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!