Re: [ATM] Last word in minimalism

["Tom Krajci" <tom_krajci@tularosa.net>]

>From: "Bruce Sayre" <sayre@foothill.net>

>I haven't seen any discussion of Bruce Mills' 20" on the list
>(http://www.freewebs.com/brucemills/20inchf4telescope.htm)
>so I thought I'd bring it up.

>You should study Bruce's modern telescope for ideas you can apply to your
>own efforts. It's a paradigm for elegance and minimalism.

Off the cuff it's awful impressive!

One negative point jumps out at me:  (at very bottom of the web page)....
"Baffles!  Must do them.  Keep meaning to but never do."

In my opinion the scope is not yet finished...it's unbaffled.  (I know, he
says his projects are never finished, but I don't consider it ready for
observing at this stage without baffles.)  Also, because the focuser is low
profile...a larger baffle will be needed opposite the focuser (or place it
near the secondary mirror as I've seen in some scopes).  Big baffle disks
are a problem in windy locations, and it may be hard to baffle it well.

(He will also need a baffle behind the main mirror.)

See:
http://overton2.tamu.edu/aset/krajci/dobsonian/dobsonian.htm
Go over half way down the page to the paragraph that starts:
"More discussion about baffling the upper half. Here is a view looking along
the 'baffle train.'"

A focuser in a not-low-profile position means the baffle disk is smaller,
and may mean that overall baffling is better.

-------------------------------------------
Tom Krajci
Cloudcroft, New Mexico
http://overton2.tamu.edu/aset/krajci/

Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA)
http://cba.phys.columbia.edu CBA New Mexico

American Association of Variable Star
Observers (AAVSO): KTC http://www.aavso.org/
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