Sky & Telescope - April 2020 - 6

FROM OUR READERS

Fond Memories of First Telescopes

6

As I read Jerry Oltion's attempt to
improve an old reﬂector (S&T: Dec.
2019, p. 72), I had to laugh when he
mentioned frustrated would-be amateur
astronomers turning to model railroading after they couldn't get their new
scopes to work. You see, model railroading is another hobby of mine.
Earlier this year, I ﬁnished a small
layout in my garage (in the traditional
HO scale of 3.5 mm to 1 foot) and
incorporated astronomy into my design.
I built a small observatory, complete
with a 1-meter telescope using the barrel of a Sharpie pen as my scope's tube.
On the layout's background, I used
glow-in-the-dark paint to add constellations and a ribbon covered in stars for
the Milky Way. I referred to a star map
from a June issue of S&T, as well as Sky
Safari to make the stars accurate.
For a dramatic effect in a darkened room, I added an LED blacklight
overhead. I love running my trains "at
night," enjoying the glow of stars in my
simulated summer sky.
It turned out better than I'd hoped.
I'm glad I combined both of my hobbies
in this layout.

I have owned, at age 71, at least 20
telescopes in my lifetime. The earliest
was a 40-mm Sears refractor that could
have killed the hobby for me. But the
optics were not bad, and I stuck with it
until I was able to purchase a Unitron
60-mm. Then I began grinding mirrors
with varying success, culminating in a
superb 8-inch f/5 Newtonian.
I ﬁ nd, as Jerry Oltion's articles
stress, that the mount is of prime
importance. The optics today are
superb, but long focal lengths require
massive support.
And I still get the most satisfaction
with low-power eyepieces and wide
ﬁelds of view. Anyone seeking to buy a
telescope should not fall for the highmagniﬁcation ads.
The ancient "Richest
Field Telescope" articles
in the Amateur Telescope
Making trilogy published
by Scientiﬁc American are
still worth perusal.
My most satisfying
observations have been
the ones that followed
those guidelines.

Brian Spradlin
Harbor City, California

Robert Miller
Berlin, Vermont

APRIL 2 02 0 * SK Y & TELESCOPE

I thoroughly enjoyed Jerry Oltion's
"Hobby Killer" articles in the December
2019 issue. It's infuriating that most
low-cost telescopes, even from manufacturers with good reputations, are
destined to disappoint. Our local society typically offers a program in the fall
aimed at ﬁrst-time telescope buyers and
a post-holiday workshop to assist new
telescope owners in using their scopes.
I have a suggestion for an improvement to the "Revive a Hobby Killer"
telescope. The mount shown on page
72 is tall compared to its base diameter, which causes instability. If a small
weight is added near the bottom of the
tube, it'll move the center of gravity
closer to the mirror and allow the base
to be shorter. The weight of the tube
will increase, but the weight of the
mount and its size will be reduced. I
made just such a weight for one of my
scopes out of lead scuba weights.
Jeff Delmas
Huntsville, Alabama

James Hannon's letter (S&T: Oct. 2019,
p. 6) brought back fond memories of
my start in amateur astronomy and
telescope-making many years ago. It all
started when a young kid was gracious
enough to show me, an even younger
kid, his homemade telescope. That
encouraged me to grind a mirror and
make a telescope.
It didn't turn out great, but thanks
to some reconﬁguring and advice from
Thomas Cave and Cave Optical Company, all ended well. Years later, I tried
my hand at a 12½-inch mirror with
a far better outcome. That telescope
saw ﬁrst light in August 1957 when I
focused it on Jupiter. The picture of the
cover of the July 1959 issue
of S&T, reproduced next to
Hannon's letter, shows a
photo of the Moon taken
with my 12½-inch. I still
have that telescope. It was
totally rebuilt in 2017.
Jack Eastman
Sheridan, Colorado
t Jack Eastman stands next
to his homemade 12.5-inch
Newtonian in 2017.

TR AIN SE T: BRIA N SPR A DLIN;
NE W TONIAN: JACK E AST MAN

Brian Spradlin's model railroad with its
miniature observatory (at upper right).
Sky & Telescope - April 2020

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