This project is pretty much straight out of the book Making & Enjoying Telescopes by Robert Miller and Kenneth Wilson. I decided to grind my own mirror, but I ordered the kit with the f/4 curve generated already, so I should be able to get a good figure despite my lack of experience. I also ordered Jean Texereau's How To Make a Telescope, and Richard Berry's CCD Camera Cookbook. I plan to use the scope to do some CCD imaging. The main purpose of the project however, is to have a decent scope to use without a lot of setup. I expect the telescope project to last until summer, and then the mount and CCD will take me another six months to a year to complete.
In 1994, I built the Circuit Cellar project HAL (Hemispheric Activation Level Monitor), and I have enjoyed using it to get a visual indication of what is going on in my head. It isn't an entire evening's entertainment, but I have used it in conjunction with some homebrew software that utilizes my sound card. It is difficult to categorize this code, but it is safe to say that it is a biofeedback system. The purpose here is to be able to elicit certain states for learning. I want to create a computer aided learning system that can be tailored to individual needs.
My son Spencer has the Intel QX3 Microscope. This is a quality product, and we have enjoyed using it immensely. Its chief drawback is that it is limited to 10X, 60X and 200X magnifications. I'd like to have seen something in between 60X and 200X, as well as a magnification which would allow it to view cellular structures. It does an impressive job, though! I have a NickClick digital camera, which is fun. All of the pictures on these pages were done with one of these two products. I have started a project for image processing using the Kodak controls included with Windows98. I will use this software with the CCD camera and the telescope.
Here are some photos I have taken/edited.