Re: ATM 16" binoscope project

[George Anderson <georgea@cam.org>]

I've always figured that the best way to do a binoscope would be to
mount the thing on a frame with a big old easy chair. Slide into the
chair and then bring the back up till your eyes meet the eye pieces.
Have the rocker bearings mounted on the sides of the easy chair and then
rotate the whole chair on an oversized lazy susan. Mel's scope software
and hardware for controlling the thing from a hand held box. And then
add a linear actuator for adjusting the back rest of the chair. Not
overly portable and probably limited to 8" or less for ground clearance,
but to quote Monty Python "Luxury!".

George Anderson
Montreal Canada

Clear skies and good health

"Dwight K. Elvey" wrote:
> 
> >From: "Mel Bartels" <mbartels@efn.org>
> >
> >>>> Am I nuts, or naive, or both? Comments, advice and recommendations
> >welcome.
> >
> >I think a 16 inch binoc would be wonderful.  If I were grinding/building the
> >scope, I'd worry as much about the mechanics and alignment as the actual
> >grinding.
> >
> >Mel Bartels
> >
> 
> Hi
>  Of course your nuts but I agree with Mel. Keeping
> two telescopes pointed to within a few hundredths
> of a degree is an interesting problem.
>  One of the biggest trouble I have at our viewing
> nights is to convince those that "Know what they
> are doing" not to grab the ends of the OTA's and
> use only the handle provided. Systems like Bruce
> Sayre's may be able to handle this but ours is
> gravity located and not locked like his.
> Dwight