Kevin with his 12.5" telescope.

Kevin A from Billerica, MA had me "remake" his 12.5" F4.8 telescope and leave it "unfinished". He applied a coat of colored stain for a custom finish. Of special note, you'll see a "filter slide" under the eyepiece.

Kevin uses a University Optics mirror cell.

Notice the filter slide below the eyepiece and focuser. A Tel
is also included.

Kit for 17.5" telescope.

Completed today is a 17.5" kit for Don C in Pembina North Dakota. The kit is for a "truss" telescope and includes an 18-point mirror cell.

Russ C. from Sacramento CA picks up his 13.1: telescope.

Russ C. from Sacramento, CA. came by to pick up his 13.1" telescope. We "test drove" the scope in the backyard. Using the Sky Commander, we easily located and viewed M13, M92, M88, Saturn and other DSO's. It was a great evening for both of us.

My personal 13.1" F4.5 telescope.

I've just re-assembled my personal telescope after receiving the refigured primary mirror from Optical Wave Labs. Cary did a great job on the mirror and coated it with a 96% enhanced coating.

This is a 13.1" F4.5 is 1.5" thick primary that started out as a "Discovery" mirror.

Here the scope is setup at 7:45 p.m. for an evening of observing from my back yard in Palm Desert, CA.

(Once it gets real dark, I'll have to remember the pool is there. It is a moon-less night!)

13.1" F4.5 for Russ in San Diego, California.

I've just completed a 13.1" F4.5 (based on a Coulter mirror) for Russ C. in Sacramento. Note the Easy Transport Telescope option, curved-vane spider and 2-speed, 2" focuser. A Sky Commander system is also included.

The primary mirror and secondary.has a 96% enhanced coating.

Detail of the Sky Commander on its' "stage" mount.

The Baltic birch mirror cell is actually a hybrid
of wood and 1/4" plate aluminium. It is a
9-point flotation cell optimized with plop.

Detail of the top ring with Destiny 3-vane curved-vane spider.

Here's an example of a 9-point flotation mirror cell for a 13.1" thin mirror (5/8" thick). The cell components are a combination of aluminum plate and a Baltic birch substrate. The mirror will affix to the cell with silicone. The placement of the 9-points (three triangles) were computed by, and optimized, with Plop

Kevin's 12.5" Telescope with ETT option.

Here's Kevin's 12.5" telescope. The ETT (Easy Transport Telescope) option is complete and installed. Another benefit of this design is that intermediate ring lends a bit of extra "rigidity" to the OTA assembly.