I've been waiting to see if someone would claim to have ground his first mirror from a couple of bottle bottoms and sand, and fashioned an eyepiece from a pair of contact lenses
My first scope was was 60mm F12 Ascotron from Astro Optical Supplies at Crow’s Nest. It cost $49 which seemed to be quite a lot in 1968 dollars.
The optics were quite good but as expected it had quite a bit of chromatic aberration. The supplied 6 and 20mm Huygens eyepieces were a bit basic but I still managed to get memorable views of the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter. At least all of the optics were glass and not plastic.
I blame that little scope for my becoming a telescope hoarder!
My first scope when I was 9 was a cardboard roll with a magnifying glass at each end (my science book said Isaac Newton discovered that 2 lenses made a telescope). Obviously, it did not work! My parents took pity on me and I soon had a 60mm Tasco refractor. First light was waiting for a break in the clouds - Canopus peaked out and I was the happiest kid ever. Soon I was onto the Messier list, purchased Tirion's SkyAtlas 2000 and moved on from there...
My first scope was was 60mm F12 Ascotron from Astro Optical Supplies at Crow’s Nest. It cost $49 which seemed to be quite a lot in 1968 dollars.
The optics were quite good but as expected it had quite a bit of chromatic aberration. The supplied 6 and 20mm Huygens eyepieces were a bit basic but I still managed to get memorable views of the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter. At least all of the optics were glass and not plastic.
I blame that little scope for my becoming a telescope hoarder!
