Don't Know Anybody

[Patterson (Wayne)]

Want to sell my telescope through IceinSpace but just learned I need to make 5 posts. Can't reply to anybody because I don't know anybody. Have been a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for 55 years but haven't joined any societies in Australia. Very much a lone wolf eyeball observer. Now too old to lug my Astrophysics refractor away from light-polluted Melbourne to a dark site and plan to downgrade to something I can carry. (Binoculars sound good.)

[RickS (Rick)]

You don't need to know people to respond to their posts. I'm sure you'll find some friends quickly if you're selling an A-P refractor. Especially one that's too big to carry easily. What scope is it?

Cheers,
Rick.

[pluto (Hugh)]

Not an ideal solution but just comment on some pretty pictures and you'll be up to 5 posts in no time

[Ric]

Welcome to IIS Wayne.

Hope you have a great time here with us.

[Patterson (Wayne)]

Thank you Ric. Three replies in less than 24 hours is mighty impressive for a dinosaur like me. IIS could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Welcome aboard, mate.

H

[Patterson (Wayne)]

Hello Hugh and RickS. Posting photos is a great idea, if I had any. 55 years of observing and I haven't taken a single photo ever! Must be a world record of sorts. My telescope is a 6 inch f7 on a 600ESMD mount. In a rush now but will post later one or two of my most memorable (visual) viewing experiences. Thanks to both of you for your replies.

[Ric]

Hi Wayne

55 years of observing.

That's a lot of knowledge stored away.

[Patterson (Wayne)]

Hi Ric

Saw the chat about the Wetherell refractor. What a beauty. Am still trying to figure out how the forum works. Does this reply go to you only? Would like to share thoughts with Hugh and Rick who also were kind enough to reply to my first post. Don't even know if this post counts as one of five "posts", not that that matters. As you can see I'm a veritable dinosaur, almost extinct, but not quite.

[Patterson (Wayne)]

Ok, I get it. Any reply goes to general chat. Excellent. Will continue to blab on as the mood strikes. Cheers.

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Wayne .....
Go for it ....there's a lot to share here....

Flash....... ( Col )

[Patterson (Wayne)]

Saw an article in this month's Sky and Telescope about the advantages of building your own scope, including grinding your own mirror. Must sound like lunacy when for peanuts these days you can buy a 6 inch reflector, mount and all, with a mirror correct to one-twentieth wave. Well for one thing it will teach you patience. Built my first scope when I was 13 because I had to. My parents couldn't fork out serious money on such luxuries as telescopes, especially for starry-eyed kids barely into puberty.

Even the cost of parts was a serious challenge. Luckily my dad worked with a company that used 8 inch diameter glass blanks for some obscure purpose. They made perfect mirror and tool blanks, and being made of pyrex was an added bonus. With a few dollars of grinding compound I was soon walking around a old barrel in the basement of our house in Toronto, happy as Larry.

Trouble was I was young and impatient. Couldn't wait for first light. Using strokes far longer than I should have, I had an f8 curve hollowed out in a few weeks. After polishing I discovered I'd created the finest hyperbola since Hubble. (I mean before Hubble.) No problem. The book said just turn the mirror and blank upside down and polish away until you get a sphere.

I did, but again being impatient used those long strokes to speed things up. Result? A lovely sphere with the biggest turned-down edge in the history of mirror grinding. It would taken 3 months to get rid of that, so I just ignored it, parabolized the mirror and then covered the edge with a piece of cardboard. My 8 inch suddenly became a 7 inch.

The mount was another problem, especially the tube. A local chap who made galvanised guttering was persuaded to whip up a very large 9 inch down spout about 5 feet long. The rest came from junk around the house, Being at 44 degrees latitude in Toronto was handy. A standard 45 degree cast iron plumbers elbow gave me an instant equatorial. And never mind that extra degree because I wasn't about to take 5 hour photos.

Anyway with help from Dad here and there it was finally done, and I must say there's few things in life more thrilling that seeing first light (the moon of course) through a scope made entirely with one's own sweat and tears.

And I learned that in this hobby you've got to be patient.

End of rant from old guy.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Great story keep em coming!!!!

[Patterson (Wayne)]

Thanks Nik.

Can certainly share your dream of dark skies and an observatory on 5 acres. That was the idea when I bought my AP refractor in 1999 and moved to Melbourne. But the cottage and roll-off observatory somewhere around Castlemaine never materialised, and the refractor has spent the years peering through the light pollution of Melbourne. Not a good fate for such an instrument.

Cheers Wayne

[skytry (Peter)]

hi Wayne,
well done, and I enjoyed the read,
excitement & impatient we all suffer from that at some time,
as you have enjoyed your hobby, you have much to impart,
at your leisure, keep the info coming,
regards,
Peter.