Re: [ATM] Public Terrestrial Telescope: About Theft Concerns

["astroguy@nas.com" <astroguy@nas.com>]

David,

I think you are doing a great job on your scope, a very interesting and
challenging project. I was very curious on how you could make this scope
theft proof and seems like you have a pretty good understanding on what
needs to be done. Excellent work!!

My current project is construction of a 10" refractor using ONLY materials
found around my shop, no outside purchases allowed. 

By the way, although I astroguy is my "name", Kreig is my real name.




Original Message:
-----------------
From: David Sleeter d.sleeter@roadrunner.com
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 06:16:18 -0800
To: atm@atmlist.net
Subject: [ATM] Public Terrestrial Telescope: About Theft Concerns


A few days ago "Astroguy" asked me how I plan to make the the scope
"theft-proof", and here's the answer. Though it's impossible to make the
scope TRULY theft-proof, it IS possible to make it an undesirable target for
theft, and here's what I'm doing.

1. As the design stands right now, the tube assembly will be made of heavy
machined steel and schedule 40 steel water pipe, and that will make it
HEAVY. My current estimate on the weight of the finished assembly (the size
of a standard spotting scope) is somewhere in the range of 25 to 30 pounds.
To protect it from the weather, I'll paint it with an outdoor grade of
primer and spray paint. Rustoleum's "Hard Hat" line is commonly used on
construction equipment, and it should work quite well. And using a
commonly-available spray-can paint for the finish will make the scope easier
to repaint and maintain for the people who come after me (the people who
maintain it in years to come).

2. To the greatest extent that is practical, I'm designing it so that you
have to take it apart to steal it, and I'm going to use button-head
stainless steel "security screws" throughout. These look like regular
Allen-head screws, except that they have a cylindrical pin in the center of
the wrench socket. They CANNOT be removed with a regular Allen wrench. It
takes a special wrench to do it, and the button head makes it impossible to
grab the screw with pliers or a pair of vise grips.

3. People in the market for spotting scopes are looking for something that's
light and portable, and preferrably has a zoom eyepiece. The tube assembly
on THIS scope will be MASSIVE, it won't have a zoom eyepiece, the
magnification will be fixed, and there'll no way to mount it on a camera
tripod.

Together, the above considerations should eliminate the scope as a
theft-target for anyone wanting a spotting scope they can actually use, the
only remaining concern being vandalism, and there's NO way to protect it
from that.

Dave Sleeter/Moreno Valley, CA


_______________________________________________
ATM mailing list http://www.atmlist.net/



--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web.com ? What can On Demand Business Solutions do for you?
http://link.mail2web.com/Business/SharePoint


_______________________________________________
ATM mailing list http://www.atmlist.net/