Re: Apologies to Cliff
Stephen Dillinger (fmicos!argus!dillinge@uunet.uu.net)
Wed, 29 Mar 95 16:22:25 MST
> Much of the home-brew today is going into mounts, CCDs, software. And that
> seems fair, both because it is "today" and because that's where the economic
> advantage is.
>
> And one-off designs like Yolo's that have always been the cutting edge of
> "amateur" (and not-so-amateur) work.
>
> My current project, for example, is a folded Newt/Cass, with the fold working
> with both arrangements. I'm working the mechanics, but I bought the glass,
> because it was standard (and therefore available) and the economics aren't
> there anymore. (The value of keeping a teenager off the streets si a
diffeent
> matter. :-)
>
I don't know if I agree that the economics discourage people from making their
own optics. For small mirrors I suppose the cost differential isn't large, but
the larger you go the more you save... I'm saving over $1000 on my 20". Of
course if I had bought one I'd already be observing with it, but that's another
story. :)
It seems like you can make a mirror for about 40% of the cost of buying one.
Perhaps trivial for a $100 mirror, but as cost goes up......
I won't even go into the quality issue... :)
.............. Steve