I imagined that an advantage in choosing the conical mirror would be enabling direct thermal coupling between the cold plate and the main mass of the mirror. You mention it is attached with silicone sealant which would act as an insulator.
How are you cooling the mirror with the cold plate? Did I miss something?
i believe that the cold plate produces cold air and then that gets blown around the mirror. this mirror allows for better cold air flow????
I imagined that an advantage in choosing the conical mirror would be enabling direct thermal coupling between the cold plate and the main mass of the mirror. You mention it is attached with silicone sealant which would act as an insulator.
How are you cooling the mirror with the cold plate? Did I miss something?
The cooling is done indirectly - the cold plate cools the air and the three mini fans under the mirror circulate the cold air. That way I don't have to worry about different thermal expansion/contraction of material that's touching the mirror, the silicone is nice and rubbery and lets the cold plate contract without putting any stress on the mirror.
Tonight I'm testing the cooling, and it cools very very fast, much faster than my old mirror. The conical will help with that, but also the new cooler has 3 peltiers compared to 2 in the old one, so there's more horsepower available.
Just one word "WoW" and i cant wait to see what you photograph with this beauty. Eat your heart out GSO..
How much does it weigh? and how stable is it on the G11?
Can you provide a cost for this project. Would any of the partys involved in its creation consider manufacturing more.
Regards
Scope weight is 23kg, up from 15kg for my previous 10".
It seems very stable on the G-11, but I have to pay close attention to balancing it properly.
Regarding manufacture of these for other people, I had this in the back of my mind when I was designing the scope, I've spoken to both Mark and Gary speculatively about doing something, problem is that I'm fully committed workwise on another project.
Anyhow I'm going to see how it performs this season and then think about what might be possible. The cooling unit + mirror cell and conical mirror might be a good place to start :-)
Costwise, the 13.1" conical cost $2500, the tube was about $400, parts cost for the cooler and mirror cell about $100, Discovery 2.6" secondary about $150 (or whatever bintel charge, can't remember), and then there's probably another $200 in nuts, bolts, aluminium tube, aluminium bars etc etc.
Not to mention about 3 weekends of full time workshop time :-)
Magnificent Anthony!!! Wow! ............ I mean WOW!!
Are you planning to show this off at a CAS DSN?
I suspect you wouldn't want to go all that much bigger on that G11.
Cheers,
G'day Ian, fancy seeing you here... I've been so focussed on getting it ready for Lostock that I havn't thought past the end of this week... if there's some interest at CAS then I'm happy to arrange something.
Keep your pets locked up, that thing looks hungry. Very impressing looks piece of equipment. I bet you are happy. Now to wait and see what it is capable of!
Congratulations, Bird! Can you please tell us more about the "no tools" collimation setup? How does it work? ... and what's the focal length of the mirror?
Congratulations, Bird! Can you please tell us more about the "no tools" collimation setup? How does it work? ... and what's the focal length of the mirror?
Steve, the focal length is 1810mm. When I said "no tools collimation" I guess I meant "no screwdrivers, spanners etc required", but you still need to have something to go in the focusser - a cheshire, barlowed laser and/or autocollimator eyepiece would be my pick, just as you might need for collimation on any other scope.
All aspects of the secondary can be adjusted by hand while standing looking into the focusser. The 3 vanes on the spider come through the tube and are attached to a metal ring that rotates around the outside of the tube. This ring can be rotated by hand, and each of the vanes can be moved up and down in a slot allowing for the secondary to be tilted.
If you have a look at the images (linked to above) then you might be able to imagine how this works. If you're coming to Lostock then you can see it first hand :-)
I tested the cooling last night, and I'm happy with the results. Here's a graph that shows how the mirror temperature (red line) changed over time with the cooling in various settings - OFF, 100%, 75% and 50%. It looks nice and predictable.
Why dont these guys get together and build the entire scope....I know for (1) I would defintely be intersted in say a 10" F4 but I would never attempt to build it myself...they say it's easy but when your spending thousands I dont have the knowledge or confidence to DIY.....maybe a basic $500 scope I may have a go at as a hobby but not thousands....too risky.
I would consider 1 if you could purchase as a whole unit.
I could only imagine this would increase sales 10 fold if they got together to supply this service....I know Mark doesn't build scope's just mirrors....but how about a bit of a partnership with a scope maker.
Awesome Anthony.. I honestly cannot wait to see it working at Lostock, and I can't wait to see some images from it! The increased image scale will be awesome.
Why dont these guys get together and build the entire scope....I know for (1) I would defintely be intersted in say a 10" F4 but I would never attempt to build it myself...they say it's easy but when your spending thousands I dont have the knowledge or confidence to DIY.....maybe a basic $500 scope I may have a go at as a hobby but not thousands....too risky.
I would consider 1 if you could purchase as a whole unit.
I could only imagine this would increase sales 10 fold if they got together to supply this service....I know Mark doesn't build scope's just mirrors....but how about a bit of a partnership with a scope maker.
Great scope Anthony.
mickpinner has a guy for aluminium tube, i have talked to mark re mirrors, mick is looking at finders and focussers etc. I have made a peltier cooling system out of aluminium bought from bunnings etc. I believe that mick has the potential to put it all together if demand is there???
Striker, the way I see it that you get to be one of the best at something by specialising. The best mirror makers don't make complete telescopes for the same reason that the best engine builders don't make cars.
Yes Steve but you can buy a car with the engine of your choice....not everyone is a mechanic.
All I am saying is wouldn't it be great if you could purchase a scope to your specs instead of purchasing different parts of multiple suppliers then try to fine someone to put it all together.
Like I said..if I could purchase one complete I would buy 1.....if I cant I wont....and I'm sure their are other members here feal the same way about attempting to build a $3000 DIY scope.
He doesn't have to go into buisness with anyone...even a contact who can do the whole job whilst using Mark's mirrors.......sounds too simple to me.
