I think he can do it, Mat. He's the same guy who donated the 100mm, 4-inch barrel eyepiece to Mike to experiment with on his scope. On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 8:30 AM, Hutchings, Mat <mat.hutchings@siemens.com> wrote:
It's really great to see amateurs getting into mirrors that size. I hope that he is able to pull it off. There are few individuals who can tackle and complete a project like that. As we know, Mike is one of those rare individuals.
Some kind of folded configuration makes the most sense for amateur telescopes of that size. It will be interesting to follow this fellow and his telescope adventure!
Mat
-----Original Message----- From: Utah-Astronomy [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Monday, September 08, 2014 10:21 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] 75.5 inch amateur telescope mirror
For those who don't follow the ATM forum on Cloudy Nights, a fellow has just purchased a 75.5 inch Pyrex mirror blank from surplus.
It's actually partially ground and he is now debating exactly what the final optical configuration will be. Could even be a Cassegrain with a Coude focus, to keep it short.
He and Mike have talked on the phone quite a bit, I told Mike that he infected the guy, lol. The man with the 75.5" has ground mirrors almost half that size, so he's not a rank newbie.
I'm just amazed at how amateurs keep pushing the aperture envelope. I'm pretty confident that before I die, some amateur will build a 100-inch telescope.