Last Leg Of 37 Year Journey
As with most long-winded narcissistic rants, this one begins long ago and far away. It begins in late July 1969, when my Father told us about the Moon landing. My Mother's uncle worked on a communications relay ship at the time, and he was pretty much my hero, next to my Dad, of course. Since I was only 6, I did not notice the whole Chappaquiddick incident. (Besides, my parents are Republicans.) We were Star Trek fans before is was cool/then not cool/then cool again/etc. Little did we know that July what would transpire!. I also remember sitting outside with my Grandmother looking at the stars. She taught me how to sit quietly, and enjoy nothing in particular. Take that, Voltaire! So then, I have always loved the night sky, and space in general. (It is so mind bogglingly big...just like Douglas Adams said...many times!) In short, I was like the character in "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel" by Robert Heinlein.
In 1974, my parents bought me a telescope, chemistry set, microscope and weather station for Christmas. It was quite a good year for me! Of course, it was all crap. God bless my Mother, she is the BEST. Seriously, I mean that. Also, at that time, I was attending an excellent private school. My parents both worked very hard to provide this, and also for my two brothers, and my sister. We lived in a small town, and we were not positioned very well for using the telescope. I did see M34 ALOT, and Venus, Khoutek(sp?), and Jupiter. The telescope was a 60mm refractor, cardboard tube, terrible tripod, cheap optics, etc. Unfortunately, I wintered it in the basement, and learned about cardboard in a wet environment.
Flash forward 15 years. My wife (at the time) bought me a Tasco version of the same 60mm f/12 instrument. Wow, the fact that people are even mildly interested in Astronomy after using these things is a little surprising to me. Now, also at this time, I was working for the same people that my hero Great Uncle was. We relayed passive sonar data. I must say that the dark skies I saw at the top of the world were majestic. You really get religion quickly when you are 600 miles from ANYWHERE looking at a meteor shower.
I began to study telescope construction, and also the physics involved. Having never taken woodshop, I was a newbie to the art of woodworking and metalworking. I dismantled the Tasco, and reworked the whole thing. It turned out nice. I also built a barn-door mount for my Canon AE-1P. My in-laws were very perplexed by my hobby, not knowing why I would "waste my time." (Note: They are no longer my in-laws.)
In 1998, I began equipping a wood and metal shop, and I also (finally) got around to buying a 4.25 inch f/4 mirror kit. I built a nice refractor from a surplus photocopier lens and the lens from a 16mm projector. It was also my first attempt at building a useable mount. I was very pleased with the results. Unfortunately, my personal circumstances deteriorated, and now the remnants of that shop are in storage in various places in this county.
equatorial wedge: This is constructed from 3/4" plywood and uses a Lazy Susan for the polar axis motion. The weight of the scope eliminates random movement, and is surprisingly smooth and controllable. There is a two way level in the tray section. You can get everything to build this mount at your home center, or hardware store.
yoke: This is also 3/4" plywood, glued and screwed. The declination bearings are standard schedule 40 PVC, in the same home center where you bought your wedge. :)
f/4.5 Refractor: Cheap surplus optics offer interesting challenges and opportunities. The diagonal is internal. I was able to acquire a scrap of first surface mirror glass for free from a stained glass studio. To finish the project, I am going to put countertop laminate (Scraps from the home center are usually priced to move.) on the entire works.
I am also grinding an f/4 4-1/4" mirror for a Rich Field scope. The mount (University Optics) is ready to accept the mirror, and the tube is nearly ready. The current hold up on this is a Focault Tester. I know I should just build one and get it over with, but....
I am by nature and circumstance a cheap person. I loiter at the clearance bins at Waldenbooks, Wal-Mart, Walgreen...pretty much all of the "Wal..." places. In May, a local Radio Shack closed, and they had the Meade 60AZ-T for $29. I snapped one up because it is a 1.25" scope (goodbye .96"!), and came with a 45deg diagonal, 2X barlow and MA17.5 and MA9 eyepieces. Despite the tiny tripod, this is the best telescope of all that I have owned. I am thoroughly enjoying using it. The 17.5mm eyepiece is very nice. Despite its lower magnification, I greatly prefer its long eye relief. It is a pleasure to view for a long time with this eyepiece. Wandering along the terminator reveals much shadow detail, even at the modest magnification. The view of Jupiter and its moons is amazing to me. I can clearly see two bands even though the image is tiny. I have a really cheap camera (Concord 642) that I have adapted to use with the scope. I used one of the dust caps, and made a shroud for the camera that fits into the eyepiece holder of the focuser. I also removed the hot glue that was on the camera (Like most cheap cameras, it has a threaded lens, and can be used in a macro mode just like real cameras.) This arrangement will suffice while I wait for my next telescope. Recently, Wal-Mart had Meade ETX-60ATs there for $180, and I decided to indulge myself. I am not a Rockefeller, so I had to put it on layaway. (Yes, it has gotten that bad.) Finally, I will have a scope with drive motors!
One sidenote with respect to the digital camera....This lens arrangement is very popular. I once owned a decent camera made by 3Com. It was called HomeConnect, and you could order a set of 3 additional lenses for about $60. I am going to investigate this further. I am going to do some planetary and lunar photography with the ETX60. Unfortunately, this arrangement will not work for deep-sky objects in general. I also intend to do terrestial photography with the ETX60. I am most excited by the mount, and the possibilities that arise from having it.