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16" Dob

Started by stuper1, 09/01/2008 01:04PM
Posted 09/01/2008 01:04PM Opening Post
Here's my 16" dob based on Albert Highe's wonderful design -- that's my son in the photo, not me. Albert was very helpful with advice as I slowly built this scope. He also made the mirror cell for me (for a modest fee), which was a huge help -- the cell looks like a sculpture that should be in an art museum, unlike the rest of the scope. My son wasn't very interested in the scope until I put Dob-Driver 2 on it. Moving it by hand didn't catch his interest, but moving it by pushing buttons on a keypad is a different story. Maybe one day I'll even get him to stay up and look through the eyepiece.

Attached Image:

stuper1's attachment for post 43514
Posted 09/01/2008 08:46PM #1
That is indeed a beauty! Nice work.
smile

[SIZE="Large"][/SIZE][COLOR="Blue"][/COLOR] Floyd Blue grin
Amateur Imager
Posted 09/02/2008 02:07AM #2
Nice job Stuart! Looks beautiful. Albert is a great guy--I bought the mirror for my 16" from him and he showed me around his shop...I enjoyed meeting him very much.

Couple questions--
1. Are your alt bearings just 1/2" thick? I'm tempted to try that on my next project.
2. Did you happen to use electrical conduit for the struts, or something else? I seem to recall Albert using conduit, which is kind of heavy, but readily available in many sizes.
3. How is the vibration at higher powers? I'm very curious about that.

George

George Golitzin
Posted 09/16/2008 01:27AM | Edited 09/16/2008 01:37AM #3
Thanks for the compliments. The real credit should go to Albert for his fantastically simple and functional design, without which I would never see myself building a 16" scope, or maybe I should use the word "assembling", because I actually had the wood cut to my specifications by someone else, due to my lack of good woodworking tools. I think he used a table saw and a router mainly. I used a router myself to cut out the holes in the rocker box sides and ground board to save a little weight. I used a jigsaw to make the cuts for the Dob-Driver 2.

The picture is in the Coast Range hills about 60 miles west of Fresno where I live.

BTW, I found Albert's contact info by searching on the Internet. I assume if he still wants to be found, he can be. I'm not trying to be rude, but I don't want to give out someone else's contact info.