1.1 The Beginning

My interest in astronomy goes back to childhood. When I was about 8 years old an Uncle, who was a professor of Astronomy, would show us the night sky at my Grandfather's farm in Oklahoma. My parents tried to encourage my  interest by purchasing a cheap 60mm refractor. Like many, I found the views in a small refractor are rather disappointing when compared with the pictures that are published on the box! This first bad experience quashed my interest in telescopes for many years.  I have no idea what became of that telescope but I have never forgotten that first bad experience. Fortunately, my interest in astronomy continued.

In the 1970's I decided that I would like to buy a good telescope. I started eyeing the 60 mm refractors in the local department store. I could not forget my first refractor and the thought of putting down several hundred dollars on another 60 mm refractor only to be disappointed gave me pause. Rather than repeat my bad childhood experience I decided to find an expert. I found a telescope vendor in the telephone book, Douglas Telescopics, in Santa Barbara. The proprietor, Doug, had a lot of useful information. I saw my first "real" telescope at his shop. After some study and several conversations with Doug it seemed that  a 6" f8 would be a good choice for a first scope.

Doug suggested that I get involved with the local astronomy club, for me it was the Ventura County Astronomy Society. After several conversations I decided to buy an RV 6 from Criterion, a 6" f8 newtonian, Figure 1.1.1.

       
        Figure 1.1.1. Advertisement for the RV6 6" telescope. Not only has telescope designs changed but the price too. RV6 could be purchased for $200.

Several telescope manufacturers were predominate at the time, Questar, Criterion, Cave Astrola, Unitron, and Celestron. It looked like the RV6 from Criterion was the best bang for the bucks. The RV6 was a classically designed 6" f8 telescope.  Delivery delays lead me to cancel the order when I found an 8" Cave Astrola for sale from a fellow VCAS member. This turned out to be an excellent choice even though it cost considerably more than the RV6. I fell in love with the short f-ratio and the wide field views of the RFT. I have owned many telescope, and I still prefer the fast optical systems.

My first project for the Cave was to build a power inverter so I could run the AC synchronous motor form a 12 volt battery. I found a circuit in Sky and Telescope using a unijunction transistor  as the base for a variable frequency power inverter. This was my first attempt at building electronics. With guidance form John, a VCAS member, I was able to get the circuit going.  This was my first indication that telescope making was by nature a cooperative endeavor. Building the inverter also introduced me to another interest and side line, electronics.

I became interested in astrophotography from many talks with Martin and Charles, who were both doing astrophotography. I did some piggyback astrophotography on the 8" using a Praktina 35mm camera with a 135mm lens. The Praktina camera was a very simple and inexpensive mechanical camera. I still own this camera and it still functions no batteries needed!  Some of these early images can be seen in the astrophotograph section. My interest in using the 8" for prime focus astrophotography grew from the wonderful astrophotography of Martin. I purchased a set of 6" Cassegrain optics from Astro Systems Inc., (no longer in business), and parts from Novak so I could make a 6" Cassegrain guide scope. I made the guide scope mount out of aluminum with nothing more than a saw, drill, and files. The 6" Cassegrain was mounted on the 8" and used as a guide scope. The 8" Cave could now be used for prime focus astrophotography. The Cave was really a nice astrophotography platform, Figure 1.1.2a. It takes a lot to overload a good mount!

a  b

Figure 1.1.2a My 8" Cave Astrola at Mt Pinos parking lot circa 1974. The 6" Cassegrain is used as a guide scope for the 8" Cave. Figure 1.1.2b is an example of the results of astrophotography with the Cave. The exposure was 45 minutes on Fuji 100. I converted the image to b/w. What a great scope the Cave was!

I was really impressed with the quality of telescopes that were home built. They were every bit as good as any commercial telescope, in some cases better. I met Kevin at RTMC, in 1974. Kevin had just made an 18" telescope. It became clear that I should build a telescope around 18". This was my first case of aperture fever. After RTMC I started looking for a mirror blank between 14 and 18 inches. I moved to Chico in 1977 to attend California State University, Chico. I developed a special major called Astronomical Equipment Technology so I could to pursue my interest in telescopes and Astronomy. While there I met Bill. He had made a 12.5" telescope fabricated with steel plate. He was very interested in making and using telescopes also. Bill was great at fabrication techniques since he restored classic cars professionally. His telescope was a work of art as well as a very stable platform.

Bill introduced me to another amateur telescope maker, Jim, a master telescope maker. He had built several refractors from 4" to 12", a 16" f27 Dal Kirkham Cassegrain, and a 16" Ritchie. I was fortunate enough to acquire one of his 4" refractors and the 16" f27 optics. I mentioned to Jim that I was looking for an 18" mirror blank. He said that he had a friend that had some large surplus blanks.

Bill and I started discussing a mounting for an 18" telescope. We thought this would be a good size for a reasonably portable telescope. We believed that we could make the telescope mount in several light pieces that could be assembled at the observing site. Bill frequented the local scrap yards, which I found to be great places to find stuff for telescopes. On one outing we found about four feet of 10" aluminum channel from a truck frame. We thought that this would make an excellent base on which to build a fork. On another outing we found a 4" diameter 1/2" wall Aluminum tube for the polar axis.

Sometime during planning for mounting an 18" telescope, Jim called and said that his friend, Author in Davis, had an 18" blank. I telephoned Author and ask him about the blank. His comment was something the effect the he had a blank that he would be happy to cut down to 18". Of course my immediate question was, how big is the blank? The response was 22 inches. I thought that the blank would be far too expensive for me to afford. I asked how much. He wanted $200.00. Two hundred dollars was a real stretch for me in 1978. Art was kind enough to hold the blank until I could sell my Cave. The 22" blank cost me the 8" Cave Astrola! The proceeds from the sale of the Cave financed a good part of the 22" mount also.

Bill and I drove to Davis to pick up the 22" blank in 1978. The blank turned out to be a 20" clear aperture sphere without a coating. The glass was Hawyard C-3 made by Hayward Glass Company in Hayward, CA. A 22" mirror meant that our project would have to grow considerably. A 22" telescope would require a much larger mounting. Some of the parts that we had collected could still be used but we need more of everything than our plan for an 18" telescope required. We continued to collect parts for the telescope when resources and luck led us to something that we could use. Many trips to the local scrap yards over 4 years were needed to collect the parts that were used to build the telescope. Constructing the telescope was primarily done in the years while I attended college.

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