barkis

I'm not sure that I'll be attending that Ron but will try to make it if I can. It's nice to put face's to name's on here and thank people for the encouragement they give.  

I have some parts of the scope build already complete along the same line's as the 24" I built for a friend. Fingers crossed I plan to have everything done by September so 6 months away but I know that is a small amount of time to get it finished. I've quite a few star parties planned and really want to get out there and use it and as you say show what can be achieved with maybe the odd problem here and there to overcome.

I still have to finish the mirror though which I know is going to be the hardest part as it's something that I've never done before    

Damian

I'm sure any difficulties can be surmounted with Johns guidance Damian.

My largest mirror completed was a 14".    A self blame disaster with a 16" terminated that effort. 

However, I always felt a huge satisfaction when a project was  finished, be it a  4" or 14".

I cannot see you failing at all, you have too much grit. And I think I deliberately intended that pun.

Besides, you are a Yorkshireman, and the grit is inherrent  .

I would hope that by the time the SGL11 Star Party comes around, this telescope will have been commissioned, and fully operational.

I also hope you can find some means of attending said SP, with your creation, as a symbol of what can be achieved by the determined Amateur Telescope Maker.

Plus, if the skies permit, there would be queues around the Lucksall Camp Site, of eager beavers waiting for a A look see at some far distant Star Island  .

Ron.

 I got the Sagitta to 9.4mm for your target F of 3.7 Damian, but 

rarely does one get exactly the hoped for result.

It's looking so good though, and I think fist light is on the minds of most of us, 

but still a ways to go yet, so we'll just have to be patient  .

Congrats on the fine job you've accomplished thus far though.

Ron.

You've done a great job Damian, and you can be mighty proud of this.

You are going to finish up with a superb Mirror, no doubt about that.

Still a ways to go, but you're under full sail now, and land is in sight.

I take my hat off to you, this is going to inspire more people to make their own too.

  :icon_salut:.

Ron.

I made some sub diameter polishers from Dental Cement Damian.

It was reasonably cheap from a local dental technicians workshop in the town, so I made a 16" full size polishing lap

for a later project, a 16" f3.5. I never did finish that job. It was a thin mirror, and I made the mistake of grinding the back surface

with 400 grit to tidy it up. Unfortunately, doing so relieved  stresses in the glass that allowed it to badly distort the lovely sphere

I had on it. It would have taken fine grinding and re polishing to get it back to a sphere, the position where I always liked to start the figuring process.

It disheartened me too much to want to rectify it.

It was stupid mistake to make really.

Ron.

You're making good progress, and on track.

That grinding tool is looking A1.

Ron.

A huge well done to both of you Olly and Tom OD.

You have both put a great deal of time into constructing this piece of work, and nobody

should nit pick over  the proportions of time devoted to it. It is simply a joint effort which has worked very very well.

It is a superb result, and if it doesn't make  APOD, then it can only be down to petty jealousy, or some other petulant reasons.

You should both get that accolade, simply because you deserve it.

Brilliant!!!      .

Ron.

Sure is a brave task you have set yourself Damian, and I wish you every success.

The rough stuff is hard work, but once you have the  finely ground curve generated,

then comes the polishing and figuring stages.  It  is challenging, but exciting too.

We're all rooting for you, and look forward to the commissioning of your creation.

Best Wishes.

Ron.

Hi Ron

I was initially aiming for F3.9 but as I'll be detailing later this changed to nearer F3.7

It's an ambitious goal but with time and dedication its steadily progressed. There have been plenty of ups and downs

That will be one deep Sagitta  Damien, your lump of glass will be a bit lighter  .,

What specifications have you decided on for the final mirror Damian?

Ron.

I developed a great interest in this thread, and  from the point of view of the Cooperation and support each participant has

provided throughout. It has been a very interesting read, and I would like to thank all of you.

You are all a credit to SGL, and yourselves. It has been a pleasure following the project through to what will

be without doubt a very successful conclusion.

Well done all, and again, thank you very much for a great read,

:icon_salut: :icon_salut: .

Ron.

nope, got it wrong again, it's 1883

Post 171 says 1,886. You sneaked off  elsewhere for three more  . 

Did some one say something ?

As Mr Blessed would say,

"YES!, ARE YOU DEEF" ?

LET'S GET ON WITH IT THEN..

Tone deaf or just deaf after me doing my Brian Blessed at full power impersonation?

I like big B.B.

Especially when he was hosting  'Have I Got News For You'

Funny guy.

A Medley of Mods too, we have our own Choir you see. Mostly all tone deaf at present, but gradually getting 

there, somewhere, anywhere. We are rehearsing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at present   . 

