David,
This is way cool! Thanks for posting it.
And Albert, congratulations on this very well-deserved recognition!
Bob
(See y'all at Calstar!)
--- David Kingsley <kingsley@No-Spam> wrote:
> 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 11:22:23 2004