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I am sorting out my garage and I have put to one side a collection of bits and pieces of old telescope building parts.It includes a pile of mirror blanks from 8 to 14 inches tubes flats and a large steel fork.
Does any body still makes their own equipment and would like these items?
I can send for list for those interested free to Good home but must be collected from Hampshire
AlanThe widow of John Wall has also offered me a 36″ mirror blank! I know nothing more about it (thickness, type of glass). Any interest in the BAA?
Certainly sounds interesting to me!
I would love something that size and have somewhere to put it. I also have no idea how much it would cost to convert it into usable telescope – preferably a Cassegrain-style to keep the size of the housing to a sensible size.
If the BAA as an organization would like to have a robotic telescope in La Palma, please get in touch. I can provide site, power, internet, ancillary equipment like computers, etc at zero cost. Would a subscription model make sense? A significant contribution to construction costs would give you a guaranteed number of hours per annum for the remainder of your BAA membership.
I think it would mainly cost an enormous amount of time to convert it into a telescope, but if the glass is suitable (and I really don’t know whether it is), it should be possible; after all, Andrew Common in the 19th century managed to build an even bigger telescope on an amateur basis, with little prior experience of mirror-making. The mechanics would perhaps be more challenging than the optics.
As for a remote BAA telescope, I have to say, without saying too much, that Council has not been very keen on going down that route, feeling it is a service well-covered by commercial suppliers, and not wanting to risk a ‘stranded asset’ that could be difficult to manage. But we may discuss it again.
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