The 25-year old 10" f16 classical cassegrain is out and the new 16" f18 class cass is in. The 3 nights since it arrived have been spent doing mirror collimation and familiarizing myself with the mount controls. I will keep everybody informed of the performance that shakes out over the next few weeks.
Initial visual testing looks promising. It fills up the 10' Home Dome but is high enough on the pier to give me plenty of moving around space underneath. Basic design goals were in line with the K.I.S.S. philosophy: open tube for rapid cooldown in lieu of active cooling, conical mirror for weight/cooldown/cell simplicity, long focus optical system to reduce reliance on eyepiece projection or use of barlows.
The OTA weighs in at around 80lbs.
I'll be glad to answer any questions.
Bob
Initial visual testing looks promising. It fills up the 10' Home Dome but is high enough on the pier to give me plenty of moving around space underneath. Basic design goals were in line with the K.I.S.S. philosophy: open tube for rapid cooldown in lieu of active cooling, conical mirror for weight/cooldown/cell simplicity, long focus optical system to reduce reliance on eyepiece projection or use of barlows.
The OTA weighs in at around 80lbs.
I'll be glad to answer any questions.
Bob
Attached Image:
Bob Schnitzer
Grenville Base Observatory - Haymarket, VA
http://www.grenville-observatory.com
16" f18 Royce Conical Dall-Kirkham
10" f16 Parks/Coulter/Novak/Cave Classical Cassegrain
127mm Orion Starmax Mak-Cas
80mm f15 Meade refractor
40mm Tasco variable power tabletop refractor
DMK 31AF03.AS
DBK 21AF04.AS
