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This was my first 'scope constructed in 1969. I bought the f/8 primary mirror and the secondary mirror from a telescope shop in Manchester England at the time of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. I also bought the secondary holder, a helical focusser and three eyepieces. I made up the primary mirror holder using a metal collar attached to a wooden back plate. The telescope tube was created as two square-section boxes joined by four wooden struts salvaged from a no longer used child's playpen. The mount was a massive affair using a galvanised water pipe equatorial head on a four-posted wooden pier. I didn't realise it at the time I bought the mirrors but it turned out that the telescope shop had served me well with first class optics.
Of course this 'scope had no motor drives, nor even a finder scope. It was aimed by sighting along one corner of the tube! But it served me well for a number of years and allowed me to set up alongside a number of professional expeditions to Loyengalani, Kenya for the 1973 solar eclipse. When we left Kenya in 1981 the 'scope was donated to the local astronomy club in Nairobi. I wonder what became of it? |
Waiting for the eclipse at Loyengalani 1973
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