John Dobson / building telescopes

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Frankskywatcher United States of America
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John Dobson / building telescopes

#1

Post by Frankskywatcher »


John Dobson a man so far ahead of his time.
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

Equipment :
Apertura AD10” Dobsonian

Polaris 4” Dobsonian

7x50 binoculars
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Re: John Dobson / building telescopes

#2

Post by Lady Fraktor »


He did his best to make astronomy open to the masses and I would say he did a good job of it.
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Re: John Dobson / building telescopes

#3

Post by Michael131313 »


Watched the whole thing. I have never seen a beginning to end telescope build before. Thank you very much.
ES AR 102 102mm, f/6.5, ES 254mm f/5 DOB, Obie 10x50, GSO SV 30mm, ES 68° 20mm, ES 82° 14mm, 11mm, 8.8 mm, 6.8mm, 4.7mm. Twilight 1 mount.
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Re: John Dobson / building telescopes

#4

Post by Makuser »


Hi Frank. John Dobson was a master craftsman and his concept of a rocker box at the bottom for a Newtonian reflector made larger telescopes affordable and by putting the axis at lower height put the optical tube assembly lower and easier to use, especially when looking up to the zenith. So many amateur astronomers are now enjoying this hobby with a Dobsonian reflector. Thanks for finding and sharing this wonderful video of John Dobson with us on here Frank and keep up the great astronomy links work.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
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Re: John Dobson / building telescopes

#5

Post by SkyHiker »


I watched the whole thing. Pretty cool! I did not see him do a Foucault or Ronchi test, and did not mention going from circular to parabolic. He was just eyeballing the curvature also by how the grit spread out. It must be more about the whole procedure than just the quality of the optics. It is very nice how you can get a good telescope with minimal means. Except for the aluminizing chamber of course. Thanks for the link.
... Henk. :D Telescopes: GSO 12" Astrograph, "Comet Hunter" MN152, ES ED127CF, ES ED80, WO Redcat51, Z12, AT6RC, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Mounts and tripod: Losmandy G11S with OnStep, AVX, Tiltall, Cameras: ASI2600MC, ASI2600MM, ASI120 mini, Fuji X-a1, Canon XSi, T6, ELPH 100HS, DIY: OnStep controller, Pi4b/power rig, Afocal adapter, Foldable Dob base, Az/Alt Dob setting circles, Accessories: ZWO 36 mm filter wheel, TV Paracorr 2, Baader MPCC Mk III, ES FF, SSAG, QHY OAG-M, EAF electronic focuser, Plossls, Barlows, Telrad, Laser collimators (Seben LK1, Z12, Howie Glatter), Cheshire, 2 Orion RACIs 8x50, Software: KStars-Ekos, DSS, PHD2, Nebulosity, Photo Gallery, Gimp, CHDK, Computers:Pi4b, 2x running KStars/Ekos, Toshiba Satellite 17", Website:Henk's astro images
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Re: John Dobson / building telescopes

#6

Post by Unitron48 »


Great video about a true pioneer in our hobby. The Dob has become a standard for larger aperture telescopes. Because of it, apertures in the 20-30 inch range are available to the amateur.

Dave
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http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
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Re: John Dobson / building telescopes

#7

Post by helicon »


Thanks for this. A long time ago I participated in one of his telescope making classes. I also bumped into him on my vacations back in the 2000's, including at the visitor center of the Death Valley NP in winter, and Yellowstone NP in summer. In both cases he gave a 30 minute lecture on cosmology to the campers, followed by observing through three Dobs that he and his traveling friend set-up.

Great stuff. He carried his Dob in a beat-up yellow Volkswagon bus. By that time he was in his late 80's but still very spry and whip smart, and he had moved to LA from the Bay Area.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
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Re: John Dobson / building telescopes

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Post by DeanD »


He was a great character. He visited us in South Australia when in his mid-late 80's. I remember he started his lecture by charging up and own the aisles (up steep stairs) and throwing sheets of notes into the air for people to grab. He then bounced up to sit on the bench at the front of the theatre.
He talked about his "cosmology": a type of continuous-creation understanding (which fitted with his former status as a Buddhist monk).
He said he was kicked out of the Monastery because he kept sneaking out to show people the stars (the start of his "Sidewalk astronomers"), and refused to stop when ordered to do so by the head of the monastery.
The guy he was staying with, who was quite fit and in his early 70's at the time, said he was exhausted trying to keep up with him.
Telescopes: 12" f5 dob, Celestron CPC800, 150mmf5 Celestron achro, Tak TSA102, TV76, ETX125...
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Re: John Dobson / building telescopes

#9

Post by helicon »


DeanD wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 3:14 am He was a great character. He visited us in South Australia when in his mid-late 80's. I remember he started his lecture by charging up and own the aisles (up steep stairs) and throwing sheets of notes into the air for people to grab. He then bounced up to sit on the bench at the front of the theatre.
He talked about his "cosmology": a type of continuous-creation understanding (which fitted with his former status as a Buddhist monk).
He said he was kicked out of the Monastery because he kept sneaking out to show people the stars (the start of his "Sidewalk astronomers"), and refused to stop when ordered to do so by the head of the monastery.
The guy he was staying with, who was quite fit and in his early 70's at the time, said he was exhausted trying to keep up with him.
Yes, he did mention a bit that he had a problem with the big bang theory, which opened some eyes if it did not ruffle a few feathers.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: John Dobson / building telescopes

#10

Post by Frankskywatcher »


Thanks everyone for the great comments and insights!
He is what changed my mind from buying an 8” to getting the 10” when I heard him say in an interview “ don’t go with anything smaller than a ten inch !
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

Equipment :
Apertura AD10” Dobsonian

Polaris 4” Dobsonian

7x50 binoculars
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