ATM Update on my project(s)

["Ryan Hess" <atmryan@excite.com>]

Hi,

I thought I'd let everyone know what's been going 
on the last few weeks.  I forgot to check my email 
for 3 days, and when I did, I had over 300 new 
emails.  It took me an hour to sort through them!  I 
think the ATM list should be sent out in email 
bundles of 10.  Just my opinion.  Anyway, I 
recieved my package from Newport Glass last 
wednesday.  That's when I started grinding too.  
Since then, I've been pondering whether I should 
try to make a mirror for my Short Tube, or make my 
own telescope.  I voted to make my own 
telescope.  I'm going to put the f6.5 mirror into a 
25" long (cut down) tube of an Orion Space Probe 
4.5".  The mirror blank that NGW gave me was a 
4.25" (even though I talked to the technician, and 
put 4.5" down on the order form.).  So, I'm trying to 
work out a deal with Orion to get my hands on a 
new tube.  There's only two reasons why I didn't 
just go ahead and put it in my Short Tube 4.5,

1.  The barlow is worth squat, and can ruin            
     images.

2.  I can't put a longer f/l primary without enlarging 
     the already big 1" secondary.

So, I'll be making my own telescope with a 
Protostar spider, an Orion SP tube, an Orion 
focuser, a NGW secondary, a homeground mirror,
an Orion tripod/mount, and the list goes on...

Sounds complicated, don't it?  Well, in short, I'll be 
making a 4.25" f6.5 telescope with mostly Orion 
Short Tube's components (and a few others).


Ryan Hess
Fellow ATM'er
----------------------------------------------------
The bigger the scope you have, the more you
see, the more you wonder, and the bigger the
'scope you want to buy.




_______________________________________________________
Get your free, private email at http://mail.excite.com/