Great news. We'll all be interested to hear how it goes. Particularly thermal stabilty etc.
I will also be adding to the RC-induced bad weather on the east coast shortly. I am presently doing the final assembly and fit up of two homebuilt 12.5" CF truss RCs having just completed anodising of the 6061 plate. They also use the Star Instruments pyrex optics. I have also integrated their field flatteners into the build. Hopefully will be tweaking the OTA optics by the new year.
cheers, Guy
Doomsayer:-Well done, Two of them are you going to make a Bino? You will have to post pics.
Xelasnave: Thanks mate.
Ian:- To get it to Oz all up it's going to cost me about $6K, however I paid for the scope when the dollar was high. :-) The introduction price for the corrected was $5K US, but he has sent notice out the it will go up to $6.5K in the new year. As for mount I'm going to be using a G11, but when funds are recharged I'll be getting something bigger so I can run my three scopes at once. The chronos looks interesting.
G'day. No binos - that would be an opto mechanical nightmare - one OTA for me, the other for a friend. I might post some shots elswhere of the build process when they are fully assembled. Mine will ride on a Paramount ME - so I have used a red anodised rear plate to match the PME livery. A pic of the 2 lower cages is attached.
guy
Doomsayer:-Well done, Two of them are you going to make a Bino? You will have to post pics.
Xelasnave: Thanks mate.
Ian:- To get it to Oz all up it's going to cost me about $6K, however I paid for the scope when the dollar was high. :-) The introduction price for the corrected was $5K US, but he has sent notice out the it will go up to $6.5K in the new year. As for mount I'm going to be using a G11, but when funds are recharged I'll be getting something bigger so I can run my three scopes at once. The chronos looks interesting.
Is that the 10" CRC ?
Those are serious $ to spend on an OTA. Bet you had to buy something really nice for the wife or the house to get her onside with that .
Doomsayer: they looks great, I mean it's the optics that count, but man when it looks cool as well, Well done.
Ian: Yes It can add up, I increased our insurance a few months ago after reading a thread and doing some sums. My wife is very understanding and enjoys looking at my efforts.
Looks like a fine instrument indeed Kenny! Im sure you will be wrapped...
Also, It actually looks like a very cheap way to get into a well built true RC telescope... There are not many available under the 10~15k AU mark..
I'll be very interested to see how it goes!
Doomsayer : Awesome... If I may be so bold as to ask, what have they cost each to build? and would you consider doing more as a semi-comercial job? They look Brilliant.
Sorry to hijack the original thread here.
These two RCs are 'prototypes' effectively - so the designs have shifted over time (~ 1 year of spare time), so costs have been a bit distorted by inefficiecny. Also, the A$ has shifted so some of the outsourced components would be a lot more expensive now. Not cheap or easy to build. Currently these 12" pyrex 'budget' RC optics are no longer available from Star Intruments. Paul Jones told me he wasn't planning to do more, although they were looking at some sort of alternative mirror blank material.
I will post more pics & info in the ATM area once the scopes are assembled and collimated - hopefully early January. Most of the truss cage components could be mass produced via CNC mill in this design to save time. CNC would also allow me to lighten the plate a lot more. The threaded barrels and flanges I outsourced. I still need to prove the OTAs performance in real imaging conditions - a preliminary visual star test proved to be OK a couple of months ago. I am pleased with the results so far.
cheers
guy
The scope came today. It's always a bit scary to unpack something like a scope that has been on a trip this big. Here are some first photos, there will be a review forth coming.
First of all... I congratulate you on what looks like a stunning addition to your arsenal!
Secondly, I like that their internal cabling for the focuser/dew heater are black, the ones on the RCOS are multi coloured, which I would thing would have to cause some reflection, however small...
I look forward to the review, and to some images from it! It could bring quality RC optics to the masses at that price! Cheers.
Alex.
Great! looking forward to hearing how they go,
They have big obstructions these RC astrographs. My two 12 RC astrographs have enormous secondary baffles about 6.5" in diameter.
guy
Paul Jones at SI says they have no more pyrex blanks to work with, as per the pyrex 'shortage' elsewhere. He did say that they were looking into alternative materials.
Thanks for that info. It seems to be an attribute of this hobby that the boutique nature of the manufacturers and the exotic materials they need means they are not always able to make their products.
So you can't assume a particular scope or lens will always be available.
For example TEC make fluorite triplet scopes at present. They were making up to 200mm aperture even if they only advertised up to 180mm.
They have discontinued the 200mm fluorite due to difficulties in getting the materials and no doubt difficulties in making the lenses that large.
Same happened with AstroPhysics telescopes where certain models were no longer made as the supply of glass was unstable or the quality too inconsistent.
