Re:ATM New to the forum; new to make-your-own-telescope

[kwhitefire@juno.com]

- 10" primary mirror; f/6 f/5 or f/4? I want to go ahead with night sky
photography (my old manual Nikon screams to be back in business)
- A cheap reliable source for mirror blank and kit (eventually I'll try to
salvage and use the second glass, build a plaster tool etc. more info will
be requested at later time)
- A good source for aluminizing the mirror
I am surviving on canadian soil, so local sources around Toronto area would
be preferable (unemployment doesn't pay too much here)
is there any chance my EQ3 will hold a tube of a 10" telescope without
bending all over in high winds? I realize I need to modify the clamps; but
that looks like a minimum investment.


Go ahead with the f/6.  It's the easier curve to make.  As for a source, I am unsure.  Cost is a concern, I haven't purchased a blank in some time.  I may soon; I have a course change with my 13.2" Cass project that will imvolve a third curved surface and far better precision in those curves.  I haven't coated yet, and plan on silver.  Low sulfur area, go with the best.

Build another mount.  A 10" f/6 telescope is the size of a small refrigerator.  While Canada may be a cool area, a telescope, unlike refrigerators, is unsuitable for a beer holder.  The little one will flex all over the place.


Kevin of Eastern Iowa
Seeker of the Darkness (I wish it were warmer here!  It's so cold in the winter that I expect a wooly mammoth or sabre tooth tiger to be in my backyard!)






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