omed us and showed us some of the pieces that will become our 0.6m telescope. They are building another 24-inch at the same time as ours, so there were "two of everything" on the shelves: the tube, mount yoke, pedestal and mirror cell.Although DFM has the facilities to grind and polish mirrors, they only do larger (1 m or greater); our mirror is being produced by a company in Florida.
They also demonstrated the articulated eyepiece which will allow easy viewing for children and handicapped persons - it smoothly moves in all directions; Frank's design won him an award.
The University of Victoria's newly completed 0.8m was there for testing. Except to the size of the tube, our mount will be the same size (we will also have a closed tube, whereas UVic's will be an open frame.
Frank let us watch his optical technician Renee finish the grinding of one of the 1.3m telescopes they are making for an Indian research institute. He has designed his own special testing and grinding machines and the lifts for moving around the heavy (and expensive) mirrors.
Software specialist Mark Kelley explained his specially designed control system which is mated with The Sky "planetarium" program. and let us "test-drive" a 0.4m. The set and slew drives are very smooth!
After the tour, Mark Kelley invited Doug us to his home in Boulder for a meal and took us on a hike to see the famous "Flat Irons".
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