Amateur Telescope Making Main Page

Amateur Telescope Making Main Page "For it is true that astronomy, from a popular standpoint, is handicapped by the inability of the average workman to own an expensive astronomical telescope. It is also true that if an amateur starts out to build a telescope just for fun he will find, before his labors are over, that he has become seriously interested in the wonderful mechanism of our universe. And finally there is understandably the stimulus of being able to unlock the mysteries of the heavens by a tool fashioned by one's own hand." Russell W. Porter Founder of Stellafane, March 1923 Introduction A lot has changed since Russell Porter wrote those words - today the "average workman" can afford to buy an already made telescope and Dobsonian mountings are very popular. Much is also unchanged - mirror grinding techniques are very similar to those written up by Porter and Ingalls in the 20´s and 30´s. Many amateur astronomers still choose to fabricate their own instruments, for the ... Read full article.