DaveTrott.com

Completely Baffled!

DaveTrott — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:53:23 +0000

Improved baffling of the six inch folded refractor In my design there is a bulkhead near the focuser. See Constructing a Folded Refractor. This is mostly for structural support of the tube. It increases the rigidity. But the baffling incorporated at that point is fairly ineffective. The geometry makes it nearly impossible to block stray [...]

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Uni-Clone 4 inch telescope mount

DaveTrott — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 05:00:36 +0000

This is a Unitron 4 inch mount alongside a nearly identical home-built mount of unknown origin. The similarities between them are numerous. They both have the Unitron style declination slow motion controls, large high quality setting circles and are nearly identical in size and overall design. But the home-built mount actually has several improvements over [...]

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Folded Refractor

DaveTrott — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 06:19:56 +0000

I have updated my Folded Refractor page as promised earlier. Please check it out if you are interested in strange telescopes. I include the steps I take to align and collimate the scope. Since I last built one about twenty years ago I had to learn this all over again with this more recent scope. I [...]

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Amateur Telescope Making Machinist (ATMM)

DaveTrott — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:36:47 +0000

I used to get frustrated when I read about Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) projects that required machine tools since I did not have access to a machine shop. I still strongly support modest projects designed for the vast majority of telescope enthusiasts who do not have the inclination to buy a metal lathe nor [...]

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Why do I love Unitron Telescopes?

DaveTrott — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 03:57:29 +0000

Unitrons: A perfect blend of functionality and beauty. Exquisite craftsmanship Many unique and quirky features. Demonstrate superb attention to detail in every nut, bolt and knob. Uncompromising standards of design and execution. Deliver breathtaking performance. Highly collectible and rare. Small works of artistic and engineering perfection. Another Youtube Tour of a Unitron scope at [...]

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Unitron Video Tours

DaveTrott — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 20:51:38 +0000

I have uploaded a couple of Unitron Video Tours. One is an overview of the 3 inch Unitron 145C. This scope is more properly called a “Frankentron” because it was assembled from various Unitron and shop-made components, like a sort of astronomical Frankenstein Monster. I included some nice closeup views of the beautiful setting circles. Please check it [...]

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Unitron Telescope Weight Driven Clock Drive

DaveTrott — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:54:07 +0000

I uploaded a video showing the operation of a classic Unitron Weight Driven Clock Drive. This 50 year old device allows a telescope to follow the very slow movement of stars and planets. The stellar motion is undetectable with the naked eye but in a telescope the movement is highly magnified so a tracking mechanism [...]

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The Double Arm Drive is still alive

DaveTrott — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:03:07 +0000

The old Double Arm Drive invention is still alive and kicking after all these years. When I recently updated the links on my page, I found that a lot of people still build them despite the extremely short exposure times and stacked processing available with modern digital astrophotography. As a matter of fact, my interest was rekindled [...]

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New Blog Site about a folded refractor

DaveTrott — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:11:46 +0000

My son, Richard, has created this new blog and website for me. It will now be much easier to edit and add content. I will be blogging about my new six inch Folded Refractor project so please stay tuned. This is a picture of it.

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