Telescopemaker.com
Amateur Telescope Making
Charlie Wicks
20 Inch
Aluminum Alt-Az
Altitude Cable Drive
and Band Clutch
6 Inch Airline Portable String Scope
6 Inch
f/15 Refractor
Large German Equatorial Mount
10 Inch Airline
Portable String
Scope
20 Inch f/4.5 Alt-Az
RTMC 2001 Merit Award
Some info about the scope:
The scope is made entirely of aluminum, with stainless steel fasteners and shafts. The truss tubes are covered in heat shrink tubing. The upper end ring and the altitude trunnion bearing surfaces are bicycle wheels. It is driven with a Sidereal Technology closed loop servo drive system (formerly a Tech2000 Dob Driver II. Pictures show the dob driver and a Celestron Advanced Astromaster DSC system). The height of the eyepiece at zenith is 7' 3". Total weight is 180 lbs, including 20 pounds of counterweights.
All parts were made from scrap aluminum, with the exception of the truss tubing and the sheet metal around the mirror box
I fabricated all of the parts on this scope, except the optics (Pegasus), drive electronics (Sidereal Technology), and of course, the bicycle wheels.
I've spent a lot of time refining a slip clutch system on this scope and it now functions like a scope on an equatorial mount. Just point the scope anywhere in the sky and when released, it Immediately starts tracking. The Sidereal Technology controller always knows the position of the scope and updates both drive rates accordingly. The scope, when connected to a computer or an Argo Navis, can also be run in a goto mode.
Here the scope is shown at Henry Coe state park near San Jose, CA. This picture was taken before the truss tubes were covered with heat shrink tubing.
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