Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 00:21
Curious how many AAVSOers have ground their own mirrors and/or made their own telescopes? I have an 8 inch mirror I ground and put into a scope. Named the mirror Hubble Jr - another fine quality Connecticut made mirror ;) . Actually it turned out very well, but along the way I made almost every mistake you could (except dropping it). Been working for too long on a 12.5 inch mirror named Yogi (it has a clamshell defect on the edge I had to file out that I dubbed Boo Boo).
Kris Larsen
Hi Kris,
Count me among the AAVSO pushers of glass -- though I haven't figured a mirror in about 8 years now.
Clear skies,
Brad Vietje
Newbury, VT
I've made 6 and 8 inch scopes with help from the ATMs of Boston. I find mirror grinding to be a satisfying meditation...
Tom
Agreed about the meditative qualities, although I prefer the louder grits. It sounds like you are accomplishing something :)
Me too.
I've made several telescope mirrors, and can't break the habit. Am working on a flat now, mostly to see if I could do it, but plans for it if it succeeds.
- Jerry Hudson (HJA)
I'm also working on an 8" mirror, and have been in the parabolizing-figuring stage for the past few months. The first 2 attempts at parabolizing didn't turn out as well as intended, so I'm about to try again this weekend (most likely this afternoon after I re-channel the pitch lap and ensure that I have polished the mirror back to nearly spherical) and most likely during the coming week (during cloudy nights).
I was talking to Jim at the AGM and he is in the exact same situation, and we tentatively planned to finish our mirrors and take the scopes to Stellafane next year. So, I need to skip some house work and get back to polishing-testing.
Frank
I look forward to seeing your finished scope on Breezy Hill next summer :)
In that case I
OK Kris,
In that case I better get moving on the polishing.
Frank
Maybe we need to plan an AAVSO meet-up at Stellafane. I know a few people who are AAVSO members, but have never met most of the folks here, often known only by their inverted initials ;~) Like Kris, I've been a long-time member of the STM's, and have made a number of mirrors, telescopes, and observatories.
Would be great to put some faces/voices on those letters, and I always learn something whan I hang out with smart people!
Clear skies,
Brad Vietje, VBPA
Excellent idea, Brad. I happen to know the programming committee for the convention ;)
Kris
I take a diffrent approach.
I've only ground one mirror (thanks to Jerry Hudson's help and mirror grinding shop!) but I have made 4 telescopes from purchasing already finished mirrors. The one I am using at the present time is an f/4.3 Coulter 29-inch. The structure of the English Cradle mount is lattice-work steel (I taught myself to weld to make it). The tube is fiberglass over steel rods on the upper part and steel sheet (1/16 - inch) for the lower part - except for the door to the mirror compartment. That gets opened nightly to lift the lid over the mirror.
I call her Miss Daisey in "honor" of the film because I had such a monstrously difficult time driving it. I can now take a 1 minute (maybe longer) unguided CCD exposure with it, thanks in no small part to the work of Jerry Hudson. He built the cable drive for it. My observing site in the San Francisco suburbs, so large apertures are needed to compensate for the high background sky brightness.
Cost? Less than $10K. My camera essentially doubles the cost of my telescope/camera set-up.
I depend on my wife for performing the duties Night Assistant, which she ably does!
Lew
I made my first mirror, a 6" f/10 when I was 10 y.o. in elementary school. Next came a 6" f/4.3 for astrophotography when I was in high school. Took a long break from ATMing, until I was in my 40's. Then made a number of 8" f/3.7, sold them all off except for one I still keep as a fast, compact travelscope and DSLR imager. More recently a 13" f/4.5, 20" f/3.6 and currently my Biggie a 25" f/3.
The latter is almost too much for me to handle, not to mention the "astronomical" costs of coating it. So, I likely will settle into the 16-20" range for the best compromise of handling vs. light grasp.
Mike LMK
I suggest (without volunteering to do the actual work) getting onto the talks schedule for presenting an afternoon talk with a title something like "updates at the AAVSO" to provide an overview of the many interesting programs, and scale of involvement, for folks who may have heard of the AAVSO but may not be aware that it involves much more than visual observations with paper charts. Just one of the many AAVSO activities and observing methods may appeal to some of the large number of serious amateur astronomers there.
Frank
Frank- I am the co-chair of the programming for the convention. If anyone wants to volunteer to give a talk please let me know! It would also be nice if people gave ten min talks on friday nite as well. I will schedule an aavso meet and greet on saturday of.convention and advertize it as open to current members and observers and anyone interested in learning more about vAriable stars.
Kris (who only uses her superpowers for.good, never for evil)
As Frank noted, he and I have a pact to complete our mirrors for the next Stellafane. Mine has been in process for 15 years, with a nice polish but a bit of a turned edge. I have built 4 other scopes but all with purchased optics. I missed Stellafane this year due to a long hike but plan to be there next year. Should think a bit about a talk on variable stars as I haven't heard many of these lately at stellafane.
Jim