[stringscope (Ian)]

I finally completed the rebuild of my 16" F4.5 scope. The original structure was intended as a temporary solution to enable star testing of a second hand Meade DS mirror.

Fairly traditional truss tube dob design with a few differences:

1. Large alt bearings 2 X mirror diameter (800mm). Assists with balance and alt/az control force harmonisation. These are becoming increasingly common in European ATM scopes, not so much in the US.
2. Triangular mirror cell with the entire cell tilting for collimation.
3. Whiffletree mirror edge supports.
4. Slotted tongue and bolt truss attach points top and bottom.
5. Integral filter slide
6. Integral dew heater wiring. No cables frompowered ground board to powered secondary cage and integral secondary mirror hearer wiring.
7. All plywood end grain hidden with Blackwood edging.
8. Secondary cage is all glued plywood - no Kydex
9. Nested design where the secondary cage resides inside the mirror box for transport and storage



Only had the scope out for one observing session at Wiruna last Fri/Sat. Worked well in very heavy dew for a 3 hour gap between cloud and fog!