Print

[TomT]

I will try to keep these in order from latest to older emails from TimC or other announcers of the workshop nights.  TimC does such great notifications!  Note you can stretch the body of this note for a larger view.  Photos posted of the workshops on Flickr (search sbau, telescope) or directly https://www.flickr.com/photos/sbaushots/albums . Font too small to read?  Try Cntrl + "+" on your browser:

On 1/30/2017 1:48 PM, Tim Crawford wrote:
> Greetings,
> Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31st we meet once again in Broder from 7:30-9 pm.
> Congratulations to Mike Chibnik for completing his 10" telescope and especially his fine mirror. The "e" and "f" stars in the trapezium are just waiting for you to observe cleanly!!!
> Let's continue with projects tomorrow night as well as speak of things to come. See you all there if possible.

On 1/23/2017 2:10 PM, Tim Crawford wrote:
> Greetings all,
> Tuesday, January 24, we are scheduling a workshop in Broder Building at the Museum. Usual time of 7:30-9 pm. May we please have the east gate open? Thank you!
> Please check the weather. We may have a little bit more precipitation yet. If any of you would like me to carry you and equipment over, let me know. We'll get you and equipment there and back from the parking lot.
> Hope to see you there.
> I will be going after a stubborn " turned down edge". For those of you on the email list not familiar with this, it is a somewhat typical flaw exhibited by the mirror during the figuring process. It is when the tool polishes away the edge of the mirror. This will effect the images your telescope will receive during observing. The way to correct a TDE is not to try to polish out the edge, but instead to attack the adjacent zone, that may be seen as "high". This way of looking at how to correct this is a pathway in learning to analyze problems that come up. It teaches us to look at things as a whole and not isolate any one part of the whole. To clarify this a little more though, with a TDE, we must correct it before we can go forward to figuring the entire mirror correctly. That may seem as a contradictory statement but it is not. The TDE is one of those singular issues that must be addressed before moving on to the whole mirror being completed.
> Need more clarification? Come on by and we'll let you know much more.

On 1/15/2017 9:20 PM, Tim Crawford wrote:
> We are scheduling a workshop this week, Tuesday,  January 17th from 7:30-9. pm. I hope you all can join us at the Broder Building across the creek at the Museum. May we please get the east gate open? Thank you much!
> This week, projects continue. We have a new 14" mirror in the works now. There are at least 2 other projects going on as well. I believe there is an 8" and 10" mirror in finishing stages.
> In the future I will be taking on a 16" mirror. As I am getting older now, it is imperative to make these larger scopes light in weight. Otherwise, they will not get much use in the field at all. I suggest, if you have not done so already, looking into the scopes Albert Highe makes. He is an absolute genius when it comes to reducing the weight of scopes, making them portable as well as easy to use for older or challenged people.
> For me, I live in a home that has a set of steps to negotiate, coming and going to star parties. I got this 16" mirror a few years back when I wasn't so concerned getting it to the car or back in the house. Now, it has become a real issue. Please take this into account when you want to purchase a telescope. As we have all heard before, "the best telescope is the one you will use the most." How true!
> See you all Tuesday,

On 1/8/2017 9:13 PM, Tim Crawford wrote:
> Greetings,
> We meet again at the Broder Building this Tuesday night, from 7:30-9 pm. May we please have the east gate open? Thank you much. In fact folks, I want to give a shout out to Jacques at the Museum for helping us to have our Tuesday evenings go so well. Jacques is the man who opens up the buildings, makes sure we are all intact, before and after, and in general, is there for all our needs as well as looks after the Museum at night.  Thank you so much Jacques!!!
> I also want to give a big congratulations to Mike Chibnik for completing his 10" mirror, that is now complete. ( I think the mirror is actually up north ). I know the scope is next to being complete now and awaiting first light. Hooray for you Mike!
> This week, I think we will be continuing projects or as with Mike he may be starting yet another  project, a 14". As I alluded to last week, so much to do, so little time. Come on down and start a project for yourself, or come on by with a friend, an acquaintance to ask the experts for help with your scopes, your questions on astrophotography or just to tune up your optics.
> You are as welcome as the flowers in May ( and I'm actually looking forward to the flowers in May).