DAVID LUKEHURST
ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE MAKER
Astronomical Telescopes for the Discerning Visual Observer
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Dobsonian Telescopes
20-inch f/4 Truss-Tube Dobsonian
The photograph above is just one example from the range.
All of the truss-tube Dobsonian Telescopes that I supply are individually hand-made by me personally in my workshop in Nottingham. To date (2008) I have made approximately 145 of these telescopes.
The only components that I do not make are the mirrors, focuser and also normally the finderscope. I use mirrors from several suppliers with the great majority being made by Norman Oldham at Oldham Optical in Scarborough. Norman is a very experienced optical worker and consistently produces excellent mirrors.
Sizes up to 10-inches diameter normally use closed aluminium tubes. Dobsonians of 12-inches and larger are of Truss-tube construction, which makes them highly portable for their aperture, compact when disassembled for storage and quick and easy to dismantle and reassemble.
The mountings are made from high-grade exterior plywood and are carefully sealed and painted making the telescopes durable, attractive, highly functional and easy to use. They are supplied with a high quality finder as standard.
The example prices quoted in the price list are for Dobsonians with 1/4-wave PTV wavefront accuracy mirrors, (Plate Glass to 16-inches, then low-expansion glass). These perform extremely well and are what is often referred to as "diffraction limited".
(See: http://www.bbastrodesigns.com/ratemirrors.html for a detailed review of the many ways of describing mirror quality).
Higher accuracy mirrors, other sizes and different focal ratios are available (please see mirror set page).
Please browse the web pages for more details and do not hesitate to contact me for more information or to discuss any particular requirements.