the collimation knobs don't touch the floor when i take the tube out for transport. (Did that last week)  Mark

A 12" Lightbridge Rocker Box...

This Lightbridge rocker box is for Sunil in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ready for packaging and ship. 

 

A Nice Note from Nick...

 A nice note from Nick about his 14" telescope and our recent visit together:

Hi Dennis,  Hope you had a good weekend and a happy Halloween. It was good seeing you, and thank you again for the time to go over everything with me!  I drove home on Friday and was able to put the telescope together, and then the clouds came out!  Of course :) But, I did look at some trees in the distance and things looked very sharp, and focus "snapped" into place.  

I kept the telescope set up just in case, and indeed the clouds cleared for a short time and I gotta say Jupiter was amazing!  Whereas before it was an endless fine turning of the focuser just to think you can see the red lines "pretty well", now I saw deep colors and more detail than ever before with little effort on the focuser! It was too late for Saturn from my vantage point, but I felt like I was getting the full benefit of the telescope and absolutely loved it.   It truly made all the difference having you look at it and fix it, so thank you again! 

Cheers, 
Nick 

8" F6 for Yuanyi Completed...

Yuanyi's 8" F6 telescope has wonderful optics,
straight vane spider and Moonlite focuser.

Yuanyi asked me to leave the wood "unfinished" so he
can apply the color and varnish himself.

The entire telescope, weighing 48#, fits into
a 20"x20'x25" box for shipping.

 

An 8" F6 for Yuanyi in Alameda, California...

Yuanyi sent along his 8" F6 primary with secondary,
spider and Moonlite focuser to build into a nice
strut telescope with Easy Transport.

 

And -- Wheelbarrow Handles for Richard...

Wheel barrow handles for
Richard 10" telescope. Richard
lives in Sausalito, CA.

 

A 16" Lightbridge Rocker Box Kit...

A 16" Lightbridge rocker kit for Randy in Hazlet, New Jersey.

The kit is completed and ready for packaging and shipping.

 

A Note and Photo from Bob and his 16" Telescope...

Bob's telescope was built from one
of our kits. Nice job Bob.

 A nice photo and note from Bob from Cedar Park, Texas:


Hi Dennis.   My 16" is still going strong. This was at the Okie-Tex star party last week. Class 1 skies did not disappoint nor this the scope.  Thanks again for making these scopes available. The views are phenomenal.  Take care.   Bob

A 14" F4 String-Strut Telescope

This 14" F4 for Steve in Springfield, Virginia.

That's a Hubble Optics 14" F4 primary with Destiny
3-vane curved-vane spider.

 

A Completed 12.5" F4.8 Telescope

Rodney's 12.5" F4.8 with strings and full UTA
Rodney lives in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

That's a 2-speed 2" GSO focuser.

The primary sits on a 9-point mirror cell
with custom mirror cover.

 

Tim's 12" Orion Telescope Custom "Dobstuff" Rocker Box....

Tim lives in Duluth, Minnesota..

 

More on the Celestron 6se...

I reported, earlier, that I found this Celestron 6se at one of our local thrift stores. It turns out to be fully functional with beautiful optics and works just as it should. After looking around the Internet I found that someone had made an equatorial wedge for their scope -- I thought I'd do the same. 

Later I found an  entry about using an older wedge for this newer telescope. It works just right. All the  holes lined up perfectly -- and with a bit of foolin'  around -- I've gotten the Celestron 6se equatorially mounted.  

A Thrift Store Find...

I found this in a thrift store for $24 bucks.
I couldn't pass it up!!

Yes, that's a Gilbert Toy Company telescope
from 50s or 60s. Neat, I think...

 

A Rocker Box for Tim in Duluth, Minnisota...

A rocker box for an Orion Skyquest XT12.

 

A Celestron 6se SCT ...

I wandered into a local thrift store and found a very nice Celestron 6se.  So, being the telescope-nut I bought it. Once home I found that the mount and electronics work perfectly. Accessories include a dew shield, 12Vac power supply and car-lighter power cord, a bunch of filters and a couple of 1.25" eyepieces.

I used it last night for a bit, mainly to check the collimation. It was "right on". The telescope is as close to "like-new" as one could hope for!!

A 12" Kit and 12.5" Telescope Underway...

 Underway -- is a 12" telescope for Rodney in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. and a 12.5" kit for Vince in Windsor, Ohio.  The OTA rings are coming along great. Next, over the next couple of days, I'll fabricate the altitude bearings and rocker box sides.  Meanwhile, the 20" for Paul in Hawaii is coming along too. I'm giving the silicone, on the mirror cell, a couple of weeks to cure!! 

Stay tuned....😀😀😀

More on Paul's 20" F3.3 Truss Telescope...

