Telescope Making

You can make a telescope for around $25 in materials. You can make one for $50 that will amaze your friends and family, and show you things you didn't know existed. It can be done in a few weeks. However, telescope-making can get messy. You can break a piece you've slaved over. Then you walk around in the worst mood you have ever been in. But in the end you have a telescope that people will look at, and through, and say, "You couldn't have made this." Yes, you did, and that is the best part of all. Let's make a telescope. Table of Contents /Thinking About Telescopes/ /Project 1: The Newtonian Reflector/ /Making the Optics/ /Assembling the Telescope/ /The Telescope Mount/ External Links The Surplus Shed, Optical Parts Astromart Telescope Making Page American Science and Surplus, Optical Parts Got Grit sells grinding materials. They have a good reputation. Further reading "Build your own telescope" shows how to set up an extremely low-cost demonstration of how telescopes work. The Cookbook Camera (CCD "Cookbook Camera" Project) was a great resource in 1996 for people who wanted to add a CCD to their telescope. Is "Wikibooks: Telescope Making" the best place to bring it up-to-date? adapting a low-cost web camera to a telescope "The Trackball telescope"; OR "The Trackball telescope" describes yet another style of telescope mount that uses a sphere resting against a driven axle to track the stars. "Mel Bartels Mirror Making Page" One of the most respected and quoted amateur mirror and telescope makers. "Telescope Makers Web Ring Home Page" This is the home page where you can list your web site and show off your creation;This is the list of websites in the ring. "The Amateur Telescope Makers list server" You can join the list or just read the postings and the archives. A huge source of information. "Mark's Notes for the Amateur Telescope Maker" by Mark T. VandeWettering. "Barn Door Star Tracker" by Tom Veik. general engineering Astronomy T 50%