Quote:
Originally Posted by skysurfer
Indeed a great man has gone. Brought the larger apertures affordable. Thanks to him many people can use a 20, 30 or 40cm or even larger aperture for an affordable price in the backyard.
And the first Dobsons ever build did exist long before John Dobson was even born: the 1.20m telescope of William Herschel and the 1.80m telescope of Lord Rosse. They were of virtually the same design.
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I believe that the Dobsonian part of the system is simply the use of a Teflon (then nylon) on Formica bearing. It sounds trivial, but it absolutely changed the way that large amateur alt-az telescopes were made and they deservedly now all bear his name.
My JD story: I showed him live video of the Aussie night sky via the internet back in 2007 as part of a multinational webcast!