Re: ATM Re: Balancing Long Telescope Tubes

[Ari <Ari@birmingham-us.crosswinds.net>]

> Aldrin was promoted to Lt. Col., was he a Major Buzz?

<GROAN> This resembles one of my jokes. <GROAN>
 
> But for independent mounting of this instrument alone, yes, you're
> absolutely right, all sorts of problems rear their ugly little heads.
> Aside from producing a massively reinforced and very tall Dob mount,
> buttressed all around (which would get large and heavy very quickly)
> -- I wonder if we could steal some ideas from the Refractor Boys, with
> something collapsible like the tripod of the  6" f/15 Dob refractor in
> Richard Berry's <<Build your own Telescope>>?  One would think the
> weight and balancing issues would be similar ... except that since we
> are observing from the front, rather than the back of the tube, the
> tripod can (and must!) be much shorter.
> Thomas O'Hara, Ph.D.
> ohara@azstarnet.com

On a tripod that big you are gonna have to use a ladder anyway, and they
would be unstable as all HECK unless it weighed a ton (I think, could be
wrong here, but supporting a cantilevered 10" mirror doesn't sound like
fun to me). What about a motorized Kriege-Berry dob w/big side bearings
and the recently tested spring counterweights? Mirror is on the ground.
Only problem I see is that the ALT friction might be too great (between
the big bearings and the heavy counterweight).

Cloudless skies, 
Ari Friedman
There's light at the end of the Sonotube.
http://www.mtnbrook.k12.al.us/MBJH/student/ari