#LARGEST DOBSONIAN TELESCOPE UPGRADE#
#LARGEST DOBSONIAN TELESCOPE PORTABLE#
#LARGEST DOBSONIAN TELESCOPE WINDOWS#

However, Dobson did choose to promote his sidewalk telescopes at the cost of his longtime home. I based my design on the telescope plans provided by Ray Cash, a member of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers, modifying the plans even further with a few ready-made parts.ĭobson claims he didn't invent the sidewalk telescope, as he had lots of help with his early prototypes. (Optics these days can be purchased in kits online.) Nonetheless, the instructions I used were very similar to Dobson's original Plans for Building A Sidewalk Telescope.

#LARGEST DOBSONIAN TELESCOPE WINDOWS#

I did not admit to him that I didn't grind my own telescope mirrors-something he did with two porthole windows and sand paper-and that I didn't build my own eyepiece out of binoculars. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play When I brag that the plastics supply store where I finally found Teflon gave me some scrap for free, he exclaims, 'Good for you!' We built the mount from window cutouts from schoolhouse doors that had been thrown away.' At age 91, Dobson is as passionate about building inexpensive telescopes as he was when he built his first one in 1956. The shingles used to mount the mirror were blown off roofs in storms. This is a far cry from John Dobson's experience when he first built the portable, sidewalk telescopes that now bear his name. This is in fact true-but collecting the materials takes some doing. I had heard that building a Dobsonian was simple and inexpensive. And no, my local hardware store did not carry Teflon. 'Um, I think it might be called Sonotube,' I repeated, until someone pointed me toward the concrete form tubes in the garden area. I stood in the store with meticulous notes on the materials I needed, but no one could find them. A massive tube is not usually on my shopping list. I'm a physicist by training, an amateur astronomer by inclination and an occasional visitor to the home center for DIY projects.

#LARGEST DOBSONIAN TELESCOPE PORTABLE#

Precision, fan cooled, 9 point suspension mirror cell gives perfect support and cooling to the main mirror allowing the accuracy of the mirror to be maintained when cooling and controlling the weight distribution with the nylon support points.Īn excellent telescope range which will give some of the best images possible in a serious introductory telescope.When I set out to build a portable telescope, known as a Dobsonian telescope, the first step had me stymied-where do you find 6 ft of 8-in.-dia cardboard tubing? An aluminium tube allows the VX telescopes to be fitted to mounts easily because of the lower weight involved. All VX models are fitted with a quality 2″ focuser and 31.7mm adaptor. This gives you the option of increasing the accuracy from 1/6Pv to not only 1/8 but, to the Ultra level of accuracy, 1/10PV, all supplied with a Zygo interferometer report.Īll models are fitted with a straight 50mm finder with an angled version as an option.

#LARGEST DOBSONIAN TELESCOPE UPGRADE#

You also have the option to upgrade at the point of purchase to have even higher quality optics by selecting the ‘Optical Upgrade’ button.

VX instruments are offered as standard with 1/6PV optics so you are immediately aware that your images are going to be excellent, far, far better than most other Newtonians on the market today, guaranteed. In an effort to encompass some of the major benefits of our highest quality Newtonians we introduced the VX range of telescopes. We appreciate not everyone’s budget can cover the cost of a really excellent Newtonian telescope, similar to our CT range. Excellent value telescopes – easily upgradable – an overall performer for serious astronomy.

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