I started grinding the mirror for my very first telescope. The pyrex blank is 10 inches. I will eventually want to do some astrophotography with it. One thing that I don't understand is how I can make a good mirror using my hands. I thought you needed high-tech equipment and computers to make mirrors like the ones in telescopes advertised in magazines. I'm not too worried about my current lack of understanding because I'm being walked through the process of grinding under the supervision of the guys at a weekly telescope-builders workshop in my area. I still want to understand everything. Right now I have ground the blank down to below f10 using 60/90 grit and a smaller radius tool on top. I guess this is to grind a rough curve to my desired f ratio.
So what should my focal length be anyway? I have to get away from these Berkeley lights to get to dark skies. That means walking down 2 flights of stairs and driving 20 minutes away in a 2-seater sports car. Therefore, I want to be build a portable telescope. What kind of scope should I build? I think regular Newtonian reflectors are the kind most beginners build but couldn't I build a Schmidt-Cassegrain? Does that require too much skill for the first time? I also will eventually want an equatorial mount when I start taking pictures. Is it possible to build one of these too? I like building things but I need to know exactly what to do. I have alot of people helping me who have alot of experience but I only see them once a week so I wanted to share my situation here.
To summarize, I need a portable 10 inch telescope that will be used for general observing as well as astrophotography.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Ausaf
-- Ausaf A. Bari aquraish@uclink.berkeley.edu