Now that I've received Greg's optics, I am starting up work on his 8" F5.4 again. Here you see the OTA assembled with the "test struts". I'll be using his scope under the stars this evening -- making sure all my eyepieces come to proper focus.

Once this is complete, it doesn't take long to complete the telescope.

More to follow....

Brian N's 17.5" F4.5 mirror just refigured and coated.

I've just received Brian's 17.5" telescope mirror from the coater. It was refigured to a .955 strehl -- nice figure indeed. The mirror sports an "enhanced" aluminum protected coating as well. What started out as a Coulter mirror has turned into a high-quality premium optic.

A 4.5" secondary is also part of the optical train.













This is the detail of the 18-point flotation mirror cell optimized with Plop. I use masking tape to hold the triangles and mounting points in place. Once the cell is permanently affixed to the back of the mirror -- the tape is removed.

Here, the mirror cell has been affixed to the mirror with silicone. I give the silicone 24-hours to cure. Once attached, the mirror is firmly held in place -- but it can be removed if that is ever necessary.

Note the 4.5" secondary above the mirror. It's been attached to its mirror holder with silicone also.

10" F4.7 for Traci G. in San Jose California.

Virtually complete is a 10" F4.7 for Traci G. in San Jose California. The telescope
features a Meade Starfinder primary mirror on a Baltic birch cell. The spider is a Destiny curved-vane "Pro Series" with a 2.3" secondary. The telescope also features a single-speed 2" crayford focuser.

A final few "adjustments" are needed before I'll be able to package and ship the telescope to Traci.

Detail of the Baltic birch mirror cell and collimation knobs.

The Destiny spider and top ring detail. The "round" plate to the
left is a 1.25" counterweight (which slides up/down the OTA)
for balance, if needed.

 

A 10" F4.7 for Traci G. in San Jose California.

A 10" F4.7 is taking shape for Traci G. in San Jose California. Here you see the "adjustable struts" that I use to be sure the strut lengths have been set correctly. I'll bring each of my eyepieces to focus under the stars. If necessary, I can lengthen or shorten the struts to be sure the length of the OTA is correct.

This will be a  nice compact telescope with the OTA length about 43".

More to follow.......

The Rocker Box for Traci's 10" telescope takes shape.

Hitesh and his boys with their new 16" F4.5 telescope.

Here's a picture of Hitesh and his two boys picking up their 16" F4.5 telescope. Later in the evening, we all went observing at a local site deep in the hills and to the south of my house. The sky was beautiful -- the telescope worked even better!!

Components for Greg's 8" telescope.

An 8" telescope for Greg S. in Pinellas, Florida is coming together. Here's a picture of the top ring with focuser and spider installed and ready to go.

Also in the shot are the completed 12" altitude bearings.

So far, so good!

Construction begins for an 8" telescope built for Greg in Pinellas Park Florida. This is the "mirror box" with Baltic birch mirror cell.

More to come...