Ron.

To be honest, I didn't notice the other thread until I posted mine. I'm sure the answers will keep coming from young and old. Makes interesting reading. Thank you Ron for merging them.

Gary

Cheers Gary, moderating does include helping things along and oiling the wheels of the forum .

Ron.

The two thread which have now been joined were started almost at the same time by pure accident, sorry for the doubling up whoever got there first. Some nice answers and a good few as a result of the Moon landings, I like the reply from Davo, Interested pretty much all my life aged 15. The small red plastic Refractor if it is with it's box and in good condition is the sort of thing that I could see showing up on the Antiques Road Show in 40 years time, with people wanting to pay good money for it. I also see Dixon got in on the act for a few older members, like myself. There were not so many places to get things from in those days, I remember Fullerscopes was there but they were for the well heeled. I know one thing the UK skies were darker then. Alan.

Yes, the two threads arrived almost simultaneously Alan, and were noticed by Steve Ward very early on, who suggested they be merged.

It made perfect sense to merge them, so I did.

Both were good subjects on the same theme, so they have not lost any value through merging them.

I'm sure it will draw many posts of great interest to all, I hope so, and every contributer enjoys the memories stirred by this very interesting topic.

Ron.

Getting this as a kid started it all for me

Fond memories of 'using' it.

Might still be useful as a guidescope Lee. Nice and light. :grin: .

Ron.

As suggested by Steve Ward I have merged the two similar topics for the sake of convenience.

Barkis.

The terms fast and slow are basically related to astrophotography, much as in terrestrial photography.

The fast instruments are of short focal length, and the slow, are longer focal lengths.

Short focal scopes will produce wider fields of view of the sky, and long focal lengths narrower fields of view.

For a given eyepiece FL, a fast scope will give a lower magnification, and a slow scope will give a higher magnification.

The magnification math, is simple the telescopes focal length, divided by the eyepiece focal length.

That is a rough outline of how it works, but I'm sure a more robust explanation will be forthcoming.

Ron.

Gentlemen,

I have cleaned up the political aspects of this thread, in the hope it can be kept alive.

I thought it would inspire comments by those intertested in Man revisiting Our moon, and by Our Moon, I mean the whole human race, not just a particular country.

There must be plenty to discuss without entering the political minefield some always seem to think is important. As far as this forum is concerned, Politics are outlawed. If anyone wants political debated, then please find a forum that suits you.

So, please respect the forum rules, and stick to the subject matter.

Thank You, and a Happy New Year to you all.

Ron.

Guys, This thread must remain free of political content, or it will be short lived. There is no need to drag politics into it.

Stick to subject please.

Ron.

From the Daily Telegraph

China has declared it's Intent to send a man to the Moon, aiming to

become the first Nation to reach the Lunar surface since the last American mission in 1972.

-----------------------------------------

7:00AM GMT 30 Dec 2011

A white paper published on Thursday laid out the country's five-year plan for the development on new satellites, spacecraft and a space station and provided the official confirmation of China's lunar ambitions.

The landing is not expected until at least 2020 but under the government's blueprints "new technological breakthroughs" in human space flight will be achieved by 2016.

The country hopes to complete it first space station in the same year, a goal encouraged by the successful mission to dock two unmanned spacecraft in orbit last month.

“Chinese people are the same as people around the world,” Zhang Wei, an official with China's National Space Administration, told the Financial Times.

“When looking up at the starry sky, we are full of longing and yearning for the vast universe.”

Two Chinese flights are expected in the 2012, nine years after Yang Liwei became the first “taikonaut” to reach space.

The scale of China's plans come in stark contrast to those of the United States, the first and only nation to reach the moon in 1969.

George W Bush proposed an American return to the moon but the programme was halted by Barack Obama, citing the enormous cost.

In July, the space shuttle Atlantis made its final landing, ending the 30-year era of the American space shuttle.

No human set foot on the moon since December 1972 when American astronauts landed as part of the Apollo 17 mission.

Although the space programme is being run by the Chinese military, the white paper insists the country has no ambitions for weapons in space.

"China always adheres to the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, and opposes weaponisation or any arms race in outer space," it reads.

It also provides a long list of countries working with China on space research including Britain, France, Brazil and Russia.

Have a close look in a Microscope Steve.

See if anything like this is perched on it.

Nasa Astrobiologist Richard B. Hoover at the Marshall Spaceflight Centre, is convinced absolute signs of LIFE have been found on a Carboniferous Chondrite Meteorite..

Ron.