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For the main tube, I
purchased a 4" OD x 48" L x .083" W section of T6063 aluminum tubing
from a company by the name of Velocity Air, located in Excelsior
Springs, MO. It only cost $32.00 before shipping costs. Not a bad
deal. They mainly cater to the automotive industry providing exhaust
tubing, but they also provides an alternate venue to the ATM. There
are several other tubing companies out there with great offers too.
I have listed web links to a few of these providers under the "ATM
Suppliers" drop-down box under the Resource Links section on the
Vega
Sky Center's homepage. Now let's get this tubing cut
to size.
But, before cutting the main
tube to the correct size, the length has to be determined based upon
specifications of the objective's which include the lens diameter,
lens focal length, in conjunction with the objective cell and
focuser's measurements and star diagonal, albeit a 1.25" or 2", if
one is going to used regularly. Once these measurements have been
attained, I ray trace should be created to justify you telescope's
optical layout. If done properly, you will be able to use the major
bulk of your eyepiece collection without the need of an extension
tube. For more details and design specifications for this scope,
just check out the
Component and Ray Trace
Design Diagrams
page for this instrument. |
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