Tom Trusock just posted a new review article for a small Starbucket
Dob on the "CloudyNights" telescope review site
(http://www.cloudynights.com/new.htm). His article starts with a
brief description of the history of the Dob revolution, and I thought
everyone would enjoy seeing the credit Tom gives to one of TAC's own
remarkable observers and scope designers, Albert Highe.
From the article:
"The Dobsonian revolution has been through two
iterations so far - the first was with Dobson's first
creations (somewhat similar to many of the closed tube
designs on the market today) - the second came with
the publication of Ivar Hamberg's "An extremely
portable 17.5 inch Dobsonian" in Telescope Making #17
(Autumn 1982). Hamberg was one of the first to
construct a scope that fit in the back of a car and
could be setup by one person at a remote observing
site. You can see the basic design today whenever you
look at any truss dobsonian - Obsession, StarSplitter,
or homemade.
We are now on the cusp of the third revolution - the
ultralight.
Although no one person has solely inspired this leap
there is one that perhaps deserves much of the credit
for the innovation - Albert Highe. His 12" f5.3
ultralight dobsonian took many of the ideas for an
ultralight throughout the ATM world, and incorporated
them into what's starting to become a recognizable
design. The Highe scopes are distinct because of
their single ring upper truss assembly, the light
shield instead of a shroud, the use of fewer truss
poles, their low profile mirror boxes - and most
importantly - their small size and weight."
As luck would have it Albert happened to be at Montebello last night
with his latest creation: a 12.5 inch Dob made of such lighweight
materials that the entire scope with finder comes it at about 40
pounds (about the same as my small Oak Classic Starmaster, a 7 inch
scope with 1/3 the light gathering power).
Albert's web site has some pictures and more information.
http://ultralightscopes.com/MarkIV.htm
It was great fun to see and look through this remarkable scope last
night with Albert at Montebello.
History being made all around us in TAC!
-David Kingsley
Received on Sun Sep 5 10:56:21 2004