BOOKS

Hi everyone,
Does anyone where I can get a telescope making book : :

I am intrested in building a cassegrain (mirror and everything else) but all the books at amazon crazy in price, 100 sterling.Does anyone know a place I can get a book from : : I have been researcing scope making on the web for the last three or four months but I am not getting anywhere.
Scope here and in England seem to be getting more expensive so I might as well give making them a try.

Thanks for any comment you might have.

Brian,

The book "How to make a telescope" by Jean Texereau is considered to be the 'Bible' on Mirror grinding and should be available from Sky and Telescope. Mine cost me 20 pounds sterling several years ago.

The second half of the book has a section on making a Cassegrainian telescope from scratch. This type of telescope has four optical surfaces to be ground, three of which are not 'simple!!' paraboloid shapes. As an example, there is one chapter on grinding newtonian mirrors and four for the Cassegrainian telescope!

After I read those sections then I could not work out how the commersial 'scopes are so cheap!

Let us know how you get on!

Michael

I would also srongly recommend Handbook for Telescope Making by Neale E. Howard (published by Faber & Faber). I got it on Amazon last year, but it has been out of print for about 20 years. It is also cosidered a Bible among telescope making books! I used it in 1995/6 to make my first telescope, an 8 inch reflector, as a school project for the Leaving Cert - thats the kind of book it is!

Seanie.

Hi Briano,

As Michael already mentioned.Texereau's book should be your first stop for any telescope optical project. The book is rather dated (the language used is quite old fashioned) however these techniques are timeless and are just as relevant today as when the book was first written.

Richard Berry's book is excellent too.

Now heres my strongest advice. A cassegrain is far from the easiest telescope to make. Apart from the complex optics the mechanical aspects require machine shop accuracy to build. Now I dont know what resources you have available to you so I suppose you need to decide if you can fabricate components to the required high tolerances. The optics themselves would be considered an advanced project for someone who already has experience polishing and testing optical components. My dtrongest advice to you would be to start with a newtonian reflector. This has always been the design of choice for the beginner. The mechanical aspects are within the reach of someone with basic 'garden shed' tools and the optics can also be made simply.

The next bit of advice is to sign up to the ATM mailing list at.

www.atmlist.net

Good luck with your project.

Hi Brian,

Get your hands on a copy of “How to Make a Telescope” by Jean Texereau. Then make yourself an 8” Newtonian before you think about tackling a cassegrain – they are an order of magnitude more difficult and you need to understand what you are doing before you start pushing glass. There are other books, but Texereau covers it all.

Also, try the following:

www.galvoptics.fsnet.co.uk/ - supplier of ATM bits and aluminising service.
www.efn.org/~mbartels/ - shed loads of usefull documents on ATM and links to everything else – a gold mine!
www.oldham-optical.co.uk/ - main manufacturer of telescope optics in the UK.
www.atmsite.org/ - more shed loads of useful documents.
website.lineone.net/~fmilsom/ATM%20page.html - list of ATM suppliers in the UK.

Hope this helps,

Phil.
(currently building a Folded Stevick-Paul TCT!)

Hi guys thanks for the info , I have just ordered "How to make a telescope" from sky and telescope, $44.03 and $18 of that was postage, alot cheaper than amazons £50-£110.I do not know how long it will take to get here.

Dave the mechanical aspect of things isn,t a problem because I work in a machine shop and I am hoping my boss will let me use the machines for the scope.It is the optics I am worried about

It might be better to build a newtonian first, I will let you know how I get on, it wil be a couple of weeks after I get the book before I get started.