Re: Prerequisite for 1st telescope

"Dennis Woos" wrote

I like Unca Rollo's suggestion that one should have to earn or make
their first telescope rather than receiving it as a gift.

Often folks cite the fact that commercial scopes of decent quality can now
be purchased at very reasonable cost as a reason not to build one's own.
This misses the mark, as saving money is not one of the best reasons to
build.

Starting out at age 10, and on my own as a "budding scientist," I had no
choice but to buy commerically made scopes. Sure, I could have bought some
lenses someplace and gotten a couple of paper towel tubes... So as it
turned out, my first two scopes were little sliding cardboard tube jobs.
Then my parents bought me an Edmund 4-1/4". That really got me going. I
started learning the sky with the supplied planisphere, and the Sam Brown
guidebooks taught me how the world turns.

Fast forward to 1980, and I was sitting with a friend, who is a master
telescope maker, discussing who to buy a 6" mirror from for my new proposed
telescope. I finally concluded, "Duane, if I'm going to learn anything, why
don't I make my own?" Duane's reply was, "That's what I've been trying to
tell you all along!" He just happened to have a set of blanks, had his
barrel all set up, and I got started making my new mirror right then and
there.

Howard


.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: Have refractors hurt the hobby?
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