ATM

My 12″ Dob

“Wood Wonders”

After reading the bible of telescope building, “the Kriege/Berry book – The Dobsonian Telescope”, cover to cover 4 or 5 times, I built my first telescope. I had the Orion XT12 w/Intelliscope but although the optics were decent the rest of the scope left much to be desired. My new scope has the primary from my Orion XT12 as well as the Intelliscope encoders and hand control. I upgraded the focuser with a Feather Touch and also the spider, with built in dew heater, and secondary from ProtoStar. 

For aligning the optics I use the Catseye Collimation tools which includes the New 2-Pupil Infinity XLK Autocollimator. The final touch was a shroud from Shrouds by Heather.

I’ll have to say that this was to most detailed and rewarding projects I have ever done and could not be happier. It was truly a great experience and I enjoyed every minute, from design to building, and look forward to many hour under dark skies.