Here
is my 130mm Takahashi f/3.3 Epsilon astrograph with 80mm guide-scope
mounted side-by-side. It has a 430mm focal length for wide-field
targets.
My Telescopes and Observatory Bobby Middleton
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Here's a look at my 8" homebuilt Newtonian telescope. It has a focal length of 860mm and a fast focal ratio of f/4.25. You can also see my A-P 1200 GTO mount on top of my 10" pier. Other things to see in this photo are my N2 purge system with tank at the pier base and hose running to the camera back. My Kendrick dew heating strip can be seen at the top of the OTA. That's a shower cap painted black to seal out light and dust from the bottom of the OTA. The waning crescent moon is in the background at daybreak here after a night's work of picture taking. |
| Here is my 12.5" f/7 Newtonian as it sits in my roll-off roof observatory. When I bought it, I was pleasantly surprised to find it would fit inside my little 8'x 8' quarters. It just barley fits though and it is so close that I had to use regular bolts on the mirror cell instead of the thumbscrew bolts which were 2" longer. The original thumbscrews would hit the back wall as the telescope slewed or tracked. I did however have to do a slight modification to the observatory to get the big 12.5" tucked away under the roof. I had to take out the north wall so I could let the front of the OTA protrude into the new storage area I built as it is put away. The new addition is very handy for storage and also will double as a computer room for CCD imaging. Sitting room only though; it's just 4'6" tall. | |
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Here's how
the big 12.5" tucks away. Also visible is the new
storage/computer room under the roll-away roof area behind the 12.5.
I have to lower my counter-weights to get the shaft and weights to clear
the front opening of my roof as it rolls forward or back. This
opening can be seen in the above photo.
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