Hi all
After an eight-month delay, most of the parts for our 16.1” ATM project have finally arrived safely in Singapore. Discovery Telescopes whom we purchased the telescope from had been extremely tardy in delivery. With the benefit of hindsight, we would have bought the parts from other sources. Nonetheless, US$999 is an unbeatable price for:
- 16.1” primary mirror and mirror cell (f4.5)
- secondary mirror
- 4-vane spider
With an eye to bringing the scope to the dark skies of Mersing, the design criteria for our scope shall be:
- easily broken down into small parts for transportation
- broken down parts should be cheapskate looking to avoid tempting the hungry eyes of M'sian customs officers 8p
- don't need ladder for most altitude settings
- won't dew up (put some solid fuel in the secondary holder? Juz kidding)
- assembled scope should not look like a weapon of mass destruction
....
We chose an F4.5 mirror to achieve #3. Not sure whether this will result in coma or how servere the problem will be. We certainly hope a coma-corrector won't be necessary. But judging from the 1840mm focal length, tip-toeing or a small stool may be necessary for objects located near the zenith.
Chuang Yee and Wira gathered at my place on 10 Oct, Friday nite and within an hour, CY had whipped up the plans for our big boy. These will be sent to a carpenter for fabrication. Once the parts are ready, we shall meet up once again to begin assembly of the scope. Stay tuned.
16" ATM Project Update 1
On my f/5, will begin to (casually) notice coma from about 0.6 deg FOV. By about 1 deg FOV, the the outer 5-10% is not usable. In a 2 deg FOV eyepiece (40mm pentax xl), the outer 10-20% is not usable. f/4.5 will be worse since coma increases exponentially with shorter focal ration. Can get the siebert eyepieces which have overcorrection instead of a coma corrector. Btw, I think there is another coma corrector carried by APM which is just as good and slightly cheaper than the paracorr.
Wow.. it looks great!! and itz HUGE!! 
hmm.. what is the estimated date that the team will finish this??
we will never know about this :? :?
hmm.. what is the estimated date that the team will finish this??
i afraid the government will "request" to take this fantastic 16.1" telescope to the Science Centre for display.. hahaGet a MP or something to cut ribbon....for making this the biggest scope in Spore!
we will never know about this :? :?
*~Stars AND Clear Sky always~*
Leslie
*Owner of Antares 93mm Achromat Refractor*
-10.11.03-
*Owner of Takahashi SKY 90 Fluorite Doublet Apochromat Refractor*
-25.03.06-
Leslie
*Owner of Antares 93mm Achromat Refractor*
-10.11.03-
*Owner of Takahashi SKY 90 Fluorite Doublet Apochromat Refractor*
-25.03.06-
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acc
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We hope to finish the scope by the next new moon. Only wish the skies would co-operate for once.
Zong, thanks for the interest but we are assembling the scope in my spare room which will be rather cramped with the 3 of us and all the scope parts. Will be posting updates of our work progress here instead Will invite all to a public 'open-house' once we get things in order.
cheers
cc
Zong, thanks for the interest but we are assembling the scope in my spare room which will be rather cramped with the 3 of us and all the scope parts. Will be posting updates of our work progress here instead
Will invite all to a public 'open-house' once we get things in order. cheers
cc
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Airconvent
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heh heh our CSN Chief has been fairly quiet the past few days..hopefully he is busy on the 16.1" (still not name yet???).acc wrote:We hope to finish the scope by the next new moon. Only wish the skies would co-operate for once.
Zong, thanks for the interest but we are assembling the scope in my spare room which will be rather cramped with the 3 of us and all the scope parts. Will be posting updates of our work progress here instead
cheers
cc
Was hoping he can upload some "WIP" photos for all to see...you know..whet out appetites?
rich
The Boldly Go Where No Meade Has Gone Before
Captain, RSS Enterprise NCC1701R
United Federation of the Planets
Captain, RSS Enterprise NCC1701R
United Federation of the Planets
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acc
- Administrator
- Posts: 2572
- Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 11:15 pm
- Favourite scope: Mag1 Instruments 12.5" Portaball
heh heh our CSN Chief has been fairly quiet the past few days..hopefully he is busy on the 16.1" (still not name yet???).
Was hoping he can upload some "WIP" photos for all to see...you know..whet out appetites?
Yeah, been really busy pursuing other interests given the terrible state of the weather...
It feels like Christmas already Anyway, Wira and Chuang Yee have been rather busy too, so have not met since my last update. Probably will be a few more weeks before the scope is ready. We also discovered we forgot to design & fabricate the secondary mirror holder... (Discovery Telescopes didn't send us one). We should be meeting up in the next 2 weeks or so to begin assembling our scope; will post further updates and pictures here then.
Thanks John Teh for the offer. Will contact u if we need ur helpNeed any help for cutting metal of wood post me massage as i have links to factory. Or my work site have enough tools for you guys.