Re: ATM Maksutov Correctors

["Bob May" <bobmay@nethere.com>]

The simplest way of making a Schmidt corrector is to do it the way that he
did it.  There is a calculator (using Excel) on the web for figuring the
various parts of the calculations.  Unfortunately, it has some minor
problems with completing the full calculation (there is a manual set of
calculations deriving "a" and "b" that still need to be done to figure out
what the actual correction needs to be).  I'll note that I'm doing a 6"
F1.95 corrector and the .170" thick glass needs to have a correction placed
on both sides as the vacuum is 12.6" for that selection.  For a single sided
corrector, I'd have to build pressure on the outside of the pan in order to
be able to polish out the surface.
BTW, vacuum pans are easy to build.
Bob May
http://nav.to/bobmay
bobmay@nethere.com
NEW! http://bobmay.astronomy.net