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Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

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Posts Made By: Dominic Di Leo

February 8, 2004 09:45 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Who built this scope?

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
Ray Desmarais of Stabilite built it. I don't know if it was a personal use scope, but it was for sale on Astromart last year.

http://stabilite.com/

April 17, 2004 08:20 PM Forum: Telescope Making

He wants $10,000 for it.

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
I came across this very same scope last year while the owner was still finishing it out. The unusual two strut(?) construction was originally solid aluminum. Later the lightening holes were milled out in an attempt to pare down the weight. His original intent was to use thinner flat stock but found it to be too flexible and had dampening/vibration issues. A couple of lengths of 2 inch square tubing would probably outperform them.The squaring up of the focuser was a problem back then. Reminds me of a government project........maybe STAR WARS.
The tracking system may not be performing as well as it could becaue of persistant low level flexure. Great to look at but not through.

Dominic DiLeo

May 24, 2004 12:38 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Dob from hell done!

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
It seems that the mount angle(hidden) of the focuser is set for a double pass design.

May 27, 2004 01:36 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Triangles for mirror cell, help

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
You might want to consider a six point cell for ease of construction.
http://users.telerama.com/~mdholm/atm/cells/6point.html

August 20, 2005 12:28 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Testing optical flats redux

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
You can try a single layer of pantyhose mesh between the mirrored piece and test flat.

Dominic DiLeo

October 18, 2005 12:13 PM Forum: Telescope Making

polishing tool dilemma

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
Aside from his quirky personna, Richard Schwartz has a nice and efficient method.

http://megspace.com/science/sfe/i_fa.html

March 17, 2006 03:14 PM Forum: Telescope Making

GLASS

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
Modern picture tube glass faceplates are single layer and well annealed, are softer than green plate and contain a lot of lead for x-ray shielding. I came across one successful project, a Schmidt camera, made from the faceplate of a 21 inch round color tube from the 1960's.
I have resurfaced a few scratched crt's and the material works much more easily than green float glass or BVC.

May 1, 2006 12:55 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Coulter Optics

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
Not knowing your level of expertise,
have you had the Cave mirror tested on the bench?Coulter optics were all over the place figure wise and an f4 is a real bear to figure cleanly. It most likely won't be any better than your Cave.

May 14, 2007 11:55 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Chop Saw Blade

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
Reversing the blade and using WD-40, turpentine or kerosene as a lubricant gives good results.

June 13, 2008 02:37 PM Forum: Telescope Making

Bending Aluminum tubing

Posted By Dominic Di Leo
It can be done by a DIYer. Browse the entire site for lots of homebrew stuff.

http://home.wanadoo.nl/jhm.vangastel/Astronomy/50cmscope/bending.htm

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