Re: tube bending

Bob Madden (madden@netcom.com)
Fri, 21 Apr 1995 15:21:02 -0700 (PDT)

That is true. You should design for stresses at different pointing angles. It is a consideration the Group 70 has been working on for some time. The GP 70 project is a 1.8 meter Large Amateur Telescope being fabricated in Hayward, CA. As you all know large structures deflect from their own weight and must be compensated for.

):-{])) <---- madden@netcom.com madden@svpal.org Remember amateur astronomers: "keep looking for the next Universe"

On Fri, 21 Apr 1995, Eason, Dale wrote:

>
> I just read a book about the making of the Palamar 200 inch scope. The
> designers knew that they could not keep a structure that large from bending.
> So they designed it in such a way that the mirror mount and prime focus
> cage always stay parallel to one another even though the truss support
> system bends. Thus the optical axis moves with relation to the support
> but not in relation to the optics.
>