Mike's Telescope Photo Page

Interesting Telescopes

A certain person I know says I have too many photos of pretty rocks on my web page, and not enough photos of telescopes. So here are some more telescopes.

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This is a photo of the first light party for The Carol Samuels Observatory. The observatory is located on the back lot of the Pinellas Science center in St Petersburg Florida. It took a year of hard work with all volunteer labor from St. Petersburg Astronomy Club members to build the observatory.

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This is a photo of the inside of The Carol Samuels Observatory. The telescope is an 16in. Mead LX-200.

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In this photo world-famous astrophotographer Jose Torres sets up the equipment for a night of CCD imaging in the Carol Samuels Observatory.

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This is David Knowlton's 20in f/5 "Bat Scope". This scope is so big that it has a 6in Newtonian mounted on it as a "finder scope".

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This is the bottom half of David's "Bat Scope".

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This is the top half of David's scope Notice the beautiful woodworking. Here it is set up at SPAC's Hickory Hill Observing Complex during the annual Orange Blossom Special Star Party in Feb. 1998.

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This is the 14.5in f/4 Raden Telescope belonging to the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club. Here it is seen inside it's dome at the Hickory Hill Observing Complex.

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A view through the slit of The Raden Observatory. Here the 14.5in scope is set up for photography. Note the 4.5in Tasco reflector being used as a guide scope, and the 35mm camera at prime focus.

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This is a photo of the 17.5in f/4.5 scope that I built for the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club in 1996. Here it is set up at SPAC's Hickory Hill Observing Complex during the annual Orange Blossom Special Star Party in Feb. 1998.

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This is another view of SPAC's 17.5in Dob. After building this scope for SPAC, I somehow got the job of hauling it around, setting it up and running it at club events. Not that I really mind. I've always wanted a scope like this of my own.

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Here is the 17.5in Dob all packed up and ready to go up the ramp into my minivan. The secondary cage is nested inside the rocker box. The rods are in the long black bag. The toolbox holds the Telrad, finder scope, and other bits.

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Yet another view of the 17.5in. Dob. This time it is set up beside the Raden Observatory. Notice the black nylon shroud that is used to improve contrast.

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Here is a photo of a small telescope with a wooden tube that I built. The tube is made of 10 pieces of wood. It was turned round on the outside and given a high-gloss finish. It is an 4.25 in f/4.25 Newtonian.

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Here is another view of the wooden tube telescope. Here it is strapped onto the side of the 17.5 in f/4.5 Dobsonian telescope. I designed this small scope specifically to be a finder for the larger scope.

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Here you can see a longer view of the small wooden tube scope riding on the back of the big dob in the early morning light. The Raden Observatory is in the background.

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This is a photo of my good friend Andy Hradesky standing next to the 8in. f/6 Dobsonian I built for him several years ago.

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This is a closer photo of a nearly identical telescope I built about the same time as Andy's for another friend.

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This is a close up shot of the hinged rings and PVC pipe altitude bearings of one of my 8in. f/6 Dobs. Notice the built-in eyepiece tray

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This is a photo of my latest creation. It is an 8in. f/4.5 Newtonian on a ball mount. I designed this scope to have a very rich field, and be usable anywhere in the sky (no Dob hole). The scope can also be rotated so that the eyepiece is in a comfortable position no matter where the scope is pointed.

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Here my good friend Dee Stephens is clowning around with the new scope. As well as serving as my own personal "super model" for this photo shoot, she also serves to show the scale of the scope. It is short with a focal length of only 36in.

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Here Dee and the scope are in front of the Raden Observatory at SPAC's Hickory Hill Observing Complex just before the start of the 5th annual Orange Blossom Special Star Party. This was the first public outing for the scope, and it was a big hit.

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I custom built this scope for my good friend Andy Hradesky who has become my best customer. Andy wanted something unique, and gave me free rein to let my creativity run amok. The result has been described as the bastard offspring of an Edmund Astroscan, and a Portaball scope. I had some trouble naming this scope. My friends suggested many names, including the rather unflattering "flatuscope" because of the wonderful "farty" noises it makes when it's felt pads get wet with dew. Eventually, Andy's girlfriend Barbie Jo dubbed it the "cookie jar" after seeing it with the dust cap in place. The name stuck.