[ATM] beginner's questions

[haren burke <harenburke@yahoo.com>]

Several questions from a beginner. Project is to be portable 10" f/6
newtonian for visual and imaging.

Glass - I have a stack of old windows and would like to know the
feasility of glueing (epoxy) several pieces, cut to size, of this glass
to build up a stack of appropriate thickness. I was going to vacuum bag
the assembly to eliminate air bubbles in the glue. Could it then be
annealed in a kitchen oven (first it needs a preheat out-of-doors to
drive off volatiles)?

Grinding supplies - Got Grit and Newport Glass are two sources; are
there any others for continental U.S.? Can I rely on their sieving or
do I need to do my own elutriation?

Mirror coating - Aluminum and a protective SiO2 layer (which yield
about 84% relectivity) I understand but are the enhanced coatings worth
the expense (claims of 94% to 97% reflectivity)? How about silver, an
initial chemical deposition of it followed by an electroplating
treatment? Silver tarnishes quickly but are there protective coatings
for it?

Mersenne design - There've been a few past threads on this topic but my
understanding of it is that it produces a compressed, collimated ray
bundle but no image plane. My efforts to simulate it in OSLO have done
poorly so I wonder if someone skilled in optical principles could
explain how it produces a useable image, eyepiece or ccd, and also
provide its design prescription for OSLO edu?

thanks!  

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