February 2010 Update
Hello everyone. Here’s a mile stone for you, the truss tube is 99% complete. I took advantage of our cancelled chapter meeting this Saturday to do some assembly.
This is a shot of the primary cell with 16″ mirror (below). I decided to assemble the scope around the primary cell with the mirror in place. With the Plexiglass dust cover in place, there’s no danger of dropping a screw and damaging the surface, and this made assembly much easier. The OTA is heavy, but manageable, even with the primary mirror in place.
Our 1/20th wave 98% reflective secondary is attached to its cell as well, ready for insertion into the spider (below).
I started by assembling the lower cage…
Then the upper assembly, with focuser. This focuser is a compromise. I reconditioned and modified the Meade focuser, to make it a lower profile mechanism. It seems smooth and looks relatively nice, but hopefully we can replace it in the future with a higher end model.
Then the steel spine and aluminum braces were added…
And soon, the OTA was completely assembled. I haven’t mounted the secondary in its spider just yet. I’ll do that after mounting the assembly on that massive Byers German Equatorial, and then I’ll collimate as well.
The next update will include photos of the OTA on the Byers mount. If anybody wants to join me for first light, just let me know.
Dark skies, Larry