Re: ATM's demise

[Ross Orr/Margaret Wong <rotohut@ic.net>]

As someone who only began ATMing during the years of it's supposed demise,
all I can say is that the level of activity seems pretty frenzied to
me--particuarly on the internet.

Now it *is* true that if you calculate prices in inflated dollars, the
relative costs of different materials vs. scopes bought off-the-shelf are
constantly changing and evolving.

So it is exactly what you would expect to see that different types of
projects grow more or less popular over time. I tried and tried, but I
never could come up with an *economic* argument for grinding my own
6" mirror.

But I think the fundamental principle is unchanged: ATMs continue to work
on interesting stuff, in the areas that are poorly served by the commercial
marketplace. Right now there is no shortage of midprice Dobsonians or
commercial 1/4-wave mirrors. But for ultralight truss-tubes, unusual
optical designs, ultra-cheapskate scopes, drive electronics, etc., amateurs
are still out in front of what commercial sources are offering.

It's basically a huge volunteer R&D effort. . . you'd hope that S&T and its
advertisers would keep in mind that today's crackpot amateur project is
tomorrow's mainstream product that pays the bills.

cheers,

 --Ross

===============================
||  "No home can have too much Pyrex"
||        --1923 advertisment, Corning Glass Works