Re: [ATM] Time for a "new standard" ATM telescope project?

["Eric S. Johansson" <esj@harvee.org>]

Gil McFarlane wrote:
> The Dobsonian era brought a basic telescope plan that
> met these same criteria - even the last one about cost
> if you compared your scope to manufactured ones with
> quality optics.  The Dobsonian has been a very
> successful ATM design and I suspect it is still the
> primary telescope made by amateurs.  I expect there
> will continue to be many Dobsonians built for many
> decades to come.

this also introduced what I call the "attack of the killer dobs".  I remember 
going to stellafane a few years back and seeing almost nothing but dob's and 
Newtonian's on German Equatorial's.  There was no imagination or engineering 
thought put into these telescopes.  They were good examples of craftsmanship but 
they were all virtually the same.  I hear reports that it's gotten slightly 
better in recent years and people are showing some imagination again.

> 
> The advent of digital imaging, however, has created a
> demand for a type of telescope system for which most
> amateurs must go to a manufacturer to obtain:
> 1.  Wide flat field optical system.  (Thus the many
> small APO scopes showing up - even one at my house -
> ACK!)
> 2.  Precision Equatorial mount.
> 3.  Auto-tracking.

> If we could collectively (or with good natured
> competition) produce a set of detailed plans that
> would leave a mildly skilled but highly motivated
> amateur with such a scope while having the qualities
> mentioned above (1-6), economics alone might bring
> people into the hobby.  Plus, it might be fun to see
> the best way to do it!
> 
> What do you think?

interesting if all you are interested in are static gray fuzzies (which to my 
eyes truly are nothing but gray fuzzies).  There are those of us who are 
interested in colored marbles in the same solar system as us.  So, think about 
long focal length (f12-f15), tiny central obstruction, telescopes that can be 
used for planetary viewing.  How can you build a 10 inch f15 that can be used 
without climbing to the top of a ladder?
-- 
Speech-recognition in use.  It makes mistakes, I correct some.
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