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Old 23-08-2009, 08:44 PM
Dennis
Dazzled by the Cosmos.

Dennis is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 11,824
Hi Will

Typically, I have read of glass pushers, that rare breed of amateur telescope makers, who grind their own mirrors from (low expansion glass) optical blanks and then polish them to a parabola cross section with a surface accuracy of a minimum of a ¼ wavelength of light, but usually more like 1/10 lambda.

Typically, the focal ratio (focal length divided by aperture) is between F4 and F8 with F4 being very challenging to get right and F8 more forgiving and producing tighter stars across the whole field of view.

Your dish “looks” more like an F1 or F2 system, based upon the sensor position defined by the 3 struts and I suspect the surface accuracy will be wholly unsuited for optical use?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that is my understanding and I would strongly recommend that before you invest major amounts of time and money in this project, albeit an exciting one, I’d have a chat to some glass pushers at a local ATM club!

Cheers

Dennis
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