Paul's 20" F3.3 coming along. Here, the altitude bearings
are completed and awaiting spar-varnishing -- as does
the rest of the assembly. This telescope will be a BEAUTY!!

 

A Photo from Larry in Houston, Texas....

Larry's completed rocker box "kit" for his 16"
Lightbridge telescope. I like the color change
from white to black. It looks great, Larry

Thanks for the photo.

 

A 20" F3.3 for Paul in Ewa Beach, Hawaii...

Here's a fun project -- a 20" F3.3 for Paul in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. The optics will be a Hubble primary, an observatory grade curved-vane spider and Antares heavy-lift focuser. Note the 9-point mirror cell is made with laminated Baltic birch at 1.25" thick  -- less weight than an aluminum cell, but just as rigid. This will be an 8-tube truss telescope.

(Note the yardstick at the bottom for a size comparison).

A 6" Edmund Scientific Newtonian . . .

The equatorial mount for my 6" Edmund Scientific telescope
including a hard-to-find clockdrive.

After a good number of years in storage, the
telescope is in excellent condition.

The equatorial mount for a 4" Edmund Scientific
telescope. I have the complete telescope for sale.

 

Nick and his 14" F4.5 Telescope . . .

Nick and Larrisa dropped by from the Bay Area to pick
up his 14" F4.5 telescope. A most enjoyable visit!!

Yep, everything fits into his Honda CRV just right!!

 

A Visit by Richard from Sausalito, California

Richard happened to be in the Palm Desert
area for a few days. We had a delightful visit,
talking telescopes and astronomy

That's a 10" F4.5 Richard bought from the
original owners a couple years ago.

 

Larry and his Completed 13.1" F4.5 Telescope . . .

A super assembly job from one of our strut kits!!

 

Dave's 10" F6 Completed...

Dave's 10" F6 with Swayze Optics premium mirror.
Note the strings, full UTA, Easy Transport with intermediate
ring and dew shield. A full Sky Commander is included.

The focuser is an Antares "Heavy-Lift" 2-speed while
the spider is a Destiny 3-vane curved-vane.

 

A Note from Matt and his 12" Lightbridge...

We built a Lightbridge rocker box kit for Matt in Chattenooga, Tennessee -- the assembly and result are outstanding. Here's a note and a few pictures from Matt:

UPGRADES! I’d been wanting to make some upgrades to the rocker box after seeing all the nice custom dobs at my local society’s star party and when I heard about Dobstuff, I made the jump. I should say- a well placed step on my existing rocker boxes eyepiece holder by a rambunctious little 8 year old might have rushed me along. Here’s a photo of the pieces I ordered. I went with a minwax Sedona Red stain and finished it off with four coats of clear satin polyurethane.

The finished product resembles an old Chris Craft boat and I love it! I’m sure everyone has a preference to wood tone, but this was mine. I sanded between coats with 600 grit paper and gave it ample time to dry. One nice thing is that Dennis provides all new hardware. I did however opt to use my existing plastic feet and the lazy susan bearing from my old dob as they worked perfectly well.

I am very happy with the finsished product and can’t wait to take it to our annual “SHOW AND TELL” astronomical society meeting next month! On top of it being one of my favorite meetings of the year, it’s also our FIRST in-person gathering since the pandemic started. Here’s hoping the numbers stay low and we can enjoy some astronomical socializing!

Daves' 10" F6 ...

Dave's rocker box is in its early stages of
construction. The fit is "just right" <5/29/21>

5/31/21 Getting close to completion.

Near complete is Daves' 10" F6
OTA. I notice it's a bit "front heavy"
so I'll need to add some weight to 
the rear of the telescope -- counter
to the "ultra-lite" philosophy. but
it's gotta balance!!!!

 

A Beautiful 13.1" F4.5 -- "KIT"....

Jim's 13.1" F4.5 from one of our kits by Jim in 
Branford CT. Beautiful color and varnish. 

Great job Jim....

 

A 10" F6 with Premium Optics...

Underway is a 10" F6 with Swayze Optical primary 
for Charles in Huntersville, North Carolina. This 
telescope will feature a full UTA, Sky Commander
system and strings.

 

A Note From Jim in Branford, Connecticut:

The color is "Cognac"

 Hi Dennis, 

After many days of cool, wet weather, we finally had some drier days.  I finally managed to get all of the parts stained. One thing that I discovered is that the stain somewhat obliterates the pencil marks that tell me right from left pieces and other defining orientations. I ended up using a set of numbered punches that I had to mark the wood in non visible places in order to maintain the correct orientation of the parts. I did manage to get the ground board stained and sealed. You can see the Teflon in one corner. 

We’re going into another wet spell, so I’ll be waiting a bit to polyurethane the parts. Just need some more good days to get this all finished up. 

Regards,  Jim