Re: [ATM] First project

["Jeff Anderson-Lee" <jonah@cs.berkeley.edu>]

8in f/6 makes a nice all-round scope in terms of planets and deep sky.  
Not optimized for either, but good for both.  If you were only going to 
build one scope, I'd say make a 10in instead, but an 8 can be just a bit 
lighter and more portable which makes it more likely to get used.  
(Also, the 8 will have a slightly wider FOV for those expansive star 
clusters.)

One tip though: get the first scope working before you move on to the 
next.  I currently have too many projects on the go myself: 8in f/6.25, 
8in f/6 bino, 16 in f/5, 8in f/4 flex, 4in f/4.25, ...  I finally broke 
down and bought a scope so I'd have something to observe with while I 
keep tinkering with the rest!

Jeff Anderson-Lee
Sacramento, CA, USA

Mark Hampton wrote:

>Hi,
>    Thanks for the input so far, I was thinking about 6" for my first
>project, but I may now go bigger.    To answer one question, I will be
>obtaining a mirror blank so I can figure the mirror myself.   A company here
>in the UK does a kit comprising, mirror blank, secondary blank, grinding
>tool, grinding and polishing powders etc.
>
>  As for my fabrication skills, well I haven't really attempted to build
>things before so it will be a voyage of discovery.     Transportation wont
>be so much of a problem as I shall be observing from my back garden.
>
>My eventual aim is to build something in the 16-18" range but of course,
>that will in quite a while...
>
>Thanks, Mark
>
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>  
>

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