mdstuart

The drum does look fantastic with the coats of varnish. Mark

I don't have the hardware but I think a medium size scope with eeva should resolve pluto better than my 20 inch dob in suburban skies. If someone has the kit and a dark sky and a clear evening and they want to help my friend achieve a life goal then I want to arrange the moment. I want to sit with him in his front room and show him Pluto live via zoom etc. I suspect there maybe tears involved! Mark

Still looking at how to show pluto to my friend. Maybe someone could set it up so we could use zoom or facetime to see Pluto live on your eeva screen one evening? Mark

Jim Thanks for the encouragement. The mirror is thick and heavy. That's why the clips at 120deg are not too much of an issue. I am planning on giving it wheelbarrow wheels. It will certainly fit in a car now so a dark sky will outweigh any design issues. Mark

We can make this thread a sticky with a title of read this before making your own telescope.

On the plus side the secondary has not fallen off the holder....yet

Apparently the 75% rays are going to be annoyed with me according to NEWT. ....and the clips will introduce 7nm astigmatism I think re CRUXIS

Thank you mapstar. I think it is fair to say there will be some aspects of my scope that are not optimised. My top uta is 1cm too small, the secondary at 90mm is a bit large etc. It is however my first effort at scope making! Mark

Piero Thanks for the feedback. I will pause and have a rethink. Lots of wise comments. Mark

Thanks but the hole is only VERY slightly too small so I will go with it for now. All of this is just a learning experience for the 25 inch Mark

I think I will lose a mm of so of aperture around the mirror unless I make the hole bigger. The mirror is 20.25 inches! Oh well I will still have 20 inches of aperture Let's see how it performs first then I can decide on whether to get the sandpaper out.. No not on the mirror on the wood!

You know that moment when you try new jeans and they are very tight but you can just get in them! Well that is how the mirror feels. Top tip for future reference..make the box 1 inch bigger than you think you need.. Now the truss poles.

Mirror cleaning underway. Yes too much washing up liquid!

I have a friend who has a life long desire to see Pluto. I can just about see it in my 20 inch but the friend is older than me so I am not sure I will be able to oblige.. Has anyone with one of those nightvision enhanced eyepieces and able to see Pluto live? If so and you are drivable from Bristol then I would love to make this friends dream come true. Thank you Mark

Well that looks ok and the mirror has not fallen off the holder...yet