Common Amateur Designs
Although the types of telescopes that amateurs build vary widely, including Refractors, Schmidt Cassegrains and Maksutovs, the most popular telescope design is the Newtonian reflector, described by Russell W. Porter as “The Poor Man's Telescope”. The Newtonian has the advantage of being a simple design that allows for maximum size for the minimum expense. And since the design employs a single front surface mirror as its objective it only has one surface that has to be ground and polished, as opposed to three for the Maksutov and four for the refractor and the Schmidt-Cassegrain. Typically a Newtonian telescope of 6” or 8" (15 or 20 cm) aperture is a standard starter project, constructed as a club project or by individuals working from books or from plans found on the Internet.
Read more about this topic: Amateur Telescope Making
Famous quotes containing the words common, amateur and/or designs:
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding.”
—Bible: New Testament St. Paul, in Philippians, 4:7.
The words are also used in the Book of Common Prayer, Holy Communion (1662)
“I have been reporting club meetings for four years and I am tired of hearing reviews of the books I was brought up on. I am tired of amateur performances at occasions announced to be for purposes either of enjoyment or improvement. I am tired of suffering under the pretense of acquiring culture. I am tired of hearing the word “culture” used so wantonly. I am tired of essays that let no guilty author escape quotation.”
—Josephine Woodward, U.S. author. As quoted in Everyone Was Brave, ch. 3, by William L. O’Neill (1969)
“He began therefore to invest the fortress of my heart by a circumvallation of distant bows and respectful looks; he then entrenched his forces in the deep caution of never uttering an unguarded word or syllable. His designs being yet covered, he played off from several quarters a large battery of compliments. But here he found a repulse from the enemy by an absolute rejection of such fulsome praise, and this forced him back again close into his former trenches.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)